Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2017 i FourFourTwo UK

New Year, time for a fresh start. Time to make grand plans and insist that, this year, you will see them through. As everyone resolves to avoid old failings, it seems only right that our first cover story of 2017 focuses on Arsenal, perhaps the Premier League’s biggest habitual underachievers. Could this be the year the Gunners break some all too familiar patterns – getting knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage (by Bayern Munich!), losing key players to injury for large chunks of the season, stumbling through their league fixtures in January – and go on to win the league? With Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil upfront, anything is possible. Turn to p34 to find out if the revamped front two can emulate Thierry Henry and…

“I’VE ALWAYS FELT FIT, BUT CAN’T REMEMBER MANY GAMES WHERE I DID NOT HAVE ANY PAIN. IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SACRIFICES” CLUBS 1998-2003 Utrecht 2003-06 Feyenoord 2006-12 Liverpool 2012-15 Fenerbahce 2015- Feyenoord COUNTRY 2004-14 Netherlands TORRES OR SUAREZ – WHO WAS BETTER? DID PETER CROUCH NEARLY RUN HIM OVER? HAS HE MET A PLAYER WHO WORKS HARDER? In 2015, after spending nine seasons abroad, Dirk Kuyt returned home to the club where he first became a star. During those campaigns – six at Liverpool and three at Fenerbahce – the Dutchman built a reputation as a hardworking everyman. Put simply, the kind of player fans adore. Yet the bond has never been stronger than with ‘Het Legioen’ – the passionate fanbase of Feyenoord. And…

Answers 1) Andrea Pirlo; 2) Marek Hamsik; 3) Carlos Valderrama; 4) Bacary Sagna; 5) David Beckham; 6) Raul Meireles; 7) Ronaldinho; 8) Ivan Campo; 9) Edgar Davids; 10) Barry Venison; 11) Taribo West; 12) Abel Xavier; 13) Paul Pogba; 14) Gervinho; 15) Cristiano Ronaldo; 16) Antonio Conte; 17) Gareth Bale; 18) Benoit Assou-Ekotto; 19) Mike Werner; 20) Robbie Savage AERIAL THREAT Toulouse boss Pascal Dupraz was dealt a glancing blow by a paper plane thrown from the crowd – bizarrely leaving him very close to tears…

 Hello there. Right, first things first – what shall we call you? You’re known as John Obi Mikel, John Mikel Obi and Mikel John Obi, so which one is it? “I OFTEN SLIP INTO MY ONESIE SO I CAN WRESTLE MY DOGS. I’VE GOT TWO ROTTWEILERS” Mikel John Obi is the order that I like to use. Various people just call me John or Obi, which is fine, too. They use the name that they think I deserve… How has this confusing madness been allowed to happen, Mikel? A long time ago, when I was playing for the Nigeria Under-17 national team, someone filled a form in wrong. My name is Michael but it got spelled as ‘Mikel’. I had a good tournament, so I decided to just keep it.…

Pep Guardiola: The Evolution Marti Perarnau (Arena Sport, £14.99) At Barcelona, Pep Guardiola’s principal aim, as he was fond of explaining, was to ensure that the team got “the ball to Lionel Messi exactly when he needed it, and then Messi scored”. As Marti Perarnau’s follow-up book to Pep Confidential reveals, Guardiola’s tenure at Bayern Munich saw him adapt the Barça style to a new group. Perarnau’s access to Guardiola and the players allows him to dissect the minutiae of Pep’s approach in Germany – including his realisation that, unlike at the Camp Nou, there were not “players who’d been trained since a young age in how to apply his own philosophy”. Perarnau’s tone may be occasionally reverential, but that doesn’t prevent him from analysing why Bayern didn’t win the…

