Xabi Alonso Quotes

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Xabi Alonso

Profession : Athlete

Birth : November 25, 1981

I have been lucky enough to work with great coaches. My father was also a coach, and my position in central midfield requires tactical knowledge.

Xabi Alonso

If you win the midfield, you probably win the game. But that doesn't mean the players in the midfield are the ones alone who determine that, because now we have strikers who drop into midfield and defenders who move up into the midfield. It is the area you must dominate.

Xabi Alonso

I have learned from all of my coaches, and I am sure I will learn a lot with Guardiola.

Xabi Alonso

If you go out and play your own way, anything can happen. You might win.

Xabi Alonso

I don't think tackling is a quality. It is a recurso, something you have to resort to, not a characteristic of your game.

Xabi Alonso

I used to enjoy watching Ronald Koeman, even though he didn't play in my position. I loved the way he hit the ball, the talent he had to position himself.

Xabi Alonso

I don't want to just play well; I want the players around me to play better, and that's when I feel that I have done my job.

Xabi Alonso

Bayern is a big club and a big brand, but on a daily basis, it's a family club. You get to know the physios, the kit man, the chefs. It's also a club that's very close to the supporters. That proximity to the fans makes it special. That was surprising. In Liverpool and Madrid, there's more distance.

Xabi Alonso

I accept I am going to miss playing because it's such an important part in my life. It's going to be difficult to fill that gap. Life goes on.

Xabi Alonso

Anything can happen in football.

Xabi Alonso

Anoeta is always a tough place to go: people get right behind their side.

Xabi Alonso

I've still got Paul Scholes' shirt at home, which I swapped with him once. When I was at Liverpool, he was one of the players I liked most.

Xabi Alonso

Football is a lot to do with mental state.

Xabi Alonso

Being a manager is so different to being a footballer. It's a very difficult job, but, of course, it's very exciting as well.

Xabi Alonso

The grass, the sound of the ball, the jokes with my teammates - that's what I will miss most. That is what fulfills you most on a daily basis.

Xabi Alonso

Passion isn't something you work on. It's more important to construct a good team, to know how you are going to play, how to read the match. You have to truly understand the game.

Xabi Alonso

I have been lucky enough to be at great clubs, from my hometown club to Liverpool to Real Madrid to Bayern Munich.

Xabi Alonso

I don't think I will stop learning about football. There are certain parts we will never understand, like what happens in the brain of a player or makes a team fear.

Xabi Alonso

The midfielders are important: they have to offer themselves to receive the ball and make good use of it, take choices, try not to lose the ball and defend. But I don't feel like a leader at all.

Xabi Alonso

Mesut is one of those unique players you see every once in a while. He has the gift of a perfect touch in tight spaces that makes him special.

Xabi Alonso