Innehållsförteckning för August 2022 från FourFourTwo UK

Five men have given their best shot at bringing the kind of glory back to Old Trafford that Sir Alex Ferguson made look so easy. Nearly all of them arrived with credentials to do so. None came anywhere close. Now it’s the turn of Erik ten Hag to try reining in runaway rivals Manchester City and Liverpool. The Dutch tactician’s deadpan obsession for the game was notorious well before he worked alongside Pep Guardiola in Munich – a trait that proved effective when taking Ajax to a run of titles and the Champions League semis. But as usual, that big old question persists: why is he the man to finally get it right? FFT finds out from plenty of those who should know. Elsewhere, we preview a wide-open Women’s Euros…

Ghana 1-2 Brazil March 20, 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship final “We turned this game around to become champions in Australia. That day, I made a similar save to the one Gordon Banks had pulled off to deny Pele’s header at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, which is now regarded as the best in football history. We’d already won the South American Youth Championship the year before, but achieving the same result on the world stage had much bigger importance for all of us. I was young and what happened aided my case as a candidate for the senior team, too. People talked about me more and more, and in 1995 I made my debut for the Selecao.” Palmeiras 1-2 Cruzeiro June 19, 1996 Copa do Brasil final “The…

A WOMAN’S GAME Suzanne Wrack (Guardian Faber, £14.99) In 1920, when the FA banned women’s matches from being played at FA-affiliated grounds (establishment figures were concerned that proceeds were going towards socialist-leaning organisations), several highprofile figures within the men’s game seemed mightily relieved. Arsenal gaffer Leslie Knighton suggested “their future duties as mothers would be seriously impaired” if women continued to play such a “rough sport”. A Woman’s Game fuses social, cultural and sporting history. Wrack’s sweeping panorama of the game examines how, prior to the ban, munitions factories spawned competitive women’s teams in the First World War, when men were off fighting. It also focuses on how the rebirth of the sport in the 1960s and ’70s coincided with legislation such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act. Perhaps due…

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1 PROVEN WINNER IN CHARGE Sarina Wiegman is the manager who’s defending this Euros title, having led her native Netherlands to glory in 2017. Not only does the 99-cap former international know how to win this tournament, she’s also very aware of how to deal with the pressure that will come with having fervent – but equally, expectant – home support behind her team. That’s not to say Wiegman’s predecessors lacked a history of winning at various levels, but this does feel very different. The specific nature of her experience can surely only aid England’s prospects, and the 52-year-old’s plaudits have been plentiful since she took charge. As Gareth Southgate quipped when asked if he had any advice for her: “Well, to be honest, Sarina has won one… with the…

A ‘holiday read’ is an action-packed thriller or an insightful dive into realworld problems. Deadline is both… and it’s written by Mesut Ozil’s agent. Featuring deadly rival representatives, a secret cabal of criminal super-agents and a kidnapped daughter, Erkut Sogut’s account reads like Taken crossed with transfer deadline day, only more factual than the former and less boring than the latter. Nor is Sogut from the Steve Bruce school of ‘writing’, as he tells FFT: “I read so many books about how to write a novel – creating characters, writing locations – and visited courses online.” But… how do we put this… why? “I’ve always wanted to share my knowledge,” explains Sogut. “My passions in life are teaching and writing, not being an agent. I’ve experienced so much in this business and…

You were born in the province of Cagliari and progressed through the ranks with the Rossoblu, making your senior debut in 1986 aged 17. How proud were you to represent your local team? Getting the chance to play for my hometown team was a dream come true. Being able to play in the team of our city represented the highest aspiration for kids back then. Luckily I succeeded and played for Cagliari for many years, enjoying some memorable successes along the way. That makes me really happy, I must admit – as does the fact that I could always rely on the support of my family and friends, who followed me around the country cheering me on with the Rossoblu. That was a very nice experience. After winning promotion twice,…

Chris Coleman could easily have dined out for the rest of his days on his success managing Wales. Having led his country to a first tournament in 58 years, the Swansea native then went several better by taking them all the way to the semi-finals, beating a much-fancied Belgium en route. But that isn’t Coleman’s way. “I don’t live in the success I’ve had, because that’s a moment – it’s gone,” he tells FourFourTwo. “You’ve got to look at today and what’s coming tomorrow, because that’s the only way you can survive, especially in this industry.” In January, his latest job took him to Greece’s Atromitos, a club dubbed ‘the Millwall of Athens’. After two and a half years out of management, it was a risk due to the club’s…