Moise Kean CLUB Juventus POSITION Forward VALUE £9m FOOT R HEIGHT 1.82m NATION ITA AGE 16 TECHNICAL Direct, speedy and with a cool temperament in front of goal, Kean has all the attributes of a top striker, despite his young age – he recently became the first player born in 2000 to appear in the Champions League. Prior to that he’d scored goals at an alarming rate at youth level, netting with both feet, headers and direct from set-pieces. Able to beat a would-be marker with either a trick or pace, he can also play out on the wing. Kean is able to link play, hold up the ball or make chances for team-mates, with his decision-making excellent for a frontman so young. MENTAL “Moise Kean is the name to…

Player of the year Follows up being Player of the Year at Blackburn in 2009-10 by taking Stoke’s end-of-campaign award in 2014-15, playing a key role as the Potters finish ninth. Europa League victory Earns a £7 million transfer to Sevilla and helps Los Rojiblancos lift the Europa League in his first year, featuring in their 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Basel final. Atletico matchwinner Runs from the halfway line to score the winning goal against Atletico Madrid in October, as Sevilla briefly and surprisingly ascend to the top of La Liga.…

Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo Milan & Italy Pirlo’s nickname ‘Mozart’ was well earned for a prodigious talent and his smooth style, while the all-action ball-winning of ‘Ringhio’ (Snarl) Gattuso was more like AC/DC at their most carnal. In 10 years at the San Siro from 2001, Gattuso and Pirlo complemented each other perfectly, winning two Serie A titles, two Champions Leagues and two UEFA Super Cups, among others. For Italy, they also excelled. Gattuso came into Marcello Lippi’s starting line-up halfway through the group stage of the 2006 World Cup, his selfless running freeing up space for Pirlo to probe from deep. Both finished in the Team of the Tournament as the Azzurri swept to a fourth world crown. Totally different personalities – Pirlo a northern faux-intellectual, Gattuso a…

This is utter rubbish,” Hans-Jurgen Kreische says. “Whoever makes that claim doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The truth is: we were better than we are given credit for.” Kreische, now 69 years old, was one of the greatest players in East Germany (GDR) during the 1970s, as a playmaking midfielder who chipped in with more than his fair share of goals. After the Berlin Wall came down, he briefly coached at his hometown club, Dynamo Dresden, before building a reputation as a man with an unerring eye for talent. Until a couple of seasons ago, he was the head of RB Leipzig’s fabled scouting department. However, FourFourTwo has not sought him out to talk more about the newly-promoted club’s stunning rise to the top of the German game. Instead,…

Cameroon established an unexpected reputation as fashion mavericks in 2002 when FIFA banned them from wearing sleeveless shirts at the World Cup. The Indomitable Lions had already proved their indomitableness, biceps and all, by winning the 2000 AFCON dressed as a basketball team. Clearly the world was not ready. They tested FIFA’s resolve further by playing in the 2004 AFCON wearing onesies (all right, they were bodysuits if you’re going to be technical). While playing without sleeves brought obvious benefits, Cameroon’s unitard seemed to have been designed purely to see if they could get away with it. They couldn’t. FIFA issued Cameroon with a fine, which Puma paid, and a six-point deduction in World Cup qualifying, which they overturned.…

EDGAR DAVIDS Barnet The snarling, begoggled attack dog for Ajax, Juventus and Spurs was an unlikely 2012 appointment as player-boss for Barnet in League Two. After co-managing alongside Mark Robson, he went solo but saw them drop into non-league on the season’s final day. He left his post in January 2014 with the Bees 8th in the Conference. DARREN PEACOCK Lancaster City The bulky Bristolian centre-half was central to Kevin Keegan’s buccaneering Newcastle side that almost won the Premier League, scoring in the famous 5-0 destruction of Manchester United in 1996. Peacock took over eighth-tier Lancaster (who play at Giant Axe) in April 2013 but left in September 2015 as the Dolly Blues started slowly. MARCUS GAYLE Staines Town The striker had a solid six years at Wimbledon and represented…

