Xabi Alonso: The Art of Beauty in Motion
Kinesthetic virtuosos are rarely born with the fleet-footed technique of a ballerina and the clinical foresight of a Grandmaster. Alonso has played his part in elevating sport to a level comparable with more refined forms of creative expression.
Röhan Abraham
In the Teutonic world of the Grimm brothers, red beards are known to be curmudgeonly beings. The sardonic pleasure with which elder siblings tend to run down their pre-teen minions for clinging on to the puerile fantasies spurned by the sterile imagination of the German duo, is perhaps warranted.
Gents with red beards aren’t always given to miserly instincts, and this claim can be amply verified by the case of Xabi Alonso, the Spanish pass master who made public his decision to quit the beautiful game at the end of the season after an illustrious career where he indulged in spraying passes across the field and selflessly assisting teammates.
Xabi Alonso also goes by the moniker La Barba Roja (“The Red Beard”) which was bestowed upon him by fans of La Roja, the Spanish national team. He helped them to two European Championships and a maiden World Cup triumph.
He has made 114 appearances till date at the international level, with a modest return of 16 goals, which is above par for a defensive midfielder in the modern game.
Red Beard’s accolades at the club level are even more impressive. However, it would be an exercise in futility to proceed on a gushing monologue enumerating his many successes, and not-so-many stumbles, both on the pitch and off it. Even characters plucked out of the pages of Flemish fairytales are human at the end of the day. Travails have to be overcome before one makes it to the big-time.
Alonso’s decision to quit did not take the world by storm. Others have hogged the headlines. More has been written about Cristiano Ronaldo’s love life, Gerard Pique’s washboard abs and the secret stylist responsible for Messi’s frequent changes in hair do.
Many argue that the infusion of money into the game has improved the quality of play but it would be foolish to overlook the dandification that has created brands out of athletes, and how this marriage of glamour with sport has mutated the kosher version of entertainment envisioned by the residents of Olympia.
Sport used to be a celebration of the human body, and it continues to be, albeit in an unrecognizable form after having undergone expensive cosmetic changes since its halcyon days in ancient Greece. Xabi Alonso set sail on his footballing voyage at a time when the seas were still calm and paparazzi culture was yet to take off.
A journeyman, not perhaps in the mould of Columbus, he navigated his career through stints in Spain, England, and Germany, never once tempted to paddle too close to the shore lest the undercurrents of fame and money risk capsizing his keel or crashing it against the rocks, as was the case with virtuosos like Paul Gascoigne or Robinho.
First person accounts of Alonso’s understated genius abound on the internet. Many profiles have been written by journalists who had the good fortune of watching him play, and tracking his career at close quarters.
The electrocardiogram of his career has very few blips, but it would be a travesty to assume that he has achieved sporting immortality.
In the world of popular culture, the life span of the fame bubble is ever diminishing, and surprisingly, the decline seems to be terminal.
Ronaldo, to the millennials is the Portuguese Übermensch who seems to be a Renaissance sculpture into which has been blown the breath of life.It is his namesake from Brazil who enthralled a generation born too late to witness the antics of Maradona, going on to pick up multiple accolades in the process.
The latter held the record for most goals scored at the World Cup finals for what seemed an eternity, until being recently bested by the German warhorse, Miroslav Klose.
In the shadow puppetry that is the cut-throat world of commercial sport,modern athletes are expected to conform to the wishes of their pay masters with deep pockets. Deadwood is retrenched. Varnish is a superfluous expense.
The two Ronaldos present a test case which outlines the evolution of the beautiful game in the contemporary era and its newfound obsession with Spartan fitness levels and notions of male beauty. The Nietzschean Ronaldo graces the cover of Maxim in the buff while his colonial cousin has been obliterated from the public memory, surviving only the annals of history as an ossified remnant from a forgotten past.
It is in this context that one must cast a critical eye at the life and times of Xabi Alonso, and track the evolution of his red beard from a spectator’s standpoint.
The specular illusion that the television renders is a perversion of temporal reality. But beyond the layers of gloss, lies hidden, the native simplicity of the mundane, stripped bare of its commercial appendages.
It is this distorted and cloudy vision that dominates the perception of a generation glued to television screens. Three and a half billion tuned into the final of the 2014 edition of the FIFA World Cup. The market trends are self explanatory. Defense splitting lobs into the penalty box are a more bait-worthy proposition to lure eyeballs than chemical bombs and Molotov cocktails hurled into civilian conclaves in war-ravaged Syria.
At the foundation of the artifice of televised sport, there is a sliver of native human brilliance which acquires the form of physical beauty, and it is this that is generously exemplified by watching the likes of Xabi Alonso and his ilk in action. It must be noted that grace is not the actual goal of competitive sport. Men and women who make an art-form of their respective fields are in short, elevating sport to levels comparable with other more refined forms of creative expression.
