paul tomkins:extrait de "golden past,red future"

paul tomkins est un posteur éclairé de RAWK.
il sort un livre."golden past,red future".
sa plume est très appréciée des fans des reds.
voici un de ces passages de ce livre sur xabi alonso.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xabi Alonso: The Spanish Prince
(Exclusive extract of "Golden Past, Red Future")

The first thing you say to yourself, watching Xabi Alonso in an early appearance at Anfield in the early autumn of 2004 as, without even appearing to look, he curls another delightful pass, with pace, to Luis Garcia’s feet from 50 yards away, is There must be some kind of mistake. For once, the mistake does not relate to Why the hell have the club wasted all that money? (In fact, £10.5m looks instantly like a steal.)

The discrepancy appears to be with his birth certificate.

There is no way this man is a mere 22-years-old. No way. Everything about him, on and off the pitch, screams late 20s, early 30s: the poise; the composure; the air of experience; the maturity evident in his voice as he speaks in such good English during those early interviews. This is a man, not a boy.

The second thing you think, as he drops his shoulder and sends yet another opponent in pursuit of his shadow, is Why the hell did Real Madrid pull out of a deal to sign him? It was a question asked by none other than erstwhile Madrid legend Michel, who felt Alonso was a more complete footballer than Patrick Vieira. That’s not to say the idea had no support at the Bernabéu, since Vieira’s signing was backed by Alfredo di Stefano, although his double-edged assessment of the player (“Vieira plays well and he also kicks people”), may hint at the reason for divided opinion. The politics at Spanish clubs is truly something to behold, and it didn’t stop there. José Antonio Camacho, the re-instated disciplinarian manager, back at Real Madrid to sort out the galácticos, had told Florentino Pérez that Vieira was more his type of player.

Opinion was heavily divided: Jorge Valdano, the Director of Football, urged Pérez to buy Alonso at all costs, but the President was keen on placating Camacho, given that Camacho had previously walked out on the club over a lack of control over transfers. So while Madrid procrastinated over a Spaniard in trying to procure a Frenchman, Rafael Benítez stepped in like Alonso himself, when reading the play and cutting out a through ball. No longer denying Europe’s most successful club league titles, Benítez was now snapping up their transfer targets. Vieira would remain at Arsenal, and score a fantastic goal at Anfield four months later; Alonso, however, was also on the field, in the red of Liverpool, and would score an even better goal: curling a shot into the top corner after a delightful move involving Finnan, Kewell and Gerrard.

If anything could soften the blow of Michael Owen joining Real Madrid it was the fact that, for the same fee, Liverpool picked up a 22-year-old genius who might otherwise have been playing at the Bernabéu.

Alonso was born into football: the son of Miguel Angel (‘Periko’), a Spanish international who played for Barcelona, as well as Real Sociedad in their successive-title-winning side of the early 1980s, and who later coached the team (Xabi’s brother Mikel is still part of the senior squad at the Anoeta). The Liverpool connection goes back to 2001, when ex-Anfield great, John Toshack –– returning for his third spell as Real Sociedad’s manager –– recalled Xabi from a loan spell at Second Division Eibar. Periko, who had been caretaker up until Toshack’s arrival, and was fearful of accusations of nepotism, sent his teenage son out to Eibar.

The story runs that Toshack stormed into the office of the Director of Football, and yelled “What the fuck is Alonso doing at Eibar?” Suffice to say that within 24 hours the young Xabi was not only back at Sociedad but back in the side, and the club, 2nd from bottom of the Primera Liga, soon rose to mid-table safety. Within a year, the club (with new signing Sander Westerveld in goal) would be challenging for the Spanish title, eventually finishing as runners-up.


Acclaim

Xabi, the most talented of all the Alonsos, was an early contender for Liverpool Player of the Season, before his campaign was thought to have been curtailed in the home game with Chelsea, when Frank Lampard’s clumsy late tackle resulted in a broken ankle. But there
was a twist in the tale: Alonso was named as a substitute on April 5 against Juventus –– he was still some way short of full fitness, but his mere presence on the Anfield bench was a massive boost to everyone at the club, and he would return to the starting XI just one week later, in the return fixture at the Stadio Delle Alpi.

At the time of his return, Alonso was still sitting clear in fourth spot in the voting on the club’s official website for its player of the season, despite missing almost four months, and having only arrived at the end of August, four games into the season. (The voting also included the club’s four pre-season games.) With fans and the site’s journalists voting on the best five players following every game, in two separate polls, Alonso trailed behind only Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Milan Baros in each, while a fair way ahead of John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia. Within just three games, he was in third position, and the plaudits started arriving, thicker and faster than before.

Ian St John –– so critical of Liverpool during the reign of Gérard Houllier –– said Alonso had grown to become even more crucial to Liverpool’s game than Steven Gerrard. It was a statement that, if made the previous summer, many would have found implausible: who could possibly be more influential than Gerrard? Whereas Luis Garcia had been prematurely (and incorrectly) compared to Kenny Dalglish, given the position he occupied early on in the season, Alonso was now being compared to Dalglish in terms of influence and passing ability.