There are tears in Juanito’s eyes. “I’m cursed,” cries Real Madrid’s right-winger to the Spanish press corps at full-time of Real Madrid’s 4-1 defeat at Bayern Munich in the first leg of their 1986-87 European Cup semi-final. “I thought that I had changed as a person and as a footballer, but clearly I haven’t.” The emotional 32-year-old from Andalucia, with his all-encompassing will to win, has been sent off on a chilly April evening in Germany for stamping on Lothar Matthaus’ head. “Things like this could result in my retirement from this sport,” he adds. “In those moments, you’re not yourself. There’s another person controlling you; you do things you don’t realise. Seriously – I didn’t know what I was doing.” The video replays, shocking in their brutality, go around…

Those locks though... Chelsea’s Golden Boy earned the name for more than his blond hair, as he scored 193 times in nine seasons from 1983. The Blues’ all-time third-highest goalscorer proved his striking mettle in an England shirt as well, firing back-to-back braces against West Germany and USA in 1985 friendlies. After ending a brief stint as Doncaster Rovers’ player-manager in 1997, Dixon coached non-league sides and talked on Chelsea TV. You’re setting him up for a fall here… Indeed, then came a gambling problem, some recreational substance abuse and five months at Her Majesty’s pleasure over a pub fracas. But he’s out now? He is, and making an honest trade as a heating engineer’s assistant. Team-mate Pat Nevin said: “You could not dislike the Golden Boy. There were problems…

1 LEIGH RICHMOND ROOSE Born in 1877, the Sunderland keeper scandalised London society with a string of relationships that included a fling with married singer Marie Lloyd. Roose would often wear a top hat and tails, the sexy beast. 2 ULYSSES KOKKINOS Becoming 1970s Australia’s equivalent to George Best is no mean feat. The afroed South Melbourne Hellas FC playmaker courted various supermodels and espoused a pre-match routine of “a beautiful dinner, wine and making love... I would be flying the next day.” 3 GIGI MERONI The Torino winger’s over-the-ear haircut and carefree stance shook the deeply conservative 1960s Italy. Gigi controversially dodged a doping scandal and cohabited with a divorcee. A car crash in October 1967 tragically ended his life at just 24. 4 GARRINCHA The daddy of them…

“If you head the ball well, you are the master of the penalty area and you dictate where the ball goes” Which strikers did you look up to the most when you were a kid? Thierry Henry. My other heroes were Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Zinedine Zidane, but the best was Henry. He had a particular way of scoring his goals. He’s always spoken of as an Arsenal player but he also played for Barcelona, Juventus and Monaco, and was a winner everywhere he went. In the modern game, I like Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski as well as Karim Benzema. They’re killers in front of goal. Did you try to model your game on those players as you developed? I tried to learn from them but I never tried to copy…

MAGIC SPONGE Forget your fancy sprays – all a real man needs after being laid flat by a meaty tackle is a quick rub of the magic sponge. Millennials may well laugh at the merits of this old-school Sunday League treatment, but it has the backing of the experts. Former West Ham United and Derby County academy physiotherapist Simon Arundel explains to FFT: “Cold water reduces the blood supply to the injured area to provide some short-term pain relief, which could provide a mental boost to limp back out onto the pitch and complete the match.” If you are looking to make a January purchase, then put the magic sponge at the top of your list. 1 “Taking an ice-cold sponge and placing it on the injured area for about…

FFT loves nothing more than spending our winter nights tucked up in bed, spooning a football while watching goal compilations on DVD. But our quality time beneath a Roy of the Rovers duvet could be coming to an end, as a new report reveals that technology might be damaging our sleep. Researchers at King’s College in London and Cardiff University in the Welsh capital analysed 11 studies, involving more than 125,000 people, to determine if electronic devices affect our rest. They discovered that if you use a smartphone or tablet before hitting the sack, or even watch a bit of television, it doubled the risk of you having a bad night’s kip – which is the last thing that we want before a match. And, more worryingly for…

