Innehållsförteckning för January 2018 från FourFourTwo UK

Here are a selection of my personal highlights from 2017, in no particular order: getting a dog onto the cover (thanks Dele), seeing Gabriel Jesus pull wheelies on a child’s bike, being replaced by Lionel Messi for an issue and seeing five of Borussia Dortmund’s best young players attempt to tackle a space hopper. It’s been some year, and the highlights keep rolling. Starting with two of football’s nice guys, Peter Crouch and Juan Mata, who both feature in this issue celebrating the best of 2017. Mata’s Common Goal initiative is truly commendable for a current player, while Crouchy is the undisputed People’s Champion and is lauded as such on p12. We also have a chat with Emma Hayes, the most successful young English manager in the country, find out…

“SCORING THE GOAL THAT GOT SPURS INTO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WAS PROBABLY THE BEST FEELING I’VE EVER HAD ON A FOOTBALL PITCH” CLUBS 1998-2000 Tottenham 2000 Dulwich Hamlet (loan) 2000 IFK Hassleholm (loan) 2000-01 QPR 2001-02 Portsmouth 2002-04 Aston Villa 2003 Norwich (loan) 2004-05 Southampton 2005-08 Liverpool 2008-09 Portsmouth 2009-11 Tottenham 2011- Stoke COUNTRY 2005-10 England It’s baffling to think there was a time when Peter Crouch was not universally loved, but the man we’re crowning our People’s Champion of 2017 has had to work hard to shatter misconceptions – not to mention earn the right to play at the highest level. Fortunately, 2017 has been a vintage year for Crouchy. Not only has he forced his way back into contention at Stoke at the of age 36, he’s also…

“WHEN SOMEONE MENTIONS A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL, I’LL THINK OF 2005 BEFORE ’99. THE PAIN STAYS WITH YOU LONGER” Netherlands 0-1 Germany April 24, 1996 Friendly “When I received my first call from the national coach, Guus Hiddink, I thought it was a friend playing a joke, but it was a proud moment. I was a sub and spent the second half wondering if I was going to play. With 10 minutes left I came on to replace John Veldman – I was full of nerves but did well. We lost, but at least Germany didn’t score while I was on!” Man United 2-1 B Munich May 26, 1999 Champions League final “I couldn’t have wished for a better first season in England, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup…

Answers 1) Copa del Rey; 2) Bundesliga; 3) Champions League; 4) Europa League; 5) Community Shield; 6) European Championship; 7) Women’s World Cup; 8) League Cup; 9) ATX Pro Challenge; 10) Jules Rimet Trophy (the World Cup from 1930-1970); 11) Scottish Premiership; 12) Ballon d’Or; 13) FA Trophy; 14) FA Vase; 15) Football League Championship; 16) Football League Trophy STOP WINNING! Brazilian outfit Ibis, who revel in being the world’s worst team, have narrowly avoided promotion. Fans celebrated, having stolen a club bike in protest at recent wins…

Brave New World Guillem Balague (Orion, £20) ●●●●● Written as a diary of Mauricio Pochettino’s third season at the helm of Spurs, this book provides a rare insight into the inner workings of a Premier League club from the incumbent manager’s perspective. As you may expect from a coach who’s so circumspect with the media, this is less a collection of electric anecdotes from the Argentinian and more a handbook on the art of leadership in the modern game. From the ‘tough love’ approach used to develop players at Spurs and previous club Southampton, to his obsession with filming everything at the training ground and his close bond with chairman Daniel Levy, it’s clear that Pochettino’s biggest quality is a natural charisma that can enamour and inspire. Setting aside the…

PULIS DESERVED TIME I reckon I’m probably in the minority by sticking up for Tony Pulis, but he needed a bit more time to improve West Brom. Frank Barton DANISH DYNAMITE Christian Eriksen’s display against Ireland was just a masterclass. It’s great to see him finally getting the plaudits he deserves. Claude Leclerc PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE Why did Chris Coleman rush into the Sunderland job? Surely he would have got a Premier League job if he’d waited a bit longer? Eddie Diamond BLADES ON A ROLL As a Sheffield United fan, it is incredible what this team has done over the last 18 months – huge thanks to Chris Wilder. Cathy Squire HAMMER HORROR How did West Ham go from being linked with Maurizio Sarri to hiring David Moyes?…

Neymar had saved Barcelona when they needed him most. With 88 minutes gone in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain, Barça required three goals to overturn a 4-0 first-leg loss. Neymar believed when no one else did. First, he scored a sublime free-kick, then a nerveless penalty. Finally, in the fifth minute of added time, his delicious dinked assist for Sergi Roberto secured la remontada imposible, the impossible comeback. “Messi is the father, Neymar the son, one day it will happen that the son overtakes the father,” Spanish TV commentator Alfredo Martinez – whose reaction to the tie went viral – told FFT soon afterwards. “In the next two years, you’ll gradually see Neymar as this team’s protagonist, while Messi slowly moves to…

