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.

Xabi Alonso

Categorized in : Football Home Player

I had five great years at Liverpool and I would rather just keep that memory as it is.

Xabi Alonso

great-year memories years

As long as we have the possibility then we still have to fight for it.

Xabi Alonso

fighting soccer long

I am still a Liverpool fan and will be forever, absolutely

Xabi Alonso

fans stills forever

We will have to go to win. There's no other option. We have one more match.

Xabi Alonso

winning soccer

I left Real Madrid for the same reason Di Maria did. We work hard but only others get the praise.

Xabi Alonso

madrid hard-work real

I tried to do everything just as I would before any other match, but it was impossible.

Xabi Alonso

impossible soccer

Real Madrid is a big club, and like at any other big club, too, there are always critics after defeats.

Xabi Alonso

big like always real

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.

Xabi Alonso

day good work time

You have to know your role and accept it, because that's what is best for the team.

Xabi Alonso

best know you team

I feel very comfortable with the system used by Mourinho. It's a very dynamic 4-2-3-1 that can easily change to 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 depending on the moment or the team's needs. He really knows what he wants.

Xabi Alonso

feel moment team change

If you have control of the midfield, you have control of the game, and you have more chances to win.

Xabi Alonso

control game win you

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.

Xabi Alonso

i-am my-life important life

I prefer not to compare teams because it's not fair at all.

Xabi Alonso

fair because not-fair compare

Sometimes that kind of last-ditch tackle can get the crowd excited, and you get a push from that. It's important to play with that psychological side of the game, but it depends on the quality of the player.

Xabi Alonso

game you quality sometimes

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.

Xabi Alonso

alone game win you

I know what my strengths and weaknesses are on the pitch. My duty is to be risk averse.

Xabi Alonso

strengths know risk duty

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.

Xabi Alonso

lose feel good leader

People in Liverpool are very welcoming.

Xabi Alonso

welcoming very liverpool people

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.

Xabi Alonso

loved enjoy talent way

When the results are good, everything seems prettier; when things go bad, it seems like all conflicts, personal disputes, and problems arise.

Xabi Alonso

problems everything bad good