Xabi alonso : l'exemple

Phénoménal.Fabuleux.Extraordinaire. Nombreux sont les mots pour dercire ce joueur espagnol , ce jeune et si bon milieux de terrain qu'est xabi alonso. Défensif comme offensif , xabi a donné a liverpool un autre style de jeu , un jeu plus léché , plus technique , plus atrrayant. Alors bien sur ce n'est pas le seul a avoir changé la phisique du jeu des reds mais c'est probablement celui qui donne le plus de mouvement car ce joueur donne l'impression de se diviser en 11 joueurs différents qui sont vraiment tous a leur poste , car quand le basque revient défendre il devient un défenseur et joue comme un défenseur , quand il joue a droite il joue comme un vrai latéral droit etc... Avec steven gerrard il fait des merveilles , tout seul il fait des prouesses , il est tout le temps au moins bon dans un match et ca ce n'est pas donné a tout le monde , stevie est un trés grand joueur xabi suit sa route et sera dans une ou deux années un des tout meilleurs milieux du monde , pendant ce temps il continu a impressioner par sa vison de jeu , par sa vitesse d'execution , par ses passes ultras préssises , et aussi par sa technique impéccable , les amis voila en xabi alonso l'inacarnation du meilleur milieu de terrain espagnol du monde et d'un des grands joueurs qui aura jouer a liverpool...

je crois que tu t'emballes un peu trop vite!! certes il est doué mais il a quelques moments d'inconsatnce de plus josep guardiola etait meilleur a mon avis

xabi est un grand, mais néanmoins il peut encore progresser pour devenir un joueur incontournable de liverpool fc.

voici un article de balague sur xabi alonso.
c'est vraiment un très bon article,rempli de points de vue de diverses de personalités.il est daté d'aujourd'hui dimanche 22 mai.

'And coming off is number four, Don Xabi Alonso.' That's what you would hear from the speakers at the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastián whenever Real Sociedad took off their midfielder in the two years before he moved to England. 'Don' was used as a mark of respect, one that has been replaced at Anfield by the phrase 'Xabi is class', which can be heard from supporters all around the ground after every precise pass from the Basque. In other words, very often.

Xabi Alonso seems older, both on and off the pitch, than his 23 years. He is already the player his team-mates look for, the one who never hides, the manager's coach on the pitch. He looks as though he has already seen it all and done it all and he walks around at Liverpool with the same serenity with which he assumed the role of leader at Real Sociedad.
His father, Periko, was a member of the Sociedad team that won the club's only two league titles, in 1981 and 1982, before moving to Barcelona. Although Xabi was a baby when that team provided nearly half the Spain team and never saw his dad play, he shows his football intelligence by challenging the popular misconceptions. 'People say he was a physical player, a defensive midfielder. I have seen the videos and yes he was strong, but he knew how to play the ball, how to distribute it.'

Xabi knows, too. He is an organiser, the axis of a team, with a special vision and understanding of the game; the sort of leader who does not need an exaggerated outburst of anger to be heard or respected.

He is modest, too. 'Me? Leader of what?' he repeats every time he is asked about his role. '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.'

Steven Gerrard is the player most widely seen as the key to Liverpool's fortunes but Alonso's name is chanted before the cap tain's when the team run out at Anfield. His partnership with Gerrard has not yet completely taken off because both have suffered from injuries and the odd suspension at different times during the season, restricting them to fewer than 20 games together. It could be the foundation for Liverpool for years to come.

'Stevie covers lots of ground, goes forward more often and has an impressive shot,' says Alonso. 'I keep the ball, offer myself for the pass, mix short and long passes and go forward less frequently. In England in the past, when long balls were the rule, the central midfield player did not have to link the game. But I see more and more players like that in the Premiership now.

'Liverpool have always been a bit more continental and I have been told about Jan Molby, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness. You can see and hear the reaction in the stadium when you make three consecutive good passes. Anfield supporters have been taught good football.'

Dalglish describes Alonso as 'the pick of the players that have come in this season' and Molby is flattered by comparisons made in the stands between him and Liverpool's new star. 'A lot of things he does, I suppose I was capable of,' says the Dane. 'Central midfield is a busy area and obviously it helped having the right team-mates around me, but I could play a game at the pace that suited me. It's possibly more difficult to do that today because a lot of people can only play at a hundred miles an hour. He's got a good head on a young pair of shoulders.