Monday, 3.30pm, The Bowdon Hotel, a restaurant in Hale, a Mata favourite FOURFOURTWO : We’ve never heard of anything like Common Goal, especially within the football world, so why did you want to do it? JUAN MATA: Well it all began when I first met Jurgen Griesbeck, who’s the CEO of charity streetfootballworld. For 15 years, Jurgen has been using football as a tool to help improve social development around the world. I’d already been thinking of using my privileged position as a professional footballer to help society for two years or more and, initially, I was thinking about setting up my own foundation. But after speaking with Jurgen, I set about working on Common Goal. Giving one per cent of my salary, and encouraging other players to follow…

When Manchester City confirmed the appointment of Pep Guardiola as head coach in February 2016, the expectation outside the club was that his side would click into gear straight away and play the free-flowing attacking football his Barcelona and Bayern teams had displayed so often. Last season proved to be more frustrating than fantastical, so the Citizens’ excellent start to his second Premier League campaign has prompted questions asking precisely what’s changed? In truth, however, the Catalan has merely stuck to his guns and gone back to his Plan A for the Blues. “We are almost the same guys as last season, but now we have the feeling we are going to score a goal,” Pep said after watching his side dismantle Crystal Palace 5-0 in October. “Don’t ask me…

Footballers are nothing if not creatures of habit – a theory never better proven than by Kenny Dalglish’s pre-game routine. “I’d be in bed by 8pm, relaxing and watching telly,” the Liverpool forward once recalled. “I’d also have my bar of Dairy Milk and a bottle of Irn-Bru.” To unwind ahead of the 1984 European Cup Final against Roma, Kenny even donned a lab coat, visited the HQ of the iconic Scottish beverage and knocked up his own special batch. Sweet.…

Sasa Curcic Who? A silky midfielder who counts Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Bolton and Motherwell among his clubs on British shores. In spring 1999, Curcic paraded the Yugoslav flag around Selhurst Park to protest at the NATO bombing of his homeland. “I’ve given up football because of sex,” he revealed upon retiring in 2000, aged 29. “I’d rather score in bed than on a pitch.” Top banter. What happened next? He appeared in a host of reality TV shows in Serbia and won 2007 Celebrity Big Brother, prompting a series of commercials and talk show cameos. In 2011 he was kicked off yet another reality show following a fight with another contestant. Tasty… Quite. Sasa’s calmed down since, setting up his own academy in 2015, and could be seen delivering…

“WE WILL ALSO GET AMATEUR PLAYERS TO TEST THE BOOT - HIDDEN FOOTBALLERS WHO TRY THEM OUT IN SECRET SO NOBODY LEAKS THEM” The Predator is finally making a comeback, so why exactly have Adidas chosen to resurrect the boot? DL: The Predator was well and truly dead. It was the end of an era and at first there was no desire to bring it back. Adidas had no interest in the heritage of the Predator and wanted to focus on the future instead of the past, but we both felt very differently about it. SH: Dean and myself were passionate about the idea of redesigning the Predator and had a heated debate about it. Thankfully, we both managed to convince everyone we could make something new that would appeal…

Alex Styles: The snapper was sent to the West Midlands as part of our host families feature. “All the West Brom academy lads were a laugh. We had a bit of banter as I support Villa, but it was great to work with Chris Wood’s parents, who are passionate about giving something back to football.” Andrew Murray: Within a few days of each other, our staff writer was Tadcaster Albion’s mascot Taddy Bear for the day and travelled to Manchester for a chat with Juan Mata. “I chickened out and wore a shirt to meet the Special Juan, instead of the fuzzy bear suit...” Nick Eagle: The lensman was on hand to capture the Cowley brothers after a landmark year with Lincoln. “As I waited for them to appear, the…

1 KYLIE MINOGUE: ST MIRREN FAN England London When Kylie Minogue revealed her latest calendar picture online, St Mirren’s fans were unexpectedly thrilled. Kylie welcomed in November by posing in a white football shirt with some black pinstripes, a strip that appeared familiar. “Great to see Kylie pay homage to our 1987 Scottish Cup winning team,” said the Buddies on Twitter. It was probably unintentional, although perhaps Kylie’s a big fan of retro Scottish football – next month, she destroys a corner flag and gets sent off three times, Windass-style. 2 GET OFF THE PITCH, GUYS! Egypt Cairo Al Ahly supporters wanted to back their heroes at a training session ahead of the African Champions League final second leg, but what they actually did was stop them training at all.…

