With a long pass as accurate as we’ve seen in years and a love of The Big Lebowski, we don’t think there are many better midfielders out there than Xabi Alonso
By Adrian Collins
Without lapsing into hyperbole, Xabi Alonso, in pure footballing terms, is one of the finest technical players in the world at the minute.
He’s not only the manager’s brain on the pitch, which is why he’s a favourite of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, but he’s also technically brilliant, and the sight of Alonso spraying a seventy yard ball or scoring from his own half made him a Liverpool legend form the moment he stepped on to the turf at Anfield.
His move to Spanish giants Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 devastated plenty of Liverpool fans and sparked a bit of controversy, but the Madrid press were clear in their message upon his arrival: “The team has a brain”.
And that is exactly what he is. From the heart of the midfield, Alonso dictates the play both defensively and offensively, with raking balls over the top or slide rule passes in behind the defence for the pace on the wings. It is no coincidence that Liverpool have been performing consistently worse since he left and have simply been unable to replace him in the intervening years.
The highlights of his international career reads like the stuff of dreams, with two European championship medals, a World Cup, and over 100 caps for his country. His club career ain’t too shabby either, with medals from the Champions League, FA Cup, La Liga and Copa del Rey to his name, as well as a host of individual awards.
His main asset is his ability to pick a pass through the defence from any angle, and rarely, if ever, does he misplace or mishit a ball to a team-mate. There are few greater pleasures in life than sitting back and watching Alonso stroke the ball around the pitch with his flawless technique, so just enjoy this compilation.
His vision is also key. While he’s scored the odd goal from inside his half which looks spectacular, as in this clip, it’s his vision to spot the opportunity that is most impressive, and it is why he catches goalkeepers off guard.
However, there is one flaw to Alonso’s game, and it’s his tendency to pick up silly yellow cards at key points in a game. He knows when to throw his weight around and rarely backs down from a challenge, which saw him and Frank Lampard enter into a long running and bitter rivalry.
He does commit the odd cynical or needless foul, and he is likely, at some stage, to serve a suspension for picking up too many yellow cards. When he’s absent, the team are significantly worse.
All that aside, his dead ball skills are also incredible, and it’s a travesty that Cristiano Ronaldo is on free kick duty at Real when Alonso is there too. He’s also not bad at slotting home a penalty if he’s given half an opportunity either.
Talk about technique…
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