Tony Barrett Interview With Xabi Alonso

Tony was in Madrid the weekend and done an interview with Xabi,its on the Times online site but been a pay to view site few will see it so here you go.

PART ONE

IT may not have had the shock value of seeing a bewildered Mike Tyson grasping for his gum shield on a ring apron in Tokyo after the previously unheralded James “Buster†Douglas had brutally ripped away his aura of invincibility. Nor did it prompt the kind of universal disappointment that greeted Don Bradman’s duck in the final Test innings of his career. But there was still something seismic about Jose Mourinho suffering his first home league defeat in nine years on Saturday night at the hands of Sporting Gijon. In sport, the seemingly unbeatable almost always turn out to be beatable.
That Mourinho is human after all and that the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu he presides over is no longer impregnable will have given hope to Tottenham Hotspur at precisely the time when they need it most. Harry Redknapp’s team talk before Spurs take on Real Madrid in their first ever Champions League quarter final will now almost certainly feature the words “come on boys, we can beat themâ€.
But if anyone of a Tottenham persuasion is tempted to believe that a single defeat will signal the start of a chain of events that will see Mourinho weakened as Tyson was then the case put forward by a former adversary who has since become a trusted lieutenant will surely disabuse them of such a notion. As far as Xabi Alonso is concerned, there are few, if any, managers in world football who have the ability, knowledge, psychology and the timing to give players a belief that they really are unbeatable, even if logic and results dictate that they are not. What’s more, the midfield player believes that Mourinho comes into his own in the Champions League, as borne out by his record in the competition.
“I think that does give us an added confidence, because we know how good he is preparing each game. In Champions League competition that is one of the keys,†Alonso said. “Before every match he is very methodical and analytical, during it he is passionate and transmits the self belief that he has.
“He really encourages the team to give 100% and makes each of us believe in what we are doing. From the psychological point of view is really strong and when it comes to analysing situations at big moments in the game and taking important decisions in the heat of the match he is also very smart. He is a great manager. We are all behind him and hopefully he will make us a successful team.
“I think he loves English football, as I do, and he knows really well how Spurs play and how to play against them. So it is always great to be back – for both of us.â€
Whether this is a good time to face Real or a bad one will only become clear following tomorrow night’s first leg, but ahead of it Alonso recognises the threat that will be posed by Tottenham who are attempting to turn their Champions League charge into a full blown fairytale. Living in an apartment in central Madrid – the swanky gates communities of the latest generation of Galacticos having been eschewed in favour of a more humble residential arrangement – has not prevented the 29-year-old from keeping up with events in the Barclays Premier League that he departed almost two years ago and the giant strides made by the North London club had caught his eye long before Real were drawn against them in the last eight of Europe’s most prestigious cup competition.
That Tottenham should be his first English opponents since donning the all white strip of Real is a tad ironic given the widespread feeling amongst supporters of Liverpool, whom Alonso left in the summer of 2009, that were he still at Anfield they would still be a Champions League club and Tottenham’s ascension to European football’s top table at their expense would therefore not have happened. It is a theory that Alonso is well aware of but it is not one that he is willing to indulge in, out of respect for both forthcoming opponents and previous employers and his own sense of humility.
Alonso regards Tottenham as a major obstacle to Real’s anticipated progress to the semi-finals and he recognises the similarity in momentum between their run to this stage of the tournament and that which propelled the Liverpool side of which he was a fundamental part to Champions League glory in Istanbul in 2005, but he remains confident in the quality of his own side and in their ability to use their greater experience and know-how to maximum effect when it matters most in the tie.
“Tottenham are where they deserve to be after so many years chasing it and with the ambition they've got they are a great side,†he says. “Obviously, I hope that they don't repeat what Liverpool did in 2005 but I am not at all surprised by the progress that they have made because they have always had great potential. They have several dangerous players including Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Luca Modric, Niko Kranjcar and I rate them very highly.
“I am really looking forward to playing against them. The atmosphere at White Hart Lane in the second leg is going to be electrifying. We hope to get a good result at the Bernabeu to take with us into the next game because their crowd is going to really push them. From my experience, at Anfield, you want a good start during the first 15 minutes to get the fans excited, so we will have to chill down that excitement.â€
While this will be the first occasion in which Tottenham have participated in the last eight of the Champions League, it is also the first time since 2004 that Real – the record nine times winners of the European Cup – have reached the quarter final stage. For a club of their stature, the lowering of standards in a competition that history demands they must regard as the ultimate test could no longer be tolerated. Now that the impasse that was in danger of turning into a hoodoo has been breached, the next challenge for Alonso and his team mates is to emulate Puskas, Di Stefano, Raul and Zidane et al by lifting Europe’s most prestigious trophy once again.
“After six years without making it through to the quarter finals it became an obligation to do so,†Alonso says. “It was not normal not be in last eight so many years, and now we hope that this is going to be the dynamic in the years to come.
“The important thing for now is that we are in a good position in more than one competition, not just the Champions League, because the Champions League is so close now that any team can beat you. But we have belief in ourselves because we have a very complete young squad. In the forward positions we have players who can win game on their own and at the back we have players who bring stability and solidity.
“We are just four good games away from the final now. It will not be easy to get there as I know from my own experience, but we believe that we can beat anyone if we are on top of our game and have a good winning mentality.â€
On Saturday night, the supposition which suggests that Alonso’s value to the teams he plays for can only be truly measured when he is absent was reinforced as Mourinho’s record breaking run came to an end. In his analysis of why Sporting Gijon were able to shatter his own aura of invincibility, one of the key factors that the Portuguese will surely cite as key will be the ineligibility of his midfield general through suspension. As Liverpool have discovered to their great cost, there are few teams in world football that would be better without the presence of Xabi Alonso.
The aim for manager, player and club now, of course, is for the meeting with Tottenham to take them one step closer to another English assignment – the Champions League final at Wembley, a stadium at which Alonso never played for Liverpool, on May 28. Ever the realist, the man who has won the World Cup and European Championships with Spain and the European Cup whilst at Anfield knows better than most that it is making it to the final and not where it takes place that matters most. “The new Wembley looks nice,†he says. “But I would have loved to have played in the old one, because it looked to me a very special stadium. Anyway, a Champions League final is special anywhere.â€