'Watching the last 15 minutes of the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, I couldn't help thinking that if he'd been there [Alonso was suspended] he might have made another goal with one pass and put the game beyond them. What was needed was a little bit of calmness in the middle of the park. Alonso would've been in his element.'

Alonso wears none of the glitzy paraphernalia that tends to come with being a football star these days and, while he lived with his parents in San Sebastián, he now lives in a flat where he watches only English TV (no Spanish satellite), to help him to learn a new language, and continues his business studies. It is a stone's throw from Liverpool city centre, where he can be seen walking, absorbing the atmosphere, immersing himself in the business of living in a foreign country.

'It is a great new step in my career,' he says. 'I really hope to be here for a long time. I was sold on the club, the new project with Rafa Benítez, and we can already see his hand in everything that is happening.'

He certainly has no regrets. 'I had it in my head I was staying at Real Sociedad when all the rumours were flying around about me going to Real Madrid. And when I was told, after long negotiations, I was going to Liverpool, I was set on that. It was not disappointing not to go to Madrid.

'What is happening in Liverpool is a huge adventure and I was ready for this change in culture. I've accepted what England can offer and I feel part of it. I used to live in San Sebastián with my family and friends, but now I spend most of the time with people from the club. I must adapt and I am happy to do so. People in Liverpool are very welcoming. I hardly miss anything from home; maybe a big fresh-fish meal, but I've even found places to buy the same tinned tuna I used to eat at home.'

Alonso's calm character and footballing repertoire were the stuff of legend when he was still a teenager. He spent the first six years of his life in Barcelona, but as soon as he moved to San Sebastián, he started playing football on the city's La Concha beach. At Antiguoko, the modest team where his career started before he signed, with his brother, for Sociedad, they say: 'Nothing that happens in a match unsettles him.'

What about that yellow card in the first leg of the semi-final against Chelsea, when Eidur Gudjohnsen appeared to dive? Distraught on the pitch, by the time he left the ground Alonso had accepted it. 'I was sad to miss the second leg, but all I hoped was that we made it to the final. These things happen,' he says.

In January 2001, with Sociedad bottom of the league, new manager John Toshack recalled Alonso from a loan spell with neighbouring club Eibar. Alonso had been sent there by the former coach Javier Clemente (who in the meantime had been replaced by Alonso's father for a brief two-month spell before Toshack arrived). Alonso told his manager that he was 'not afraid of responsibility' and the Welshman made him captain in the hope of avoiding relegation. Alonso was 19. Sociedad stayed up.

Toshack could not recall a former youth-team player causing such an impact at the club: 'Everyone seemed to play better when he was on the pitch,' he says.

Molby adds: 'He's got what I call football intelligence. He doesn't have to score and he's never going to be a double-figures man, but you can tell he gets more pleasure out of creating chances for others.

'I remember seeing him play for Sociedad and he impressed me in Euro 2004 when he came on for Spain a couple of times. Every pass he made, I was saying, "That's the right one, that's the right one." When he signed for Liverpool, a lot of fans would've said, "Xabi who?" But I knew this kid was special. He'll only improve, too, when Benítez builds a team that'll keep the ball better. You can tell Alonso is absolutely central to his plans.'

Alonso had no particular footballing hero as a youngster. '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.' Alonso has never played in defence, attack or even in a wide position, which is why he distributes with the pace and understanding of a more experienced player. 'When you have done the same thing for so many years, you end up doing it naturally and effortlessly,' he says.

Iñaki Sáez, who gave Alonso his international debut in 2003, is convinced he will be the brains of the Spain team for a decade. 'He has a fantastic range of accurate passing, sees football with an extraordinary clarity and plays with two touches,' Sáez says. 'He stops, thinks and passes. He moves the game in the opposite way to where it's going and will learn to steal balls because he has the body for it.'

Sáez gave Alonso control of central midfield in the return leg of the play-off for Euro 2004 against Norway. His job was to pass the ball and, of 581 Spain passes that night (Primera Liga matches average 442), he made 98, more than anybody else, and more than one a minute. His comment afterwards? 'We played very comfortably and that helped the stats.'

As Liverpool team-mate Jamie Carragher says: 'Passing-wise not many players in Europe are on a level with him.'

