More Quotes by Xabi Alonso
I tried to do everything just as I would before any other match, but it was impossible.
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. Maybe he's not valued as much as he should be in England because of the style of football there and because he keeps a low profile. Perhaps he would have been more valued in Spain, where midfielders like him form part of the 'ideal.' Fans in Spain rate him very highly and I admire him a huge amount.
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.
I have been progressing throughout my career, which is a very good sign.
Leaving Liverpool was the toughest decision I had to make in football because I was in an exemplary club, a proper football club, with a lovely and sharing stadium that meant a lot of things to me. The fans are the best in the world, no doubt about that, and I was comfortable there.
I don't think tackling is a quality. It is a recurso, something you have to resort to, not a characteristic of your game.
I left Real Madrid for the same reason Di Maria did. We work hard but only others get the praise.
Managing Liverpool? Yes, for sure, I have dreamt of that, but first I have to prove myself and prepare.
You need to have the same ideas to work as a team, to have a good team spirit. And you don't get there in a day or even a month. It takes some time to get there.
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.
