Bayern Munich's Xabi Alonso praised for breaking Bundesliga record

Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso has a set new Bundesliga record after having 204 touches of the ball in the German champions' 2-0 win at Cologne on Saturday.

Alonso, 32, touched the ball every thirty seconds during Bayern's first away victory of the season, surpassing fellow Spanish teammate Thiago Alcantara who enjoyed 177 touches against Eintracht Frankfurt last season. The statistic, which was introduced in Bundesliga in 1999, is dominated by Bayern Munich, who hold the first five ranks, in a table published by Bild. In only his fifth Bundesliga match, former Real Madrid midfielder Alonso has put his name into the top five for the second time, having enjoyed a fourth-highest 165 touches against Paderborn in midweek. Toni Kroos enjoyed 171 touches against Hertha Berlin last season while Bastian Schweinsteiger's 155 touches against Hertha Berlin in 2009-10 complete the top five, the first preceding the Pep Guardiola era. "200 ball contacts. I need a whole season for that," Bayern attacker Thomas Muller was quoted by Bild. Meanwhile, the Bavarians' honorary president Franz Beckenbauer called the former Spain international the most important Bayern signing of the season. "Against a team which is parking the bus like Cologne, you, of course, collect a lot of ball contacts. But I have been saying it for weeks: Alonso is our most important signing," he said. "His record is no surprise. He is an intelligent player, and is a master of what Dettmar Cramer [Bayern coach from 1975 to 1977] told us to do 100 years ago: play, walk, play, walk, play, walk. And that's how he pushes Bayern up the field metre by metre."

I expect him to become a coach in the future. He is the closest thing to Pep Guardiola out there. He d probably mix it up though. He plays it long and short very well.
Source: espn