Pedigree is often discounted as being a privilege and an elevator to the big time. It can also often prove to be a handicap. Following in the footsteps of a father who had won La Liga twice in consecutive seasons before subsequently moving on to Barcelona is a daunting ask.
Alonso first fell in love with the game while playing on the Basque sands of Playa de La Concha or Shell Beach in his native Sociedad. For aspiring footballers, refining their sensory impulses to achieve kinesthetic perfection is the goal behind the arduous training regime that is perceptibly focused at enhancing the physical attributes needed to play at the highest level.
His first run-in with fellow traveler and friend, Mikel Arteta also took place at the seaside, and it was a bond that would ferment over time like fine wine, especially after they moved into neighbouring houses in Merseyside, albeit representing two sides of a city divided on footballing lines.
His evolution from a teenage prodigy built around the lines of something like a liquorice stick to the hard tackling midfield general who would shout orders at his teammates and dictate play was not an overnight transformation.
An enduring facet of his game right from the time he turned out in the stripes of Real Sociedad was his ability to pick a pass and spot nooks and crannies in even the tightest of defenses. The art of recycling the ball and launching counter attacks added another dimension to his game and compounded his worth as a defensive midfielder.
Many believe that the partnership he formed with Steven Gerrard in the heart of a youthful Liverpool midfield is what got the best out of both players, and it is no coincidence that the Benitez years in which Liverpool were a regular fixture in the knockout stages of European competitions saw Alonso doggedly protecting the back four and playing long balls forwards while releasing Gerrard as a second striker.
In an exclusive interview with Sportsmail, he expiated on the concept of ‘la pausa’ — the movement when great players seemingly defy Newtonian laws of motion by freezing a moment in time and putting on hold those around them, as they pick their next pass.
‘It’s that ability to put the brakes on, to feint so that the opponent trying to tackle you ends up missing by a couple of metres. That gives you a real advantage,’ he said.
To achieve that level of proficiency, the training has to be both muscular as well as psychological. Getting the human body to challenge the limits of physiological attainment is a brutish exhibition of endurance and power.
Melding muscular action with neurological precision to deliver pinpoint passes that reach their target without being intercepted is a conjuring trick very few can claim to have mastered.
It is here that live broadcasts which have no shortage of talking heads peddling punditry play a major role. In a perfect universe, Jermaine Defoe would have been hailed as having had a more stellar career than Wayne Rooney. Xabi, and not Xavi, would have dominated headlines at El Classicos.
After his breakout season when he made his debut for Sociedad at 18, he was sent out on loan to Segunda División side, Eibar. The club’s move to ship out the prodigious youngster was seconded by the latter’s father who believed that it a move to the second tier of Spanish football would catalyze his development since greater responsibility would be on his shoulders.
The following season, Sociedad parted ways with their manager after the club were languishing at the bottom of the table in December. Alonso was promptly recalled and in a move that took the fans by surprise, was made captain by John Toshack, the new Welsh manager.
The decadence was stemmed. Sociedad finished 14th. A new hero was born. The 2002–03 was the club’s best league performance since the 1981–82 season, in which they won the league. The Basque team finished second, two points behind Real Madrid, setting a club record for their highest ever points total and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in club history.
Kinesthetic virtuosos are rarely born with the fleet-footed technique of a ballerina and the clinical foresight of a Grandmaster. Chiseling a slab of marble, however refined it may be cannot be achieved overnight.
Under the tutelage of John Toshack, Alonso’s captaincy marked a resurgence of form for Real Sociedad. Toshack recognised Alonso’s potential and invested much time in his young captain, creating a training method designed to improve his touch and control specifically for him.
Eligible suitors came knocking on his door. Real Madrid sent a delegation to prise him from his boyhood club but were rebuffed by José Luis Astiazarán, the Real Sociedad president, and the deal reached a stalemate. However, it was Liverpool who were first to jump at the chance to sign a promising player in Alonso, who was still an unknown entity outside his homeland.
The Spanish contingent at Merseyside numbered an all time high under the reign of Rafa Benitez, and Alonso, being one of the first Iberian recruits under the former Valencia manager was tasked with showing his fellow countrymen the ropes.
Alonso arrived at Liverpool along with Luis García from Barcelona, marking the beginning of a new era at Anfield. New Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez sought to revolutionize the club and completely overhauled the squad, impressing his own management style and tactics upon the team.
Alonso enjoyed a trophy-laden stint with Liverpool, making 210 appearances in all competitions. His partnership with Steven Gerrard is the stuff of legend, and this is clearly illustrated by the role the duo played in the 2005 Champions League final against much fancied opposition in AC Milan.
