Rafael Benitez baya wa ɓoye ra'ayinsa lokacin da aka tambaye shi ko ya yi tsammani cewa Xabi Alonso da Alvaro Arbeloa za su zama manaja wata rana. "Alonso, eh. Arbeloa, ba da gaske ba," in ji shi a fili. "A gare ni, Arbeloa ya kasance mamaki."

Kusan shekaru 20 bayan Benitez ya hada su tare a Liverpool, biyu 'yan Sipaniya za su fuskanci juna a matsayin manaja yayin da Fulham ta Arbeloa za ta karbi bakuncin Chelsea ta Alonso a Craven Cottage ran Litinin.

Daga Anfield zuwa gefe

Alonso ya kasance ɗaya daga cikin farkon siyan Benitez da ya yi a Liverpool a shekarar 2004. Arbeloa ya biyo baya a 2007 yana zo daga Deportivo. Tare, sun kasance wani ɓangare na tawagar Spain wanda ya lashe Kofin Duniya 2010 da gasar Turai sau biyu, kuma dukansu sun wakilci Real Madrid bayan sun bar Liverpool.

Aikinsu ya kasance yana da alaƙa sosai. Lokacin da aka kori Alonso daga Real Madrid a watan Janairun kakar da ta gabata, an kara Arbeloa daga Real Madrid B — sashin rigar kwallon kafa na kulob — don maye gurbinsa. A watan Yulin, dukkansu sun haye Tashar Ingila don ɗaukar aikin manaja na farko a Premier League, a kulbobi waɗanda filayen wasan su suna nisan mil biyu kawai.

Benitez ya bayar da kimantawa mai gaskiya game da shiryen Arbeloa don ƙwallon Ingila. "Da Alvaro, ya san Premier League," ya shaida wa BBC Sport. "Amma kwarewarsa ta fi ta Xabi guntu. Muna bukatar sanin yadda zai iya jimre a wajen Real Madrid, wanda yana kare ka ta wata hanya. A wajen, kana kai kaɗai."

Hankali a wasan ƙwallon Alonso

Daga cikin biyu, Benitez ya fi dumi wajen yaba Alonso, yana bayyana tsohon ɗan tsakiyarsa a matsayin ɗan wasan da ya mallaki "gani" na musamman a filin wasa. Benitez ya ce shekarun da Alonso ya yi a Liverpool, Real Madrid, sannan karkashin Pep Guardiola a Bayern Munich sun bashi kwarewar falsafofin horo daban-daban — kwarewa wacce ta "bude tunaninsa."

Hankali a wasan ƙwallon Alonso ya bayyana da daɗewa kafin ya shiga horo. Benitez yana tunawa da wani lokaci mai muhimmanci daga wasan gasar shekarar 2009 a Anfield a kan Blackburn ta Sam Allardyce. Da yake ƙin umarnin isar da ƙwallon bugun dogo a gindin sanda mai nisa, Alonso a maimakon haka ya zaba gindin sanda na kusa, inda Fernando Torres ya jefa da kansa ya ci kwallonsa ta biyu na yamma tare da Liverpool tana cin wasa 4-0. "Ya kasance wani wanda koyaushe yake tunani," in ji Benitez.

Alonso ya ɗauki wannan ƙwazo zuwa horo, inda ya lashe gasar gida da kofin tare da Bayer Leverkusen a Bundesliga a shekarar 2024 kafin ya karɓi jagorancin Chelsea wannan bazara.

Abokaye da abokan hamayya

Duk da hamayya ta sana'a, alaƙar da ke tsakanin Alonso da Arbeloa ta kasance mai dumi. Sun buga tare shekaru 7 a matakin kulob kuma sun raba filin wasa sau 262 a kulob da ƙasa — ciki har da ƙarƙashin Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, da Vicente del Bosque. Arbeloa ya bayyana su a matsayin "abokaye masu kyau sosai," yana ƙara da cewa abokantakar "ba za ta taɓa canzawa ba," koda sun zama "abokan hamayya lokacin da wasa ya fara."

Biyu sun yi magana juna kafin wasan Litinin, kodayake ba game da ƙwallon ƙafa ba. Har ila yau suna zaune kusa da juna a Cobham, Surrey, kuma yaransu suna zuwa makaranta ɗaya.

Horon da ke ci gaba da bayarwa

Benitez yana lissafin fiye da ɗan wasan Liverpool 20 waɗanda suka shiga horo, a cikinsu Craig Bellamy manajan Wales. Ya kuma lura cewa Djimi Traore — mai kare wanda ya aike shi da tunawa zuwa ɗakin maye a rabi na wasanni a karshen wasa na UEFA Champions League na 2005, kafin rauni na Steve Finnan ya mayar da shi filin wasa don dawowa mai ban al'ajabi ta Liverpool da nasara ta hanyar bugun fanariti a kan AC Milan — yanzu mataimakiyar horo ne a Seattle Sounders.

"Koyaushe suna ɗauke wani abu daga gare ka. Watakila abubuwa biyu ko uku za su iya amfani da su a matsayin horo, kuma ina farin ciki da haka," in ji shi.

Har yanzu yana neman ƙalubale na gaba

Yanzu da yake da shekaru 65, Benitez yana ba tare da kulob bayan da Panathinaikos ya kore shi a watan Mayu duk da ya cimma matsayi na karshe huɗu wanda aka ba shi aikin cimma. An haɗa sunansa da aikin manajan ƙasar Scotland kuma ya yarda cewa rawa tare da ƙungiyar ƙasa na iya jaba, musamman tare da yawancin mukamai na horo da za su canza bayan Kofin Duniya.

"Dole ne a sami wani abu da kake jin zaka iya cimma wani abu," in ji shi, yana ambaton zamaninsa a Newcastle United — inda ya jagoranci kulob zuwa haɓakawa — a matsayin misali na nau'in aikin da ya ba shi ƙarfin gwiwa. Ya kasance mai lura da fasahar Uefa kuma ya ce yana karɓar kayan aikin zamani ciki har da kafofin sada zumunta, hankali na wucin gadi, da nazarin bayanan zamani.

"Na san ƙwallon ƙafa yanzu yana da buƙatu fiye da kima," in ji shi. "Dole ne ka yi haƙuri saboda, in ba haka ba, idan ka canza tare da matsin lamba na kafofin sada zumunta kuma ka canza kowace watanni bakwai, to ba ka da wani aiki. Wannan shi ne abin wahala."