“Hey, come over here, Taddy. I want to have a tug of your tail.” Depending on your point of view, this is either really weird or illegal – or both. To be honest, lads, you’re lucky it’s only my bear arse you want a piece of... When FourFourTwo answered the call of Tadcaster Albion to be their mascot for the day, we weren’t expecting to get propositions from a number of middle-aged Yorkshiremen with an unhealthy craving for anthropomorphic posteriors. “We’re looking for someone to become Taddy Bear on matchdays – could it be you?” read the Brewers’ tweet, 10 days before I’m standing next to my new, er, friends in the eighth tier. “1. Yes we are serious; 2. You get in for free.” Reliably informed that the costume’s…

“THE FANS WANTED ME TO TAKE PUERTA’S NO.16, AS THEY KNOW I WILL GIVE THE MAXIMUM FOR HIM, THAT SHIRT AND SEVILLA” How much are you enjoying being back at Sevilla, the club where your career began? I’m very happy to be back where I consider my home. It’s where I grew up, both as a footballer and as a person. I’m back in the same house I used to live in. Everything feels just like it always used to. Did you have many offers from other clubs when you left Manchester City back in May? There were a few clubs interested in signing me, but there was only one decision. The opportunity to come home was too much to resist, especially as it became obvious the fans were really…

@ManCity 280 characters means we can now go... AGUEROOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO @DWindass10 Come and get your perfume and aftershave from Julie’s down South Street Hull – she will look after you! @EPControlRoom Ringing 999 because West Ham United have lost again and you aren’t sure what to do is not acceptable! It is a complete waste of our time. #999foremergenciesonly @PaulDBarker Great piece in FourFourTwo on Harrogate Town. Top read.…

“WENGER WAS REALLY HONEST AND OPEN. HE WAS TELLING US HOW MUCH HE LOVED TECHNICAL PLAYERS – HE ACTUALLY SAID THAT WAS PROBABLY HIS WEAKNESS” Arsene Wenger hasn’t had a great year – his Arsenal team were thrashed 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, then failed to qualify for this season’s competition, with pressure from supporters and the press growing all the while. Still, at least he hasn’t ever had to take a training session having spent a long day teaching secondary school pupils PE, or split his wage packet with his brother. The same cannot be said of the men who sat in the Emirates Stadium’s away dugout on one Saturday evening back in March. Nominally, Danny and Nicky Cowley are the Lincoln City manager…

Winning the European Championship on home soil must be a special feeling (although FFT wouldn’t know), but throw a glut of individual awards and a dream switch to Barcelona into the mix and you are talking about a near-perfect year. Moving to Spain will certainly not have daunted 24-year-old Netherlands star Lieke Martens, not least as she had already played in four different countries in a senior career that started only eight years ago. The forward was a part of the KNVB’s ‘sport schools’ programme and had played alongside boys until she broke through into the first team of SC Heerenveen Vrouwen aged just 16. A spell at VVV-Venlo was followed by stints in Belgium (at Standard Liege) and Germany (Duisburg) before she won a move to one of the…

JOHN TERRY “He was such an incredible defender for us at Chelsea. He’d always put his body on the line for you, and he’d literally put his head on the line. He was underrated on the ball, too – I remember arriving at the club from Blackburn [in 2003] and being blown away by his quality using left foot and right. He was a massive personality – a good guy and a proper leader on and off the pitch. It was no surprise that he stayed at Chelsea for a very long time.” ARJEN ROBBEN “I’ve picked myself to play on one flank and Arjen on the other as he got people up off their seats. There’s nothing better than watching a winger take a man on and beat him,…

You glide when you are running with the ball – was that a natural gift or something you had to nurture? Balance is something I needed to work hard on when I was a youngster growing up in Sao Paulo. I think it’s an important attribute for a player to have, especially when you are running at speed. When I make a pass or have a shot at goal, I always have do that on one foot, so maintaining balance is key to staying in total control of my body while I’m executing the technique. You scored two brilliant goals against Man United in 2007, one with your right foot and one with your left. How did you become so good with both feet? It was purely down to practice.…

Steven Gerrard was one of your heroes – what did you admire about his game? He was one of the best midfield players in the world when I was growing up, and his overall technique was world-class. To this day I haven’t seen many players strike the ball as well as him. Plus his passing range and shooting from distance were amazing. But the main reason that I admired him so much was because of his character – it didn’t matter how big the match was, he would never seem fazed by anything. Do you see many similarities between Gerrard’s style of play and your own? I think we’re pretty similar in the sense that we both really enjoy every side of the game. Gerrard loved linking up with his…

Liverpool vs Spartak December 6 point at home to the Russians will put Klopp’s men into the last 16 of the Champions League Man United vs Man City December 10 City won the Premier League encounter at Old Trafford last term. Can Jose stop Pep this time? Club World Cup final December 16 Abu Dhabi has bagged the hosting rights this year, with Real Madrid the bookies’ favourites R Madrid vs Barcelona December 23 Lionel Messi hopes to do more shirt-waving at the Bernabeu – it’s a noon kick-off for El Clasico Aston Villa vs Sheff Utd December 23 The Blades have had a fine 2017. Can they end in style with a win at Championship big boys Villa? Celtic vs Rangers December 30 Pedro Caixinha lost all of his…

