Xabi Alonso emerges stronger from turmoil
James Ducker
It should have been one of the best times of Xabi Alonso's life. Spain had ended 44 years of heartache by winning the European Championship and the Liverpool midfield player had a baby boy, Jon, born a few months earlier, with whom to share the moment alongside Nagore, his fiancée. But the summer of 2008 will always carry with it a nasty caveat for Alonso.
As the celebrations continued long into the night in Madrid, the plot to remove Alonso and replace him with Gareth Barry was thickening on Merseyside. By the time Lazio arrived at Anfield for a friendly in August, the summer's most sordid transfer saga had reached almost farcical proportions.
Alonso was no longer just the intended makeweight in a deal to take Barry to Liverpool, he was a lame duck, a pawn in an increasingly political and publicised tug-of-war between Rafael Benítez, the manager, Rick Parry, the club's chief executive, and Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the owners. Liverpool's supporters, to their great credit, recognised this.
On the one hand, they were disgusted by the treatment of a player who had been the epitome of professionalism during his four years at the club; on the other, they seriously doubted whether the Aston Villa captain, despite his greater versatility, represented an improvement on one of the idols of Istanbul.
So the Kop let rip. If Benítez was humiliated, Alonso was humbled. As the player's name reverberated around Anfield, the realisation dawned on Alonso of precisely what was in danger of being taken away.
Fans had stopped him in the street to offer their support and encouragement, others had written to him expressing anger at the merciless attempts to offload him against his wishes, but hearing one of the great citadels of European football in full voice in sole recognition of him left a lump in the throat.
“That was a really emotional night for me,” Alonso said. “I can't tell you how much I appreciated such an incredible show of support. They couldn't have done more to tell me they wanted me to stay and if I had any doubts whatsoever on that score, they had disappeared long before the end.
“I always try my best, but as I heard my name ringing around that ground that night, I really felt I wanted to go on and do something to pay them all back. I always knew Liverpool fans were special and that just proved it. They appreciate loyalty from players, and not just the local boys like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
“They look at players like Dietmar Hamann and Sami Hyypia, and Jan Molby before them, and the impact they have had over a number of years. The example of those players is like a mirror for me. It is something I want to emulate, particularly after what happened against Lazio.”
But surely Alonso feels betrayed by Benítez? Surely he must have felt like telling the manager to stick it? He was, after all, one of his fellow Spaniard's most trusted lieutenants, his mouthpiece on the field, the player whom the manager so often called over to relay instructions to the rest.
“I prefer not to think too much about how I was treated,” Alonso, speaking for the first time about the situation at the launch of Fifa 09, the EA Sports football game, said. “It is not always easy to detach yourself from things like that, but I accept it is part of football and the main thing is it was all resolved and I am now playing regularly. It is a fact that any player can be really happy where he is, but if the club don't want him, he has to accept it. There is not much you can do.”
So has his relationship with Benítez changed? Alonso denies having a bust-up with the manager in the build-up to the first leg of Liverpool's Champions League third qualifying round tie against Standard Liège in Belgium in August, but it is fair to wonder how you go about piecing back together a relationship that lay in tatters only months ago? “There wasn't [any confrontation],” Alonso said. “You always want to feel important wherever you are at, but I feel settled at Liverpool again now.
“I just had to deal with it and everything between the manager, the board and myself is fine. Of course, the manager and I talk about things from time to time, but there has been nothing specific [said]. My relationship with the manager is professional, but it has always been professional.”
It takes a consummate professional to forgive and forget like Alonso has, a special one to emerge a better player from such a mess, which, if his performances this season are anything to go by, he has. But then this affable, intelligent Spaniard has always been the thinking man's footballer.
Unbeaten in all competitions this season, Liverpool face Manchester City away tomorrow hoping to maintain their momentum, but Alonso has witnessed too many false dawns at Anfield to start getting carried away. “We have to be cautious about making any predictions at this stage of the season,” he said. “We started well enough in the Premier League last season but could not sustain it.
“If you want to be challenging for the title, you cannot afford to have a bad month, like we did last time. You have to be so consistent, so strong, and our first objective is to go into the Christmas programme still in contention. If you are eight or nine points adrift at that stage, you are out of it and we don't want any repeat of that.”
The same voice of reason is applied when assessing the impact that the takeover of City by Sheikh Mansour, a multibillionaire from Abu Dhabi, could have. “It could herald a different era of football, but hopefully money won't impose over the football and the right way of preparing and working,” he said.
Xabi Alonso, professional to the last.