PART TWO

XABI Alonso may have long since departed English football but it would be fair to say that English football is yet to leave him. This week it is Tottenham Hotspur that dominates his thoughts but it is Liverpool, the club he loved and left, who still has a hold on his otherwise Spanish heart.
Neither the acrimonious nature of his departure from Liverpool in the summer of 2009 nor his geographical and cultural separation from the club and city in which the first of his two children were born has diminished his affection for all things Scouse. Tomorrow, when he plays his first game against an English team since leaving almost two years ago, the man ordained a “midfield maestro†by the Kop will do so in the hope that he has already passed on his commitment to the much fabled Liverpool way to his son, three-year-old Jon.
“I am still a Liverpool fan and will be forever, absolutely,†Alonso responds when asked if his affections for the club he served with style and distinction for five seasons are still as strong as they once were. “The things that I have lived and the experiences I had during those five years are deep in my heart and the passion and respect I had for the club and its supporters are still the same. Hopefully I can transmit to my son what Liverpool Football Club means and how special it is, as he was born in the city and he will visit it in the future.â€
In the summer of 2004, Alonso was a fundamental part of the Liverpool plan, as indicated by the £10.5 million lavished on the transfer fee that took him to Anfield from Real Sociedad. That the Merseyside club went on to receive £30 million from Real for him when player and club parted company in circumstances that are still debated to this day demonstrates that their initial outlay was undoubtedly money well spent.
Rafael Benitez maintains that a combination of the financial pressures caused by the debts piled onto Liverpool by Tom Hicks and George Gillett and the need to recruit English players helped create the conditions for Alonso to leave. His detractors, meanwhile, insist that Benitez’s ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of Gareth Barry during the 2007/08 season made it inevitable that Alonso would depart. Like so much of Liverpool’s recent history, you pays your money and you takes your choice. But one thing that is beyond debate is that they have suffered since Alonso moved on and are yet to find anyone capable of replicating either his poise in possession or his intelligent use of the ball.
Unwilling to dwell on the past, Alonso sees only a bright future for his former club, particularly that the ownership issues that dogged it during his own time at Anfield have now been resolved and a recovery is being mounted under the stewardship of Kenny Dalglish.
“I think they have regained their confidence and despite being knocked out of the Europa League (by Braga) their form in the Premier League has improved a lot,†Alonso said. “I think they can rebuild a copetitive team, especially as it looks like there is now stability at the club again. Now they have to think about the sport side and create a plan for the following years.â€

 

Is this a signal that he would like to come back???

 

Very humbel bloke to say the least good read Rover!

 

cheers ronan fantastic read thanks for posting

 

As stated in the other thread, Alonso is simply class, both on and off the field.
Cracking read mate, cheers for posting!

 

hats off for the link man, agree xabi seems like a top bloke, still though don't forget he pretty much forced through his move to real. Yes rafa has to take a huge share of the blame for the carry on with the previous season with the barry saga. One thing I'll say about xabi which says alot about the chap is that he didnt go sulking or bitching to the press, he just stuck to his guns and put in an outstanding season's work, who you forget his goal at stamford bridge and yes chelsea fans( and i'll include the chelsea fc website writer in this!) it was his goal.

to sum things up, i'll leave you guys with one question, xabi or charlie adam???

its a no brainer really, come on kenny work your charm on xabi!!

 

Nice read and fair play for posting it.It seems some of our former players have class, even from the minute he left, he showed repect towards both the club and the fans. I like Xabi and i hope he does well, and ive nothing but Respect for the man.

 

Thanks Ronan,

Very good read .....

We should be so lucky mate. We never realised just how important he was to our team, until it was too late ... he was a massive loss for LFC, imho.

 

thanks for posting that Ronan , good read !

 

as much as I would love it there is not a hope of him coming back, he's nearly 30 now and playing a key role with Real Madrid, contesting titles and playing in the CL, why would he swap all that to spend his last few years scrapping away in the Europa League.

Dream on guys.

and anyway (Xabi aside) if the plan at LFC id to build for the future should we even be looking at 30 year olds? we have enough of them at the club I think.