It was always on my mind to come back, reveals Xabi Alonso ahead of his managerial debut

The former Real Madrid and Liverpool, who star started his career with Sociedad before moving on to bigger and brighter things, believes that this was always his first step as a coach. In an interview with the BBC, Alonso, who retired two years ago, went on to admit that he’s excited about his new role on the touchline.

“It was always on my mind to come back. I didn't know if it would be as a player or as a coach but I wanted to come back to San Sebastian to live and be part of the club. The club is doing a great job with the youth teams and really support the young players to become professionals and to feed the first team with the players, to develop, to improve them to be ready for the first team,” Alonso said to the BBC.

“I was a midfielder, I liked to control the game, to understand the game and that's what I'm trying to do. I rely on the players but I am trying for them to have that encouragement to understand the game and read what's going on in the game. That's my job,” concluded the Spanish international.