Club class

His name is not “Zaby” as many in England pronounce it, but “Chavvy”. Our meaning for that word is wholly inappropriate for a footballer so cultured in his mien. The son of a decorated Spanish international, Xabi Alonso carries himself on the pitch with the erectness of a descendant from an aristocratic line and plays with such a grasp of the game’s simple principles that it feels as if he has insider knowledge.

 He is a footballer’s footballer. “I love watching him” says Mark Lawrenson, speaking for the large community of former Liverpool players-turned-pundits among whom the 24-year-old is a favourite. “My first thought has always been to pass the ball even when I was a child,” the midfielder says. It is the Liverpool way, the Alonso way.

He sits at a table, red hair tousled, a bit of a mop up top, befitting the leader of a Spanish colony at Anfield dubbed “The Benitles”. He is earnest yet boyish and wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the rising sun emblem. Today Liverpool depart for Yokohama, where they will be based throughout the Fifa Club World Championship held in Japan over the next seven days.

“The European Cup has grown a lot since it started and now the Champions League is massive. I’m sure in the future the world championship will be massive also,” Alonso says. “We see it as a big prestige thing. People all over the world will be watching, so it’s important to do well.”

It is why, despite having to journey across eight time zones at a point in the calendar when the season’s toils begin weighing on a footballer’s legs, the Liverpool squad travel light in spirits. Fifa has revamped a competition that was first held in 2000, when Manchester United had such a miserable time in Brazil, and is trying to help the big teams. Liverpool need win only two matches to become “the best club on the planet”, the first a “semi-final” against the winners of Deportivo Saprissa, the Concacaf champions from Costa Rica, versus Oceania’s Sydney United. Sao Paolo, barring upsets, should await in next Sunday’s final.

“I know the other teams’ names and where they’re from and not much else, but I’m sure when we arrive Rafa (Benitez, the Liverpool manager) will produce videos and we’ll find out everything,” says Alonso, rolling his eyes and smiling in an affectionate send-up of his manager’s thoroughness. “In Spain they show Brazilian football on the telly, so I know Sao Paolo and that it’s difficult against South American teams because of the different tempo of their game. Everyone in our squad is happy to be playing this tournament and nobody is disappointed because of the travelling. We have this chance to show our club to the world.”

It was Alonso who finalised Liverpool’s resurrection in Istanbul on their way to becoming European champions. He is not a penalty-taker, but when Liverpool were awarded one at 3-2 down against AC Milan, he felt someone had to take responsibility, and when Dida saved his effort, he had the coolness to stroke home the rebound.

Alonso was the first to run to the supporters when Liverpool finally won. “The passion of the crowd has been a discovery for me. In Spain they write about the atmosphere of Anfield and I used to think, ‘Yeah, yeah, it can’t be like that’, then once you’re here, you discover what it’s about. It’s hard to describe what a European night at Anfield is like — the colours, the sounds.

You feel really motivated and privileged to play for such a team. I’ve taken my friends and my father here and they appreciate it. If you like football, you like Anfield.”

His father, Periko, was a midfielder too, and Mikel, his older brother, plays the position for Real Sociedad. As a boy in Tolosa, when the other kids were chasing the ball around and trying to score goals, Mikel and Xabi were practising their passes. “Passing has always brought me pleasure. I like to see a nice pass, I like to organise and support teammates,” Alonso says. “When you strike a pass, the most important thing is the pace on it, and the game is so quick now, and teams play so compact and give you so little space, more than ever you have to get that right. When I hit a good pass, I like how it looks and I feel almost as happy as if I’ve scored a goal. If I give the ball away, I’m really sad, or embarrassed. You know that you’ve given the other team a chance to counter-attack. I take it personally and it becomes my challenge to get the ball back.

“You know when you sign for Liverpool you’re going to play the passing game because in Spain the reputation of the club is the same. Since I’ve been here I’ve realised how much our fans like to see a good long pass or a pass that keeps the tempo of the game going. The crowd here appreciate quality football.”

And Alonso appreciates Liverpool. He and Anfield’s other Iberians are regulars at a Spanish restaurant called La Vina, but he also has a taste for local culture. He lives not in the suburbs but in an apartment on the docks next door to Everton’s Mikel Arteta and close to Crewe Alexandra’s Juan Ugarte, childhood friends who, drawn by their amigo’s presence, have followed him to Merseyside.

He is seen out and about in the city centre, once in a music shop with Luis Garcia, who was buying a guitar. The Benitles must be thinking of gigging, then? “Ha. It’s a funny name, a good one. I liked the Beatles before coming here and I’ve been to the Beatles Museum. I tried to learn guitar when I was in school, but I was awful. I had no coordination with my fingers — it must all be in my feet. But Luis can play and he’s really quite good.”

You won’t find the Liverpool squad rent by “musical differences”, though. “What’s nice is that in our dressing room it’s not ‘England’ and ‘Spain’,” says Alonso. “Steve (Gerrard) and Sami (Hyypia) are really good guys and they have done a lot to help us mix. The Spanish part of the team is not separate, we get on with everyone , and that’s partly down to the manager. He treats everybody the same, whether you’re Spanish or English. That’s very important to him. He makes everybody speak English. Only if there’s something very special he wants to get across, he might explain it to me in Spanish.”

A great example of integration was witnessed when, after disposing of Juventus in the Champions League quarter- final last season, Alonso and Jamie Carragher, the two men-of-the-match, sat together on the flight home picking through the bones of the match. “Carra loves football. I like to sit with him, and when we are roommates, to speak to him about the game. He reads a lot and he watches a lot of Spanish football on television and we chat about that. Maybe he will be a coach in the future.”

Currently in charge is a man whose presence at Liverpool persuaded Alonso to shun Real Madrid in favour of a £10.5m move to Anfield from Real Sociedad in 2004. Alonso hopes that should Real, as feared, make a big play to appoint Benitez as Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s successor, his manager will stay.

“I’m sure he’s really happy here because the figure of the manager in England is different to Spain; you have more influence on the things around you. I’m sure in the short term Rafa won’t leave here. In Spain his prestige and his image is very big now. When people speak about the top managers in the world, they talk about Rafa Benitez.”

Benitez promised in the aftermath of Istanbul that Liverpool would be markedly better domestically this season. He did not look like delivering when his side won just two of its opening eight league games. But a meaner, more effective Liverpool has emerged.

“We’re not making so many mistakes, we are more compact, physically stronger and have confidence,” Alonso explains. “In Europe we know we can beat anyone at Anfield and also get results away, so we feel confident there. In the league, the next thing we need is to start beating the big teams and I think it’s still possible we can win the title this season, though Chelsea are so consistent.”

The ultimate target is to be “one of the top teams in Europe”. A one-off European Cup doesn’t count: “We need to be in European finals and winning English titles consistently.” Alonso has ambition to match his class. Yesterday Middlesbrough, tomorrow the world.

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