Top 107 Quotes & Sayings by Xabi Alonso - Page 2

Writing is not easy, but having an opinion is!

Growing doesn't mean renouncing your history.

The Bundesliga is much quicker; it's more physical than the Liga, which is more technical.

I am still as slow as I was when I was 20.

My family have absolutely no problem about me playing for Real Madrid. They have become Real Madrid fans.

The only thing I regret is not winning the Premier League with Liverpool. I'll never know how that feels and experience the reaction of the city, as I did after Istanbul. It hurts because I know the people want the league title more than anything.

I have played against, but not with, Zinedine Zidane and would liked to have played with him.

I would never have dreamed to have had such a nice career as this. I like football, and this is like a nice football journey.

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.

My game is not to have one great action. My game is to be consistent throughout: to bring the ball in the best and quickest possible way for the best players to make the last action.

I grew up a lot as a professional and as a person in Liverpool, and I have very strong links to the club and the city.

Passion? Of course it's necessary, but it's more important to have footballing foundations, certainly, when developing players.

Being a manager is so different to being a footballer. It's a very difficult job, but, of course, it's very exciting as well.

Passion isn't something you work on. It's more important to construct a good team, to know how you are going to play, how to read the match. You have to truly understand the game.

That's one thing that I've always wanted: to make my own decisions and not to be pushed. That has happened in my career, and I wanted to leave football, not football to leave me. I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could and to leave it a little bit earlier than too late.

Writing is not my thing; playing football is my thing.

If I decide somewhere along the way to take my chances as a manager, my link, my commitment, my passion with Liverpool is there.

I've said a few times the Bundesliga is closer to the Premier League than the Liga.

Everyone should know my quality and what I bring to the team.

They value different things in every country. In England, it's very physical. You tackle, you shoot. I love watching it. In Spain, it's different. Pass the ball, move, find the space.

You always want to feel important at wherever you are at.

There are not many better clubs to play football for than Liverpool.

If you go out and play your own way, anything can happen. You might win.

At the end, when you play, you want to win.

Managing Liverpool? Yes, for sure, I have dreamt of that, but first I have to prove myself and prepare.

The grass, the sound of the ball, the jokes with my teammates - that's what I will miss most. That is what fulfills you most on a daily basis.

That is probably the biggest issue about the English game. You need to be a great player and great at striking the ball, of course, but it's also about your head and being able to understand the game, especially for a midfielder.

To be fighting at European level, you need players who know how to play in the big games.

I stay in contact with friends I have in Liverpool. It's not a normal club; it's so special and very important to me.

I have been lucky enough to be at great clubs, from my hometown club to Liverpool to Real Madrid to Bayern Munich.

Neuer is by far the best keeper I've played with and is also outstanding outfield.

I still feel I have a special connection with Liverpool fans.

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

It is a fact for any footballer - you can be really happy, but if the club don't want you, you have to accept it.

I don't think I will stop learning about football. There are certain parts we will never understand, like what happens in the brain of a player or makes a team fear.

Matches in England are special.

Munich is a very good city to live in. The life quality is superb.

I don't want to just play well; I want the players around me to play better, and that's when I feel that I have done my job.

I've played with great players and worked with great managers; I've learned a lot from all of them.

It is difficult to copy Real Madrid, as not every team has those players who can run with such explosion, like Ronaldo.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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