1 BE DEMANDING Every manager under the Glazers has had at least one transfer window where they've had to ‘make do’ – even Sir Alex. Ten Hag cannot allow that to happen. So many players have left already, arguably more have to go, and he needs backing in a big way with signings. Recruitment is what he’ll live and die on – it’s essential he gets exactly what he wants. 2 BE THE BOSS As well as being very demanding with the board, the gaffer must make the players aware that the buck stops with him; that his word is final. We’ve seen player power infect United’s dressing room and the result has been disastrous. We can’t have the leaks or complaints that riddled last season. He must wield the…

I always describe my childhood as being split into two parts. The first part was before the war. Until that time, I’d lived a safe and peaceful life with my family in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. I was one of five sisters and we were all little balls of energy. We went to school and had many friends in the city – everything was normal. My mother worked as a teacher and my father served as a general in the Afghanistan National Army. To me, my father was like James Bond. He was this big, intelligent guy – handsome and proud. I used to wake up really early for school and watch him as he went through his exercises out on the balcony every morning. We lived in a…

You were appointed in January and led Hull well away from relegation danger in the Championship. How do you reflect on your first six months? I was welcomed from day one. At the start, the club was in a difficult place [19th, nine points above the drop zone] and there wasn’t time to change many things because the transfer market was almost closed. The main goal was to stay in the Championship, and we did that – the team showed character. There were disappointments, like the 5-0 defeat against Bristol City in April, but the fact that we were certain of staying up a few matches before the end saved a lot of stressful moments. This is your first managerial role in Britain. How did the move happen? I’ve known…

BOY’S A BIT SPECIAL MATT O’RILEY CELTIC LOWDOWN Hounslow born, MK Dons reared – now turning out for Scottish giants and representing Denmark at under-21 level. Suffice to say, 2022 has already gone loopy for O’Riley. A free agent at the end of 2020 after turning down a deal with Fulham, his January 2021 move to Milton Keynes proved a triumph for all parties – by this season he was the Dons’ deputy skipper and playing his way towards Parkhead. After sealing a £1.5 million switch in January, the midfielder was thrust straight into Ange Postecoglu’s starting XI; within two months he’d earned his first call-up for Denmark’s U21s, for whom he qualifies via his mother and speaks the native tongue fluently. Forgive him a headrush… HIGHLIGHT Merely 165 days…

WYCOMBE 1 BOY IN DA CORNER Joe Jacobson outdid himself in September 2019 – the set-piece king’s hat-trick against Shrewsbury featured one from a free-kick and two straight from corners, adding to the pair of Olympic goals he’d bagged earlier that calendar year. “The other boys… are kind of just running in the box for no reason if I’m shooting,” he shrugged. 2 THE CEEFAX HERO Roy Essandoh scored once for Wycombe – it just happened to be the goal which stunned top-flight Leicester as his third-tier side made the FA Cup semis in 2001. Essandoh had been jobbing in Finland when his agent spotted a Ceefax story about Lawrie Sanchez’s injury crisis; within days he’d debuted without even training, then produced the unthinkable with his last-minute winner against the…

Here’s a million-dollar question for you: what do gameshow host Chris Tarrant, presenter Eamonn Holmes and football’s Gianfranco Zola have in common? Not a lot, it seemed. In 2001, though, the Chelsea genius took his kids to a WWE wrestling bash, got stuck sitting next to the grinning telly show-offs, on camera, and clearly found it excruciatingly awkward. “Gianfranco Zola! Having a blast at Earls Court!” lied the commentator. “I always just think, ‘What are these people possibly saying to each other?’” ponders Matthew Pincus, who started the simple-but-staggering Twitter account @WeirdCrossovers. The Zola footage was an early favourite, and things gradually got odder. “I don’t actually look into why they happened. I just like the idea that, magically, one day Alan Shearer bowled into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office and ended…

In February 2018, Graham Potter steered Ostersund to a sensational triumph over Arsenal at the Emirates – but while their old boss has gone from strength to strength, it’s all gone horribly wrong for the plucky Swedes. Potter remarkably guided the minnows from the fourth division to the last 32 of the Europa League during seven years in Scandinavia, helped by the unusual methods of chairman Daniel Kindberg, who insisted on squad and staff doing a range of bizarre activities to foster team spirit – including a public performance of Swan Lake, and a play where defender Dennis Widgren pretended to be a cow. With former English non-league players like Jamie Hopcutt and Curtis Edwards in their line-up, Ostersund followed victory in the Swedish Cup final by defeating Galatasaray, PAOK…