Benítez says that he could be as influential to today's team as Dalglish was to the class of the late 1970s and 1980s and as Dennis Bergkamp has been at Arsenal. Dalglish scored the winner in the 1978 European Cup final, against Bruges, at the end of his first season at Anfield. Nothing would please Alonso more than emulating that achievement in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Xabi Alonso espère un "happy end"
Vendredi, 20 mai 2005
Par Adrian Clarke

La remarquable saison en UEFA Champions League du Liverpool FC se terminera par une finale face à l'AC Milan au stade olympique Atatürk d'Istanbul, mercredi. Vingt-et-un ans après leur quatrième et dernier succès en finale de la Coupe des clubs champions européens, les hommes de Rafael Benítez, qui font figure d'outsiders, ont l'opportunité de faire grandir la riche histoire de ce club.
Une occasion importante
Le milieu de terrain espagnol Xabi Alonso est bien conscient de ce que signifierait un cinquième triomphe en Coupe des clubs champions pour la ville anglaise. "Liverpool doit retrouver la position de meilleure équipe européenne que le club avait dans le passé. Et nous en sommes proches", a-t-il déclaré à uefa.com.
Une finale inattendue
"Je n'y crois toujours pas, c'est incroyable d'avoir atteint la finale de cette compétition lors de ma première saison au club. Cela sera sans aucun doute le plus gros match de ma carrière", a-t-il ajouté. "J'espère profiter de cette opportunité et rendre cette soirée inoubliable pour moi-même et tous les supporteurs."
Une bataille tactique
Des victoires étriquées face à la Juventus en quart de finale, puis face au Chelsea FC en demi-finale ont permis à Liverpool de se qualifier pour la finale. Rafael Benítez n'est pas étranger à ce succès. Alonso est certain que l'ancien entraîneur du Valencia CF sera de nouveau l'élément clé de cette confrontation avec les hommes de Carlo Ancelotti à Istanbul.
Un maître
"L'entraîneur va sans aucun doute mettre en place un bon plan tactique pour battre le Milan AC, après l'avoir longuement étudié", dit Alonso. "Rafa Benítez est un très bon tacticien et il a été fantastique cette saison. Il a gagné avec Valence et il est en train de faire la même chose avec Liverpool. Ses résultats, spécialement en Europe, sont excellents. Cette saison, il a permis à tous les joueurs de progresser."
Les héros néerlandais
Selon Alonso, la belle performance du PSV Eindhoven en demi-finale a donné un peu plus de confiance aux Reds à l'approche du match. Mais le maître du milieu de terrain n'est pas sûr d'adopter la même tactique que contre le champion des Pays-Bas. "Après avoir vu la belle prestation du PSV face à Milan, nous avons pris confiance", a-t-il déclaré. "Ils ont posé de nombreux problèmes aux Milanais, ce qui nous permet de croire encore plus que nous sommes capables de les battre."
Prudence
"Le PSV a joué un football offensif et cela a payé, mais je ne pense pas que nous ferons exactement la même chose", a-t-il ajouté. "Nous voulons attaquer mais nous devrons être prudents et ne pas trop ouvrir le jeu. C'est une finale, nous n'avons qu'une seule chance de la gagner, donc je pense que nous allons rester prudents."
Supporteurs
le soutien inconditionnel des supporteurs ne manquera certainement pas à Istanbul. Les deux clans de supporteurs sont renommés pour créer des ambiances intimidantes chez eux. Des niveaux de bruit sans précédent ont même été enregistrés à Anfield au cours de la demi-finale contre Chelsea. Xabi Alonso sait que les supporteurs de Liverpool joueront encore une fois un rôle important.

"Les fans de Liverpool ont intimidé Chelsea à Anfield, et je pense qu'ils peuvent faire la même chose à Istanbul"


Mur du son
"Les fans de Liverpool ont intimidé Chelsea à Anfield, et je pense qu'ils peuvent faire la même chose à Istanbul," a-t-il avoué. "Les supporteurs italiens vont vraiment être derrière leur équipe, mais je pense que nos fans feront plus de bruit. Je veux les remercier pour le rôle si important qu'ils ont joué dans notre parcours jusqu'à la finale. J'espère que nous pourrons les récompenser avec un titre de champion d'Europe."

