More Quotes by 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.
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.
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.
I tried to do everything just as I would before any other match, but it was impossible.
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.
As long as we have the possibility then we still have to fight for it.
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.
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.
If you have control of the midfield, you have control of the game, and you have more chances to win.
