Innehållsförteckning för November 2020 från FourFourTwo UK

When Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, he was infamously greeted with the headline, ‘Arsene who?’ By the time he bid Gunners adieu, 22 years and 10 major trophies later, there wasn’t a person in the land unaware of his impact on English football. In this issue, we sit down with the Frenchman to reflect on a remarkable tenure – featuring many of his incredible highs, of course, but also plenty of wistful regrets. From tweaking training to landing Doubles and masterminding Invincibles, Wenger left a lasting legacy beyond Arsenal. Elsewhere, we relive Gazza’s chaotic 39 days in charge of Kettering, an in-form Neil Ruddock provides his definitive list of hard men, and Juninho regales tales of lighting up Middlesbrough – 25 years after he first joined (feel old?).…

Nautico 0 Gremio 1 November 26, 2005 Serie B play-off “This game is everything in my life. It’s known as the ‘Battle of Aflitos’ [referring to Nautico’s stadium] for its insanity. It was my last match for Gremio, and we were down to seven men with 10 minutes of normal time remaining [after four late red cards resulted in a 25-minute delay]. Nautico had missed one penalty before that, then our goalkeeper saved another in the 15th minute of added time. The next minute, I broke away and scored the winner that secured promotion for Gremio! The club was going through a very tough spell, and its future would have been quite uncertain if we hadn’t gone up that day. I’d already agreed to join Porto, so winning that game…

WHO ARE YA? Kevin Day (Bloomsbury, £14.99) Blending nostalgia, under the radar knowledge and popular culture, comedian Kevin Day reviews the idiosyncrasies of all current 92 League clubs, explaining why you shouldn’t support each of them. Day is at his best with more off-beat offerings, including the disputed origins of the terms ‘Mackem’ and ‘Geordie’, and Leicester’s ‘whirl and switch’ tactics during the freezing winter of 1962-63, which saw them dubbed the Ice Kings. He also paints an affectionate pen portrait of Birmingham’s bearded ’60s star Trevor Hockey, about whom ITV commentator Hugh Johns would invariably comment, “Hockey was letting him know he was there”, as he scythed down another foe. Day laments Brentford’s move from Griffin Park – with a pub on each corner – to their ultra modern…

What was the first game that you ever saw live? The earliest memory I have is being about four, going to Meadow Lane with my grandad – there’s a few Forest fans knocking about in my family, but we don’t speak to them. I couldn’t tell you who that match was against, though; we won it but I didn’t know what was going on – I just remember people standing up and going mad every two minutes. Football was exciting to me from that point onwards. Who was your childhood hero and did you ever meet them? My favourite player was Joe Cole – he was a bit smaller like me, and a skilful No.10 who made things happen. I’ve never met him, but he’s been doing some great punditry…

FIVE’S A CROWD I’ve always been a bit suspicious about references to ‘Europe’s top five leagues’. Are these the richest? The most competitive? Those with highest attendances? Mostly, I just assumed they were UEFA’s five highest-ranked leagues according to the coefficient. France is fifth, but that doesn’t tell a full story. Ligue 1 used to be one of the world’s most competitive, spawning five different champions from 2008-12 – but that all changed after Nasser Al-Khelaifi took over PSG. Since then, the club have won seven Ligue 1 titles and five French Cups, but such national dominance hasn’t translated into European glory. In fact, French clubs have been in only four European finals since 1999-2000 – fewer than Portugal, a country where sides have far less money. The reality is…

MIDNIGHT TALKS WITH SOL When Arsenal recruited Sol Campbell from rivals Spurs in 2001, they had to be careful how they went about it. Wenger reveals they’d meet for talks at David Dein’s house at 11pm, then walk around the neighbourhood until midnight while nobody was about, to keep things quiet. Campbell joined Arsenal on a free that summer. PASSPORT WOES The first time Edu arrived in England from Corinthians, the midfielder got held at Heathrow for unwittingly holding a fake passport. Compatriot Sylvinho phoned Wenger and said, “Edu’s in prison!” Fearing the same might happen to Sylvinho, Wenger always stood next to the full-back at passport control during away trips. THE (NON) RETURN OF RVP Robin van Persie topped the Premier League goal chart in 2012, before finances forced…

