Xabi Alonso is probably one of the most sought-after coaches in the world at the moment. The Spaniard, who won the league and cup double with Bayer Leverkusen last season, played under numerous top coaches during his active career.
One person now remembers the collaboration in “kicker”: Rafa Benitez. Under the now 64-year-old, Xabi Alonso spent his entire time at Liverpool FC. It was clear to Benitez early on that his protégé would be in the coaching bench after his career.
“Xabi had a vision of the game, and people of that caliber can, in principle, become coaches straight away. That might sound strange, but there are these players, you can see straight away that they have the ability to become good coaches one day. He had it, Franz Beckenbauer of course, to name a German.
Benitez on Alonso: “Not every midfielder becomes a coach, especially not a good one”
His old position in central midfield helped Alonso, but he is not solely responsible for the fact that the ex-Bayern star is working so successfully on the sidelines at the moment: “Not every midfielder becomes a coach, especially not a good one. But Anyone who plays with great vision in the central midfield has a penchant for tactics, can read and evaluate games, and change their direction. And that’s what you need as a coach!”
“Xabi was an exceptionally system-intelligent player, and today he is like that as a coach. Exceptional examples as players can start right at the top,” continued Benitez.
It was precisely this game intelligence that persuaded Benitez to bring the then young Spaniard to Liverpool in the summer of 2004: “I knew him from the Spanish league, he was still very young, but you could already see that he had an exceptional creative ability He had talent as a player, he was only 22, but he was already equipped with above-average game intelligence and he was serious in a positive sense.”
The commitment should pay off. Benitez and Alonso won the Champions League with Liverpool in their first season.