STAR TWEET Ian Woan. I saw him make an early (maybe his debut?) appearance for Forest and thought, ‘Wow, this kid has it all’. I was 100% sure that he would become a mainstay in the England team. Don’t think he ever got a single cap. Toby Morgan Renato Sanches, who I was sure would turn Swansea City into Champions League winners. @elisjames Harry Kane came on in a Europa League game around 2013 for Spurs and I said to my mate, ‘This bloke is f**king hopeless’. The rest is history. @spartak_sloths Watching Messi at the Under-20 World Youth Championship in 2005, I thought he would become another Florent Sinama Pongolle. I thought Robinho would be the star… F Chinonso Chigbo I couldn’t stand Iniesta during his breakthrough season at…

52.9% GUUS HIDDINK After winning six Eredivisie titles and the European Cup with PSV, Hiddink turned up as interim boss at Chelsea to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2009 – winning 11 of 13 league games, and also lifting the FA Cup. His second spell at Stamford Bridge wasn’t quite as victorious: seven triumphs in 21, after stepping in for Jose Mourinho in 2015. 51.3% LOUIS VAN GAAL Like Ten Hag, Manchester United’s only other Dutch gaffer was a huge success at Ajax – even if he left a full 17 years before pitching up at Old Trafford. The European champion presided over initial improvement post-David Moyes, but his football soon lacked the entertainment of his sex masochism media interviews. 44.7% RONALD KOEMAN An Eredivisie winner as a boss with both Ajax…

One hundred and three days before England’s women kicked off their first home tournament, the announcement came. In some ways it was surprising; in many others, depressingly not. “Our resources are better deployed at the level of school-age children rather than adults,” Manchester United’s director of communications, Philip Townsend, droned in a February O 2005 statement. Just three months before the north-west of England was due to host 15 matches at Euro 2005, world football’s richest club had confirmed they would be disbanding their women’s team. For a sport still grafting to catch up after an almost-laughable 50-year FA ban until 1971, it felt like a stinging slap to the face. Nevertheless, when you look back on the seminal moments of Lionesses history, that home tournament 17 years ago represented…

Plenty happened between Ada Hegerberg’s decision to stop playing for Norway and her triumphant return. In 2018, she became the first ever winner of the Ballon d’Or Feminin, over a year after the Molde-born striker ceased representing her national side over perceived inequalities within the Norwegian Football Federation and “a huge difference over evaluations and how we should move forward”. She was 22. Since then… well, let’s just say that change has been afoot. The NFF has since elected its first female president in 120 years of being – and the former international, Lise Klaveness, has got to work quickly. Klaveness even took on Gianni Infantino at April’s FIFA Congress, declaring that world football’s governing body needed to do far better when it came to, er, pretty much everything from…

Mino Raiola’s family understood the brief. When the world’s best-known football agent died earlier this year, aged just 54, their statement made no attempt to separate personal tragedy from professional swagger. “In infinite sorrow, we share the passing of the most caring and amazing football agent that ever was,” it read. “Mino fought until the end with the same strength he put on negotiation tables to defend our players.” It’s what he would have wanted. Super-agents are super-aware of their importance, which is natural: you don’t justify collecting a reported £41 million from a transfer deal with bashful false modesty. Less natural, at least to football fans, are the figures involved. FIFA say agents received nearly £375m in fees from cross-border deals alone in 2021 – more than in 2020,…

After starting out in non-league, you made your name at third-tier Peterborough with Barry Fry. What was he like to play under? He was like my father in football. I still speak to him now. He was Mr Peterborough back then and still is. He coached the team, poured his money and soul into the club, and ran everything behind the scenes. I remember, when I ended up leaving The Posh, he goes, “Jimmy, come into my office immediately!” I thought, ‘Oh God, what have I done here?’ I went in and he had the phone on hold on his desk. He said, “It’s Paul Jewell from Wigan Athletic – he wants you. Do you want to go?” I was scared of Baz; I was 19 and he was this…

ROGERIO CENI “It’s heartbreaking to leave Hugo Lloris out of this team, as he’s certainly one of the best in the game as well as a lovely guy. But I’ll pick Rogerio Ceni to express my gratitude for what he represented in my early days in football – he was Sao Paulo’s goalkeeper when I broke into the first team, and had been for 17 years already. He’s a legend, a fantastic leader and even scored goals. Lots of them.” DANI ALVES “Easy call, isn’t it? Is there anyone who’s won more trophies than him? And he wants more! His journey in football is absolutely incredible. On top of that, he’s not only a versatile player but keeps the same quality in basically every position you use him.” THIAGO SILVA…