When Xabi Alonso arrived at Liverpool, the basic concept for a centre-midfielder was that he should be an aggressive guy with a habit of hard tackling and intimidating opponents.
The 23-year-old Spaniard was thinking differently, and it was one Liverpool legend who inspired him.
"I have always said there are different types of aggression," Alonso explains in the book Ring of Fire. "You can tackle aggressively but you can also pass aggressively, although I prefer to use the word 'authority' here.
"Of course, I was aware of the previous Liverpool midfielders. I had seen videos of Graeme Souness. Wow – what a player, what a player! I loved him. My father was a midfielder and he loved him too.
"Souness commanded an entire pitch. By the time I started playing, football was moving, though. You couldn’t get away with rough tackling. But you could still pass with aggression, with 'authority', do everything convincingly, as Souness did."
