[INTERVIEW] Xabi Alonso

Interviewer: “As soon as you adapt, you ’re at the end of the road.”

Alonso: “Yes, and the truth is that it doesn ’t cost me. I left Donostia (San Sebastian) intending to learn about the whole country to which I was transferring. I had the advantage that this club gives you everything you need and also that I could handle myself in English. Language is fundamental and it ’s also important that you don’t just keep to people who speak Spanish.”

Interviewer: “But those Japanese dinners at Pepe Reina‘s house don’t count.”

Alonso: “No, ha ha, they’re a delight. I’ve adapted to a lot of English customs, but not to the food. I can ’t do it. And I can’t do the schedules either, this business of dinner at six o ’clock. I miss pinchos (a Basque food, bread and meat, held together with a stick, or pincho ‘“ Spanish ‘˜thorn) and fish! But I can deal with it. The family come and go and my pantry is always full.”

Interviewer: “With Reina it’s impossible to be bored, of course.”

Alonso: “He’s hyperactive, too much! All of Spain knows it after the Euros. It ’s tremendous the number of friends that visit him and bring him food. Pepe is in a class by himself.”

Interviewer: “And among the group of you, who is the serious one?”

Alonso: “Fernando Torres. When he has to smile, he smiles, but he ’s one of those people who listens and takes in everything around him. Riera is another special case: he suffered some problems adjusting. Ha ha, After a couple days he was talking with the whole world. And Arbeloa is friendly.”

Interviewer: “How is a typical day for you?”

Alonso: “Very quiet. Training, lunch with the team, and back home. And now, ten months with my first son, Jon. In the afternoon, a walk with my girlfriend and son, a cup of coffee. Nothing like what we used to do in Donostia: start do one thing, and then another thing and another. When you ’re outside, you relax less.”

Interviewer: “Jon is left-handed?”

Alonso: “I believe he’s going to be right-handed. Like most.”

Interviewer: “And the grandfather, Periko, what does he say?”

Alonso: “It’s his first grandson, so the dribble falls on him. My mother says that she does things with him that she did with us, her children.”

Interviewer: “There was a time that you were very close to doing to Madrid. Why didn ’t the transfer go through?”

Alonso: “They talked with Madrid, but there was no agreement between the clubs. Then Liverpool came and after a short time, we reached an agreement. I understood their seriousness and discovered they are a fantastic club. They have everything that a player could wish for and a lot of enchantment in their surroundings.”

Interviewer: “For example?”

Alonso: “Their history, their fans, the same stadium. If you love football, Liverpool is pure football, a friendly club. Anyone will tell you about the past: anecdotes, victories, defeats. The way people talk about the club is very emotional. Kenny Dalglish is god here. When he appears in the stadium, the respect and admiration that he receives makes your hair stand on end. I ’m sure that when I return to Spain after some years, I will always feel that intimate feeling of the ‘œReds .’� I will be here at least three more years.”

Ah I miss Xabi Alonso wears Reds kit :)



Source:
www.thisisanfield.com/2009/02/xabi-alonso-interview/

[INTERVIEW] Fernando Torres

Interviewer: So playing for Liverpool is a relief?

Torres: Yes, and a pleasure. It’s a relief because in any game you feel like any number of your team-mates can step forward and win the match for you. Benayoun, Babel, Voronin … you don’t feel that it has to be you or everything is going to collapse. You know that if you’re having a bad day, the team can still win – something I didn’t always feel at Atléti. You travel to games thinking you’re going to win and that was something I needed: I needed
to get into the habit of feeling I was part of a big team, with ambition, that people respected.

Interviewer: Why Liverpool?

Torres: Liverpool have always been a club with a mentality, an identity, that I like. They are a club trabajador [humble, hard working, people ’s club]. They are a team that maybe doesn ’t have as many stars as other clubs but it has traditionally been as successful, or more so, because of the attitude, the values, the mentality. Liverpool are a huge club but with a humility about them that attracted me. Liverpool haven ’t won the Premier League for a long time, but they ’ve had success and still have a real ambition to win things. That was the perfect combination: a
successful, big club but one that still had real hunger. That ’s not easy to find…

Interviewer: How important was the presence of other Spaniards?

Torres: I knew Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, and Alvaro Arbeloa and I knew adapting would
be easier because of that. I ’d always talked to Reina about England – Cesc, too. I asked them about the way they play, the atmosphere, life here, the way the fans treat you. Life in Liverpool is great. It ’s very relaxed, people are very respectful of you. I like the football too: it ’s fast, there’s lots of contact, and I’ve settled well.

Interviewer: Does your style suit the Premier League, more so than La Liga even?

Torres: Because the football here is fast and powerful, because you can ’t switch off for a minute, it suits me. Every time you get the ball, there’s a chance of scoring.
In Spain it’s different: it’s
slower, there are more touches, the game stops more. I used to watch English football and I always thought I could fit in. Now I’m here I’m enjoying it enormously. It’s been even better than I expected.

Interviewer: Have you had to change your game at all?

Torres: The biggest change is the fact that I play further up front, more as a No. 9. In England, I don ’t have to drop deep as much to help build the moves. In England the ball drops in and around the penalty more, so you have to be more alert to that rather than worrying so much about playing a part in the move. The game is more direct here and I like that: I ’m always a few metres further forward, which means you get more chances to score, even if you feel like you ’re not as involved in the game. I feel more comfortable here as a proper No. 9 trying to get in behind defences, looking to be on the shoulder of the last defender, getting chances, running through.


Source:
fourfourtwo.com/interviews/qanda/42/article.aspx