David Semple: A long-time contributor to FFT and master of illustration, he produced the goods for our AFCON feature. “I always have a laugh checking out the clips on YouTube, and I’m looking forward to plenty more shenanigans in 2017.” Graham Parker: Some 36,000 frozen fans turned up to see Seattle Sounders win their first MLS Cup at Toronto FC. US-based Graham met supporters of both sides to see whether the time has come to finally ditch the cliches about North American fandom. Nick Moore: Our roving reporter went to see Jimmy Bullard, the new manager of Leatherhead. “Jimmy’s as entertaining as you would imagine, but you can see him applying that wild energy he had as a player constructively – and smartly – off the pitch, too.”…

1 BEST FANCY DRESS COSTUME EVER England Nottingham FourFourTwo has seen some pretty special fancy dress get-ups over the years, but a man turning up to a party dressed as a Rene Higuita scorpion kick may just about top the lot. Not content with merely sticking a perm on and pretending to be the Colombian goalkeeping legend/loon, the japester depicted Higuita laid on a giant plinth, balancing a football on his feet, to recreate his acrobatics at Wembley in 1995. Bravo, sir. 2 FANS WANT THEIR WANG OUT Netherlands The Hague We know things are quite liberal in the Netherlands, but fans of Eredivisie club ADO Den Haag seemed to be taking it all a bit too far when they unveiled a ‘Wang out’ banner during their game against Utrecht.…

Dani Osvaldo may have hung up his boots to join a band, but Boris Lumbana has gone one step further: he wants to sing at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine. The 25-year-old had been a defender for second-division Degerfors in Sweden, but his aspirations of one-day becoming a singer were boosted last year when one of his songs was entered into Sweden’s biggest music contest, called the Melodifestivalen. Using his stage name Boris Rene, he got to the final and sang to a huge crowd at the national stadium. Despite becoming Degerfors’ celebrity player, he’s given up football for good to focus on pop – he’s at Melodifestivalen again next month, with the winner able to represent Sweden at Eurovision in Kiev. “That’d be lovely,” Boris tells FFT.…

There are free-kick kings, long-range specialists, but not many overhead-kick experts. But Moussa Sow is different – so different that he’s started a craze at his club, Fenerbahce. The Senegal striker found the net with a stunning overhead effort to help defeat Manchester United in the Europa League, and then did it again at Caykur Rizespor. Cashing in on the social media frenzy that soon followed, Fenerbahce swiftly put shirts on sale in their club shop with the striker’s name and number upside down, in honour of his new-found skill. “There has been huge demand from fans – 4,000 shirts were sold straight away, and it could rise to more than 10,000,” a source close to the club tells FFT. “We’ll continue selling them as long as there’s demand.” Sow…

Philosophy and football rarely mix. It’s hard to imagine toe-driller Darius Vassell delving too deeply into Jean-Paul Sartre’s seminal works on existentialism, while Robbie Savage is either post-modernism’s purest of thinkers or a shouty berk who would probably argue with a tree – if only it knew how to answer back... “You’re wrong,” the former Leicester midfielder-turned-professional wind bag has almost certainly never shouted at an in-bloom larch, “it’s not summer.” A new book, however, is looking to prove that the average footballer has more in their locker, via the medium of clandestine T-shirt theologising. Disgusted by FIFA’s ban on players displaying any form of message in 2014 – Edinson Cavani was booked for unveiling a T-shirt in support of Chapecoense after a recent goal – graphic-design duo Craig Oldham…