‘Anfield Iron’ Tommy Smith said: “The performance of Xabi Alonso [against Juventus] was exceptional. You don’t have to be a genius to see how good the young Spaniard is. He reminds me in many ways of Kenny Dalglish, having that rare ability to make time and space for himself to play his football. He never seems to give the ball away and his range of pinpoint passing is a joy to see. Alonso is pure footballing class and a real symbol of hope for the future at Anfield.”

Rafael Benítez echoed those sentiments. “When I look at the best players in the history of the Premiership or at the top of the English game, the most influential are those with the most skill. You have Dalglish who inspired the great Liverpool side, Cantona at Manchester United, Zola at Chelsea and Bergkamp who was crucial at the start of Arsenal success. These are players who rely on skill more than physical play. For me, Xabi is the kind of player who can come into their category. Of course, you always need good players around someone like this which is why it’s a shame we’ve had few opportunities to have Xabi and Steven Gerrard playing with each other. With both of them, we could do a lot better than we are.”

Benítez clearly rued the loss of his influential midfielder between January and April. “It was a pity we lost Xabi for three months because if he’d been playing for the whole season, I’m sure we’d have more points. He makes our team play well. When Xabi plays we pass the ball a lot better. Our vision is to create a Liverpool team which passes the ball well across all sides of the pitch, and this is something which Xabi does very well. When we [the staff] joined Liverpool, Xabi and Luis Garcia were the players we knew we wanted to bring to the club with us.”


Quarterback

The position made his own by Didi Hamann under Houllier was now Alonso’s for the taking. (Although Benítez did opt for three in central midfield at times, knowing that no team could match that trio.) Whereas in previous seasons the job of Hamann was to shield the back four and to give the ball, simply, to a nearby player, it was now, with Alonso, the fulcrum from which attacks could be launched at all angles.

The problem with Hamann playing that role was that his midfield partner –– Gerrard, in most instances –– often had to drop deep to collect the ball from the German, in order to start a move with a searching pass. Hamann had no long-range passing, and if he ended up giving it back to the centre-backs they then looked to bypass the midfield (often referred to by opposing fans as the ‘hoof’), and it was a lottery for the forwards. At times, Gerrard, Hamann, Henchoz and Hyypia were standing within touching distance, and given that the full-backs and wide midfielders weren’t always free to roam, options for the pass were few and literally far between. Either Gerrard gave it back to Hamann or Hyypia, or he looked for the 60-yard pass.

Alonso, however, was akin to an American Football quarterback. He dropped off the play to receive the ball, and then had the ability to find someone in space, in any part of the pitch. The change of emphasis in the role perfectly summed up the difference between Houllier and Benítez. Where it had been an almost-exclusively destructive one under Houllier, it is now a starting point. But that is not to suggest Alonso is some lightweight dilettante unprepared to roll up his sleeves, or dirty his kit. While he doesn’t excel at the destructive side of the game to quite the extent Hamann does, he is still perfectly capable, given his innate footballing intelligence, of reading the play and breaking up moves by being in the right place at the right time.

Just as Bobby Moore could defend expertly without a hint of pace –– as Bob Paisley often noted, the first two yards are in the mind –– so Alonso can patrol in front of the back four and obviate trouble in a fashion not too dissimilar to Hamann himself; it doesn’t need a Paul Ince flying into bone-juddering tackles at 100mph. In fact, those players who can nick the ball away rather than go to ground can be more effective. (Often the reason blood-and-thunder types have to make those meaty challenges in the first place is due to their own poor control.) Salif Diao won some (rare) acclaim for his performance at Goodison Park in December 2004, and indeed won plenty of tackles. But almost every one involved conceding the ball to the opposition.

A player who can anticipate the danger, and cut it off at the source (or indeed, to use the apt phrase from Westerns, ‘cut it off at the pass’), might not appear to be winning the midfield battle, but will often be far more effective. In the British game fans love to see a thundering challenge, but some continental brainpower and nous can remove the need. Players like Hamann, and Hansen all those years ago, excel at the defensive side of the game, and yet neither has enough meat on them to worry even the slightest of attackers. By staying on their feet, they give themselves an advantage.

As well as being able to make a tackle, Alonso proved he could take a tackle, too. His full debut at Bolton was notable for the number of times he was clattered after he released his pass. But it didn’t stop him wanting to get on the ball –– always a sign of a great player –– and he didn’t moan at the punishment he received. Even after Frank Lampard’s foul on New Year’s Day, Xabi looked to carry on, despite what transpired to be a broken bone in his ankle. Sometimes special players are more at risk, as their speed of thought can catch lesser players out –– the ball is there, so they try to win it, but like a conjurer the ball can be moved in a case of ‘now you see it, now you don’t’.

Pass master

It is possible to write a book about Alonso’s passing alone. He is the team’s metronome, getting the ball and dictating the pace of the game; an easy pass here, a long ball there, and a drilled pass to feet, or into space. Never predictable, but always in control, and nearly always picking the correct option.

It was the home game with Norwich which made the rest of England sit up and take note. (Admittedly not the greatest of opposition, but Norwich had, in the fashion typical of promoted clubs, made a fighting start to the season, and had been performing well.) Xabi shone like a beacon. The ball found him, and he found others with the ball: a magnet, but one which could turn from attraction to repulsion in a split second.