“THE WORST THING WAS, AFTER 20 MINUTES, THE DOCTOR SAID: ‘RIGHT, LET’S DO THE OTHER ONE!’” Hi Terry. You were such good pals with Kevin Keegan that you went with him when he booked a vasectomy. How on earth did he persuade you to go, too? Hello mate. I just went along for a bit of fun, to be honest. The really daft thing was, when I got there, Kevin said to the doctor: “He’s going to have one as well.” And I decided to go for it! I hadn’t given it any thought before, but we had three children already so I thought, ‘Why not?’ Quite a snap decision... Yeah. I thought he’d just book me in for a few weeks’ time, but they got on with it straight…

Osama Vinladen and Sadam Hussein are brothers. Nope, this isn’t a joke. And not only that, but Osama Vinladen Jimenez is a decent footballer, having already represented Peru’s Under-15s in his short career. The names were given to Osama by his father, an avid fan of politics who’s yet to go into any great detail on why he gave Sadam and his brother their names specifically – or why he didn’t spell either correctly. “My mother will call me Osama and sometimes Vinladen, my father too – it’ll just depend on the particular moment,” the younger sibling tells FFT. “Before, I’d wanted to change my name as soon as I’d turned 18. I thought: ‘If I want to go and play in MLS or Europe some day, then I will…

UEFA Cup king Starts in the final as Sevilla thrash Middlesbrough 4-0 to capture the 2006 UEFA Cup, a first European trophy for the club. Wins it again a year later, defeating Espanyol. World beater Comes on as sub for Spain in the 2010 World Cup Final against the Netherlands, initiating the move that ends with Andres Iniesta’s winning goal during extra time. Wembley goal Nets Manchester City’s third goal in their 3-1 win over Sunderland in the 2014 League Cup Final. He becomes a Premier League title-winner two months later.…

Eight or 10 scudetti? The records say that Gianluigi Buffon has eight, with two lost to Calciopoli. But in the name of love and art, Gigi claims 10. “The federation, Wikipedia or the league say it’s eight and I’m not debating referees, judges and laws, but no one can deny my right to feel they’re all mine,” Buffon wrote in Turin daily La Stampa after Juventus’ scudetto win in May. “My first love was a girl I met at middle school. The feeling was unrequited. But what does it matter – for me it was love. Recognition isn’t everything in life.” If Wikipedia did list 10 scudetti in Buffon’s honours section, it would also note that his nearest challengers had won just eight, none of them in the modern era.…

Your WhatsApp status says quite a lot about you. “Updating my WhatsApp status,” for the banter merchants, “Terrible chat guaranteed,” for people keen to impress and “Hey! I’m using WhatsApp,” for those of us too bored, busy or technologically incompetent to change it. Luka Modric, however, has got something altogether different on his – a mission statement. “We are what we repeatedly do,” reads the Real Madrid midfielder’s bio. “Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” First coined by American philosopher Will Durant in 1926, the phrase epitomises the meticulous way in which Modric can control a football match. Simple, unfussy, yet routinely brilliant. Cristiano Ronaldo may provide the killer instinct, or Isco a sprinkle of playmaking stardust, but it is the pint-sized Croatian who gets the European…

“Don’t touch the ’tache!” Midfielder Andy Watson was very protective of his lovely lip-tickler. Who needs Photoshop? Not the Yorkshire Evening Post in the days of cutting out heads for a journo team photo, certainly... Illustrating genius What to do if you are in need of a concept cover in the UEFA Cup? Easy: break out the felt tip pens! Drilling for oil... and goals Is it possible to play football on the ocean floor? Cameron Iron Works knew the answer in the 1980s. Ish. Lighting up the path to success Or not, as the Whites found as the ’80s went on, even with floodlights. “Are you sure this is plugged in?” New campaign, new computer for manager Eddie Gray in August ’83. Hands up if you love tractors! If…

OFF THE PITCH! Formed as Headington in 1893, United lost the lease on their home at the Manor Ground as fans, irked by dubious decisions in a match, invaded the pitch. The U’s were banned from hosting games within three miles until being allowed back in 1910. BLACK AND GOLD By the ’60s, under new name Oxford United, the club had replaced their blue and orange kits with gold and black – trying to match Wolves’ success – and in ’62 they got elected to the Football League. SMOKE ’EM OUT When a smoke bomb was chucked onto the County Ground pitch in a May 1982 league derby with A420 rivals Swindon, the referee – who was later pelted with coins by Oxford fans – waved play on and the…

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