You spent the early years of your career in Brazil, then won the 2002 World Cup. What did that mean to you? The funny thing is that until 1992 I was just a futsal goalkeeper in my home of Cascavel. That was the year I had a successful trial at Cruzeiro – 10 years later I was representing my country at the World Cup, which is crazy. I began my career as an attacking midfielder and became a full-back only in 2000. My role in the national side was to not allow Cafu to feel comfortable as a regular starter, as he knew there was a shadow right behind him. It’s an honour to be among the 94 Brazilians who are world champions, in a nation whose population is more…

Two years ago, Luka Modric was crowned the world’s best player – the first man since 2007 to prise the Ballon d Or away from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He has won the European Cup four times with Real Madrid, and captained Croatia to a first ever World Cup final. But first, the future midfielder had to overcome a harrowing childhood. As an innocent youngster herding goats around the Croatian mountains, Modric developed a close relationship with his grandfather, Luka, from whom he takes his name. In his new book, he reveals that he was just six years old when war arrived and his grandfather (right) was murdered by Serbs roaming in the area. Young Luka and his family fled to a refugee camp, while his father went to…

Highbury may have been demolished 14 years ago, but it still lives on in Japan – thanks to an Arsene Wenger superfan. Kohei Ando was the man who arranged for a ‘Merci Arsene’ tribute banner to be flown over Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium for Wenger’s final game as Gunners manager in 2018, and also runs a bar in the Frenchman’s honour in Tokyo’s bustling Shinjuku district. Arsenal memorabilia adorns the walls – even the bathroom is an Aladdin’s cave of club paraphernalia, from shirts and scarves to programmes and hundreds of ticket stubs. Wenger had a spell in Japan himself with Nagoya Grampus Eight, but it was in 2001 when a teenage Ando’s obsession began – thanks to Arsenal’s purchase of national hero Junichi Inamoto. Almost overnight, all of the…

Hello Guillem. You’ve written a book on Lionel Messi, so is there anything he’s really useless at? We’re thinking Mr Bean territory, completely inept... Hello. Maybe speaking English? He has tried, and I don’t think it’s a language he’ll ever master. But generally, Leo is one of those kind of hateful kids that can play any sport very well. He’s even a good goalkeeper, despite being short. Let’s settle Messi vs Maradona. Who would be better at hide and seek? I reckon Diego would be much better. He’s got a stylish ability to deceive as part of his DNA. Tree climbing? Maradona again. He has an aura. He’d somehow distract Leo, and be up the tree before the race had even begun. Cooking a roast dinner? Hmm. I think this…

Whoever said that all publicity is good publicity obviously didn’t support West Ham United. In October 2016, BBC News beamed footage of the Hammers’ female players pounding the pavements next to a busy, streetlit road, having apparently been barred from using the club’s own gym facilities. If that wasn’t bleak enough, chairman Stephen Hunt also claimed that the club – then competing in the third-tier FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division – had been prevented from finding their own sponsors, couldn’t afford travel to matches, and were even playing in the previous season’s kit (with the names of former players helpfully peeled off). Oh, and West Ham were ignoring his emails, too. “It’s beyond negligence,” huffed Hunt, drawing his daggers. “Someone had to say something and it may as well…

What was the draw of joining Manchester City? There are so many good players at the club – I was excited by the idea of playing with several of the girls I’ve come up against internationally. I’ve admired the Manchester City men’s team over the past few years, but I also heard from Carli Lloyd, my old team-mate [and former City player], about how good everything is here. The facilities are incredible. It’s a new thing for me to have everything right there: we eat breakfast, we do treatment, we watch film [footage], we train, we do weights, we eat lunch – all in one place. It really feels like you’re going to work for the full day, which is a cool feeling. This isn’t to insult North Carolina at…