Alonso adds touch of the sublime to Anfield armada
By Phil Shaw
25 May 2005

Out on the pitch, Xabi Alonso remains serene and precise when others are losing their composure and range. As a reluctant spectator when Liverpool earned the right to a shot at immortality against Milan in the Champions' League final tonight, the metronomic midfielder was no more immune than 40,000 fans to the emotions unleashed by the victory over Chelsea.

In the first leg of the semi-final, Alonso had been shown a yellow card after Eidur Gudjohnsen reacted theatrically to his challenge. It meant he was banned for the return at Anfield, a "shattering blow" which briefly reduced him to tears in the dressing-room. However, his colleagues vowed to get him to Istanbul - and since when did suspension stop anyone from becoming a singing, chanting Red for a night?

Alonso takes up the story. "As I sat there in the stand, I found myself joining in with the crowd. I just couldn't help myself. I was excited, got carried away and ended up singing along. I must admit I became emotional, so when the final whistle went I had to get on the pitch.

"It wasn't easy. I tried to climb over the front of the press box but I could tell there was no way through all the fans in the seats below. So I turned and sprinted down the stairs and out through the tunnel. I had to share the moment with my team-mates. I wanted to say 'thank you' because they promised me a Champions' League final and they delivered for me. I owe them for that."

The Basque Beatle owes nobody anything after a first season in which he has comfortably justified Rafael Benitez's £10.6m outlay to Real Sociedad. True, the partnership with Steven Gerrard has not blossomed as spectacularly or consistently as Liverpool hoped. Yet that has been due to factors beyond his control, like his three-month lay-off with a broken ankle, and he is confident they are as good a duo as any in Europe - including, he said pointedly, Milan's Andrea Pirlo and Kaka.

Alonso seldom marauds like Gerrard and is not the out-and-out holding player Dietmar Hamann is. His natural gift, unusual in one who is only 23, is for linking the back to the front; for keeping the ball and the shape of the side. More so than Gerrard, for all the captain's inspirational qualities, he is Benitez's organiser on the park.

Intriguingly, given that Gerrard may yet leave Liverpool, the England player was indisposed when Alonso played the part to perfection. That was in Turin, where he returned from his long absence after just 45 minutes' reserve football, and did more than anyone, with the arguable exception of Jamie Carragher, to ensure Juventus seldom got a sniff of the goal they needed.

So much for British successes in Europe being based on passion, lung power and the long ball. Liverpool's display was a classic of "Continental" sophistication. Alonso knew Benitez worked that way from their respective spells in San Sebastian and Valencia. Indeed, he spurned Real Madrid to join the so-called "Rafalution".

"The manager is a great professional," the Spanish international said. "He always prepares thoroughly and knows everything about each team we play, their strengths and weaknesses. Tactically, he is very astute and he makes sure we all have the same idea and know exactly what is expected of us.

"He doesn't go round shouting at players. That's not his style. Funnily enough, you're more likely to hear him raise his voice in criticism when we're winning. He wants to make sure we keep our feet on the ground, and he believes there's always room for improvement."

That is certainly true of Alonso's medal collection. "I've never won one or even played in a cup final at any level," he said. "What a way to start if we could win this one. I know all about the era when Liverpool were England's most successful side in Europe. To be walking out in a Liverpool shirt 20 years on from their last final is something to savour. It will be great to be part of the club's history.

"No one can question our right to be in the final after the way we beat Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea. Milan may be favourites, but we're here to win. It's probably fair to say the final won't be an open affair with lots of chances at both ends. They have a great defence and we've done very well defensively too, so there will be a lot of mutual respect."

Similar predictions were made when Liverpool last contested a European final, against Alaves in the Uefa Cup four years ago. It finished 5-4 to the Merseyside club. With Alonso on song, Benitez's men are more likely to be calling the tune than facing the music.

c'est pas possible d'avoir les traductions a la place svp lol

Xabi comme Stevie seront les pièces majeures du système Rafa du millieu, quel talent !

désolé nocif,il ya qq jours à midi,j'ai passé 1h à traduir l'article et au moment de le poster,le forum n'etait plus dispo.
suis dégoutté.
mais maintenant je fais une traduction en début d'article.

That's true,the lad is class!
his commitment has improved this year, he tackles with his heart,his passes are top class(almost all the times,if not always)
xabi will soon be reckoned as one of our legends.

une interview en espagnol:
http://www.cuatro.com/multimedia/video.html?xref=20060110ctoultnot_3.Ves