RANDERS Carsten Gildum Commercial director, 45 Hannes Halldorsson Randers and Iceland goalkeeper, 32 Q: In what year did the club win the Danish Cup? CG: It was 2006! I’ confident on that one. HH: It was ’06, I think 1-1 Q: Which Swedish side knocked Randers out of Europe last season? CG: If my memory is right then it was Elfsborg? HH: Er, was it AIK? 2-1 Fan Q: Which Danish club did Randers boss Olafur Kristjansson play for? CG: No idea! I’ll guess at FC Copenhagen HH: Was it Aarhus? That sounds right to me. 2-2 Q: Who scored the club’s first league goal in the current Danish Superliga campaign? CG: jeez, come on that was months ago, back in July! Er, was it Mandla Masango? HH: I one…

Well, we’ve heard of clubs being banned from their very own ground, but never their own website. That was the threat that Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest were left faced with, thanks to a dispute with ex-chairman Nicolae Badea. A full two years after the Romanian army said they owned the rights to the badge of city rivals Steaua, Badea has now laid claim to Dinamo’s crest on top of their internet domain. If the issue isn’t resolved, then Dinamo could be forced to abandon their website, leaving fans clicking into the ether. “I just can’t imagine us having a new website!” Dinamo fan Sorin Hriscu sobs to FFT. General manager Adrian Mutu (yes, that one) has voiced his frustrations, but Badea wants Dinamo to switch the training ground floodlights off…

Barcelona have scored their fair share of sensational goals in recent years, but they were on the receiving end, for once, when they visited the Stadio Olimpico for their first Champions League game of last term. Luis Suarez had given holders Barça a 1-0 lead over Roma in Italy when a loose touch from left-back Jordi Alba sent the ball into the path of Alessandro Florenzi. No danger, you would have thought: Florenzi was playing at right-back and wasn’t too far from his own penalty area. But the Italian soon surged down the flank, crossed the halfway line and – despite being less than a yard from the touchline – took on the most audacious of shots. “I saw that the goalkeeper was off his line and I had few…

@SteveMartinToGo Evidently, there’s someone who’s a bad referee with my name, and now thousands of English people won’t go and see my films any more. @altrinchamfc Please note that CVs for the vacant manager’s role must not be based on either FM or CM achievements. @archiert1 James Richardson just pulled out a copy of FourFourTwo’s interview with Howard Webb. Looked a bit like this... @GMPCityCentre Man arrested for being drunk & disorderly, throwing burger at police horse at Man City v Celtic, got £90 fine. Horse remains in stable condition. @chrislepkowski The Jaap de Groot piece on Cruyff was one of the best and most moving pieces I’ve read for a long time. Bravo.…

NIGEL WINTERBURN I’ve always been a very strong supporter of Arsene because when you have played for him and been successful, you fully understand his methods and his love for the club. I’d like him to stay. After a long period without the league title, I think the team and the squad now look a lot stronger. Things are moving in the right direction; what you have to ask is whether it’s moving quickly enough for a lot of people, because everyone wants to win the title yesterday. What I would love to see is for them to be there in April – if not top, then within three or four points of the leaders. That would get people excited again. ALAN SMITH There have been plenty of times when…

The Group A match between Libya and Zambia in January 2012 was what meteorologists might call a little squidgy. As Paul Doyle relayed in The Guardian’s minute-by-minute blog, “The players arrived by bus; they may have to consider leaving by ark.” Yet despite torrential rain leaving the pitch waterlogged, the game went ahead only an hour and 15 minutes later than planned. It was an utter farce, of course, with players slipping, treading in puddles and occasionally diving off the top board, but 1,000 or so hardy supporters were treated to an exciting – and damp – 2-2 draw.…

MYTH BUSTER Pele boycotted the 1974 World Cup as a protest O Rei was advised against reversing his retirement – it was no political protest against dictator Ernesto Geisel Items supplied by the National Football Museum – visit nationalfootballmuseum.com for more info…