Gerrard was the talisman, the man of the moment, kick starting the turnaround after being 3–0 down at half time. Alonso was the man who drew the Reds level. His understated brilliance in front of the back four helped mop up stray balls and initiate turnovers whilst freeing up Gerrard to take up more advanced positions to support an attack that was pretty much toothless in the first period.
The first half was truly a debacle. The sense of occasion and the calibre of the opposition had caught the team off guard as the Milanese ran rings around the Reds defense to put the ball into the back of the net no less than thrice.
A million miles away Reds fans across the world who sat glued to the screen winced in despair. Disbelief was unanimously the shared sentiment of the moment.
The events that proceed this juncture in time is part of folklore that has been oft repeated through the following years and more frequently of late since the boy who kindled that comeback from the jaws of defeat with a raw injection of passion has decided to call time on his playing career at Anfield, only to walk into the sunset as a man who has lived through the highs and lows of a football club and more importantly, of a city.
Gerrard was an enigma. Alonso was his indispensible deputy. Their personal relationship was one of true kinship which has stood the test of time even after the Spaniard left to join Real Madrid.
But despite dual power centres within the dressing room that was tilted towards the Scouser, a compilation of Alonso’s best moments with the club are worthy of a wilful excursion into mythomania.
The Miracle of Istanbul is forever etched in memory as one of the greatest ever sporting comebacks but Alonso’s contribution towards winning causes is on exhibition throughout his tenure at Merseyside.
Shooting from inside his own half was something he practiced on the training ground at Melwood and the fact that he managed to replicate those efforts under pressure are a testament to his genius.
“The pass master. Nobody can pass the ball like him. I remember on his debut at Anfield, it probably took him about 39 minutes before he misplaced a pass. Unbelievable player,” recollected John Arne Riise, who was his teammate for four seasons.
Liverpool looked set to be knocked out in the FA Cup against Luton Town. Giant-slaying is one of the advertised high points of cup competitions in England. The hawkish ocular prowess required to spot the keeper off his line and angle the ball with the requisite power and spin 70 yards from goal is no mean feat. This was not a one off. His effort against Newcastle from a similar position in 2006 was even more spectacular.
Many believe loyalty is an overrated virtue. Steven Gerrard and Francesco Totti would beg to differ. Despite playing for four clubs in three different leagues, Alonso has acquired a cult status wherever he has played. He spent five years each at Liverpool and Real Madrid after being weaned away from his boyhood club by better prospects in greener pastures.
He was to be reunited with Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern. The latter had managed him at Real previously where he was a vital cog in the team that achieved La Decima, fulfilling the club’s long held dream of a tenth Champions League title.
The draw for this year’s quarterfinals pits Bayern against Real, and it could be an emotional homecoming for Alonso to his old stomping ground as he bows out from competitive football at the end of the season.
The lure of money is something that is imperils the sanctity of sport. The athletics world is wracked by doping allegations. The novelty that was the Olympics has lost some of its sheen. Football administration is mired in corruption with the world governing body, FIFA at the centre of a storm in which former President Sep Blatter refuses to accept mea culpa his misdemeanours that are well documented.
China has emerged as the new frontier in exporting talent for astronomical wages that are unheard of even in Europe.
The MLS used to be the graveyard of legends on the verge of retirement, as well as washed out stars in their prime who had lost their way in the backwoods of European football. The tables have been turned.
China is managing to attract to talented players because of their financial clout to play in a league where the competition is abysmally poor. The Chinese government’s state policy on sport which adheres to the notion that players can be manufactured like plastic toys on an assembly line is killing talent across the globe.
Where does this leave the ideals of beauty in sport? Can the Chinese genetically clone the likes of Xabi Alonso? The power and influence of the human body in motion is transcendental. The collective inebriation that ensued in the city of Barcelona after their team’s comeback victory over PSG in this season’s edition of the Champions League is testament to the spirit of sport at its unadulterated best.
Kinetic beauty challenges cultural norms and can draw viewers from across the globe into a state of rapt attention. The metronomic passing and sweetly struck volleys that are a part of Alonso’s repertoire are on show only till the end of the season. He has publicly stated that he would like to walk away from the sport on a high. Tributes have been pouring in.
A legend has signed his death warrant. He could have chosen to fade away and die a slow death in the ‘new frontier’ while raking in a hefty payday. The Chinese Pension Fund for ageing footballers appears to be quite popular, but the sustainability of its business model remains suspect.
Death is inevitable. Science is still grappling with immortality. The novelty of dying on one’s own terms is a far more seductive ideal than living on extended time.