Peter Schmeichel was so popular in Manchester that a dog was named in his honour on Coronation Street. Schmeichel the Great Dane (we see what they did there) made his Corrie debut in 2004, after being christened by characters Jack Duckworth and Tyrone Dobbs. The canine escaped death not once but twice – first when he climbed into a bath with Les Battersby, sending the pair plunging through the floor, and then when he got run over by a bus. Peter himself would have been pretty proud of such fortitude.…

WILLIAN Anzhi bought the winger in January 2013 after he won four Ukrainian titles and the UEFA Cup with Shakhtar. In August, he was off. “It’s a pity that a player of his talent can’t move to a better league,” said Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas – who swiftly saw his deal for Willian hijacked, Chelsea helping Anzhi to recoup the €35m they had paid. SAMUEL ETO’O The striker won trebles at Barcelona (2009) and Inter (2011), and Anzhi made him the best-paid footballer on Earth after signing him for €25m from Italy on a princely €20m wage. Eto’o went on to hit a respectable 36 goals in 73 matches before Anzhi’s dreams died, then joined Willian at Chelsea for free. Nice work if you can get it. LASSANA DIARRA Having…

You left PSV to sign for Everton in 1999 – what did you make of English football? My feelings about England were the same as players today: that’s the country you want to play in as a professional footballer. I almost signed for West Ham, but in the end I chose Everton – Walter Smith convinced me. Did you get on well with Paul Gascoigne? In terms of team spirit, every player would have loved him on their side. He should have been one of the best players in the world. He also has an enormous human side that not many people speak about. Unfortunately, his big heart put him in difficult situations and some bad people took advantage of it. I had a close relationship with him. Walter asked…

ANDRES PALOP “A fantastic captain. Andres was always one of the big motivators at Sevilla – a wonderful professional. I remember him racing up from the back to score a stoppage-time equaliser in our UEFA Cup tie against Shakhtar Donetsk [in 2007], en route to us winning the trophy. In the final, he saved three of Espanyol’s four penalties in the shootout.” DANI ALVES “An easy one. Dani was the best right-back I ever played with – such was his attacking prowess, it almost felt like he was a No.10! He has brilliant vision, plus playmaking and crossing abilities which he makes effective from that position. And his energy...” LEDLEY KING “Ledley had everything: technique, strength, vision… all the attributes of a top centre-back. He could have played in midfield.…

Did you always know you were going to become a manager? Yes, I knew that all along. I was always a ‘thinker’ of football. I liked to analyse it. It wasn’t by chance that I became national team captain when I was just 24. I used to get the players together in my room and talk about the games. What was it like to be the coach of Romania during communism? In the communist regime, every time I wanted to leave the country with my team there were problems with visas. The authorities were afraid that some players might leave and never come back. I used to go to politicians myself and ask them for support. At one point, I held talks with [former Real Madrid and Yugoslavia coach] Milan…

There had to be one unlucky side relegated after two-thirds of a curtailed 2019-20 campaign – but with just one win from their 14 games, Liverpool deserved it. A glance at the Merseysiders’ 2019 accounts goes some way to explaining why. By their own definition, Liverpool consider full-time employees to be those working more than 20 hours per week – yet unlike WSL rivals, their entire playing squad of 19 was considered semi-pro. A turnover of £1.08m was dwarfed by that of Chelsea (£3.33m), Manchester City (£2.05m) and even long-awaited second-tier debutants Manchester United (£1.25m), while the wage bill was more comparable with also-rans and drop-dodgers than title-chasers. Such investment levels should still have kept them up, but ultimately they paid an even heavier price in embarrassment. While the women’s…

Does it amuse you that some people don’t know you were a player? I’ve got used to it now, but it’s still a bit weird. I’ve worked at talkSPORT for 20 years, so the younger listeners don’t realise I used to play, rather than just talk about the game. Some say, “Oh, he played football?” which is funny. I suppose I’ve been lucky to reinvent myself. Have you ever told Sir Alex Ferguson that you regularly ruined his garden? No I never have, so please don’t tell him! As a boy growing up in Glasgow, I used to walk past his house when he was a Rangers player. Because I was a Celtic fan, I’d pick the flowers in his garden. It was stupid – I stopped when one of…