The Norwich manager, Nigel Worthington, remarked after seeing his side vanquished 3-0, “If I was a fan, I’d pay money to see him wherever he played. He and especially his passing were a different class.” The BBC’s Stuart Hall, interviewing Benítez after the match for Radio Five Live, suggested that Alonso was the best midfielder in Europe, possibly the world. Benítez, not wishing to single out an individual, stressed the importance of the team, but when pushed on the subject, conceded that Alonso “Is a very clever player. That makes everything easier for him.” According to former Everton and Norwich midfielder Neil Adams –– summarising for Norfolk Radio –– Alonso’s first half was “the best individual performance by a midfielder I can remember seeing”.

Aged just 22 when he arrived in England, Alonso’s passing and reading of the game already exhibited more maturity and composure than that of Steven Gerrard –– whose range of passing was not expected to be equalled, let alone bettered, in this generation. Where Gerrard’s game was almost exclusively about adding tempo, Alonso’s was about controlling it. Alonso’s arrival means more scope for Gerrard to get forward, and use his dynamic running and thunderous shot to hurt the opposition (as his goal tally suggested). While Gerrard is capable of hitting jaw-dropping long passes from deep, at times his decision making is a little lacking.

Alonso is now, without doubt, the best passer of the ball in England; Jan Molby reincarnated, after a lengthy stint on the Atkins Diet. Alonso, like Molby, knows where, when, and how to move the ball to the correct option, without appearing to break stride or indeed break sweat.

Together, Alonso and Gerrard, given their age, talent and complementary skills, possess the potential to become the club’s greatest-ever central midfield partnership –– if it is allowed to happen. If debate rages as to whether or not Gerrard has surpassed Graeme Souness in terms of all-round game, it is hard to think of a previous pairing that offers everything Alonso and Gerrard can, and with both players still a long way from their peak years. Broken bones to both player –– Gerrard in the autumn, Alonso in the winter –– limited the times they were seen in tandem, given that for six months of the season either one of them was out. With the departure of Gerrard still a possibility (if no longer an inevitability), it is perhaps a partnership Benítez will never see flourish.

Weaknesses?

No player is perfect. Hustle and harry Alonso, and of course he looks a little less impressive –– very few players can cope with the extra attention of being man-marked, or having two players detail him (although, as a result, it does allow others in the team more freedom). Xabi has enough clever turns and dummies to buy himself space for the pass, but he will receive more attention from opposition sides, now he has shown the damage he can inflict; the attention could be even more pronounced if Gerrard isn’t around to occupy the opposition enforcers, and to drag players around with his forceful running.

Fitness issues remain Alonso’s main concern. He is a natural footballer, but not a natural athlete. The brainpower, while it can compensate on many levels, cannot will his legs to run faster when a sprint is called for, or empower his lungs with the stamina of a Steven Gerrard.

John Toshack spoke about how his staff had to work to make Alonso more nimble, with all sorts of exercises designed to ‘lighten’ his feet. In his early months at Liverpool, Alonso was rotated more than other key players, and left on the bench in games where, in an ideal world, he would have started. (Fulham away being one such example: 2-0 down at half-time, Alonso came on at the start of the second half, and totally changed the game, scoring one and creating another, as Liverpool ran out 4-2 winners.)

It could be argued that this is Benítez’ way of allowing his most expensive signing to settle and acclimatise, but Luis Garcia, despite his small frame and some severe buffetings, tends to start games whenever fit. Alonso was mothballed for Champions League games, and it is a great testament to the club that it performed so well in the knock-out stages while he was absent.


The future

It’s hard to make predictions in football, as so much can change in a short space of time. Issues outside of the game can draw a player back to his homeland, in the way Antonio Reyes, his compatriot at Arsenal, has reportedly been pining for a return to Spain. Anything can happen: heaven forbid, but too many more lates tackle like the one that broke his ankle, and Alonso may merit a mere footnote in the history of Liverpool Football Club; a ‘what might have been’.

Alonso, an avid student of the game –– always thinking about what both he and the team can improve –– can become Benítez’ ‘manager on the pitch’, in the way Gary McAllister performed that role for Houllier. “He is a youngster with the mentality of an experienced player,” said Benítez. “Football has been his life because of his family and he analyses the game as well as he plays it.”

The potential is immense, and maybe one day soon, with luck on his side, he will merit an entire book of his own.

©Paul Tomkins & Jonathan Swain, 2005

Et apparemment, à partir de ce jour, il fera aussi une chronique régulière sur YNWA (le site préféré de 319), cet article en est la première expression ...

Quelqu'un d'autre a t-il achété son bouqui ? C'est absolumment remarquable, je le recommande ....

Je viens de le recevoir et m'apprête à le "déguster"...

rafa la bamba wrote:

Je viens de le recevoir et m'apprête à le "déguster"...

L'audacieuse comparaison entre Frankie Goes to Hollywood et Gérard Houllier est savoureuse ....

Ce livre est à la hauteur de ses articles ....