Ultimate professional.
James Ducker
It should have been one of the best times of Xabi Alonso's life. Spain had ended 44 years of heartache by winning the European Championship and the Liverpool midfield player had a baby boy, Jon, born a few months earlier, with whom to share the moment alongside Nagore, his fiancée. But the summer of 2008 will always carry with it a nasty caveat for Alonso.
As the celebrations continued long into the night in Madrid, the plot to remove Alonso and replace him with Gareth Barry was thickening on Merseyside. By the time Lazio arrived at Anfield for a friendly in August, the summer's most sordid transfer saga had reached almost farcical proportions.
Alonso was no longer just the intended makeweight in a deal to take Barry to Liverpool, he was a lame duck, a pawn in an increasingly political and publicised tug-of-war between Rafael Benítez, the manager, Rick Parry, the club's chief executive, and Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the owners. Liverpool's supporters, to their great credit, recognised this.
On the one hand, they were disgusted by the treatment of a player who had been the epitome of professionalism during his four years at the club; on the other, they seriously doubted whether the Aston Villa captain, despite his greater versatility, represented an improvement on one of the idols of Istanbul.
So the Kop let rip. If Benítez was humiliated, Alonso was humbled. As the player's name reverberated around Anfield, the realisation dawned on Alonso of precisely what was in danger of being taken away.
Fans had stopped him in the street to offer their support and encouragement, others had written to him expressing anger at the merciless attempts to offload him against his wishes, but hearing one of the great citadels of European football in full voice in sole recognition of him left a lump in the throat.
“That was a really emotional night for me,” Alonso said. “I can't tell you how much I appreciated such an incredible show of support. They couldn't have done more to tell me they wanted me to stay and if I had any doubts whatsoever on that score, they had disappeared long before the end.
“I always try my best, but as I heard my name ringing around that ground that night, I really felt I wanted to go on and do something to pay them all back. I always knew Liverpool fans were special and that just proved it. They appreciate loyalty from players, and not just the local boys like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
“They look at players like Dietmar Hamann and Sami Hyypia, and Jan Molby before them, and the impact they have had over a number of years. The example of those players is like a mirror for me. It is something I want to emulate, particularly after what happened against Lazio.”
But surely Alonso feels betrayed by Benítez? Surely he must have felt like telling the manager to stick it? He was, after all, one of his fellow Spaniard's most trusted lieutenants, his mouthpiece on the field, the player whom the manager so often called over to relay instructions to the rest.
“I prefer not to think too much about how I was treated,” Alonso, speaking for the first time about the situation at the launch of Fifa 09, the EA Sports football game, said. “It is not always easy to detach yourself from things like that, but I accept it is part of football and the main thing is it was all resolved and I am now playing regularly. It is a fact that any player can be really happy where he is, but if the club don't want him, he has to accept it. There is not much you can do.”
So has his relationship with Benítez changed? Alonso denies having a bust-up with the manager in the build-up to the first leg of Liverpool's Champions League third qualifying round tie against Standard Liège in Belgium in August, but it is fair to wonder how you go about piecing back together a relationship that lay in tatters only months ago? “There wasn't [any confrontation],” Alonso said. “You always want to feel important wherever you are at, but I feel settled at Liverpool again now.
“I just had to deal with it and everything between the manager, the board and myself is fine. Of course, the manager and I talk about things from time to time, but there has been nothing specific [said]. My relationship with the manager is professional, but it has always been professional.”
It takes a consummate professional to forgive and forget like Alonso has, a special one to emerge a better player from such a mess, which, if his performances this season are anything to go by, he has. But then this affable, intelligent Spaniard has always been the thinking man's footballer.
Unbeaten in all competitions this season, Liverpool face Manchester City away tomorrow hoping to maintain their momentum, but Alonso has witnessed too many false dawns at Anfield to start getting carried away. “We have to be cautious about making any predictions at this stage of the season,” he said. “We started well enough in the Premier League last season but could not sustain it.
“If you want to be challenging for the title, you cannot afford to have a bad month, like we did last time. You have to be so consistent, so strong, and our first objective is to go into the Christmas programme still in contention. If you are eight or nine points adrift at that stage, you are out of it and we don't want any repeat of that.”
The same voice of reason is applied when assessing the impact that the takeover of City by Sheikh Mansour, a multibillionaire from Abu Dhabi, could have. “It could herald a different era of football, but hopefully money won't impose over the football and the right way of preparing and working,” he said.
Xabi Alonso, professional to the last.
Ultimate professional.
) 
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