FAIR WEATHER Dutch midfielder and opera singer Francois Menno Knoote looked after his voice in 1905 by refusing to play in rain, and bolted for the dressing room if it poured mid-game. Happily, Knoote never played on a cold, wet Wednesday in Stoke. GRE-NO-LI GRIEF Imagine hitting 118 goals in 38 Serie A games – and coming second. In 1949-50, inspired by Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm, the Rossoneri did exactly that, and even beat champions Juventus 7-1 away from home. MALDINI MISTAKES Cesare Maldini’s early defensive gaffes were so prevalent they had a name: ‘Maldinate’. He’d later lift the 1963 European Cup (below). ENTRANCE MUSIC New Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, no shrinking violet even then, arrived with his Rossoneri players for the 1986-87 squad presentation at the…

All Played Out Written in just eight weeks, Pete Davies’ riveting inside story of England’s Italia 90 caper – later adapted superbly, in One Night In Turin – tugs firmly at fans’ heartstrings. Berni Rabbit enthusiasts watching Euro 88 got an anthropomorphic treat thanks to Berni, mascot for the hosts, West Germany. Who knew that cartoon bunnies could be this cool, eh Bugs? (I’m) Football Crazy Lazio striker Giorgio Chinaglia’s 1974 ode to “making the game on time” is football folk’s finest moment. Now, if we could just get Ciro Immobile to blast out some Enya...…

Age 26 Height 6ft 3in Birthplace Benteke was born in Kinshasa – then the capital of Zaire, now of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – before moving to Belgium aged three Tough love “If I play rubbish, he tells me” – Benteke on dad Jean-Pierre Brothers in arms Benteke’s younger brother Jonathan (above) joined him at Palace in September Football friend As a child, Christian played street football in Belgium with Axel Witsel, now of Zenit Clever clogs He’s fluent in French, English and Lingala Flying start He hit eight goals in his first 13 league outings for the Eagles…

HE ANSWERS Demarai Gray Leicester City speed demon “Be confident and try to get involved in the game quickly. But you need to be professional, too. On a few occasions I’ve come on and tried to beat players when I should’ve passed the ball, which has meant I’ve given it away. Settle in with some early touches, and when the time is right time to express yourself, do it. The manager wants to be able to trust you coming on as a sub.”…

THE SPEEDSTER You’re the go-to man for the ball over the top or down the wing, so enhance your pace with these speed specific boots. THE POWERHOUSE You dominate the opposition, setting the tone by either smashing a shot into the top bins or playing controlled diagonal passes to switch play. THE PURiST Featuring some of the finest materials, leather boots offer ultimate comfort and feel on the ball while traditional styling make them irresistible.…

West Ham vs Man City January 6 Friday night football as Pep Guardiola gets his first taste of the FA Cup in the third round Gabon vs Guinea-Bissau January 14 The fixture everyone’s been waiting to see: spiced up by being AFCON’s opening match Man United vs Liverpool January 15 Yes, we know, last time it was the worst game in the world – this time it’ll be better, right? Hull vs Man United January 26 The second leg of the League Cup semi-final – will Jose reach his first final as United boss? PSG vs Monaco January 29 Nice remain in the mix, but the two favourites for the Ligue 1 title go head-to-head in Paris Liverpool vs Chelsea January 31 The Reds won when the sides met at…

“I can’t watch it back now,” says Morten Ramm. “It is just too painful.” Ramm – a former top-flight footballer in Norway and now a more established comedian – is looking back on his decision to get plastered with a group of friends and play a football match as a YouTube stunt. Each team had to have a blood alcohol concentration averaging at least 1.0mg/ml – which is five times above the legal limit to drive a vehicle in Norway. Morten and his team-mates had a wild “pre-party” in the dressing room, glugging the spirits freely, before staging an unbearably-bad kickabout in which participants were curling up on the floor, vomiting on the sidelines and engaging in minor skirmishes. When one player did finally open the scoring, the goal was…

More than 100 clubs have reached the FA Cup Third Round at some stage in their history, despite never featuring in the Football League. Stourbridge are competing in the third round for the first time in their history this year, but some achieved the feat rather earlier – the Royal Engineers made the first of their 11 third-round appearances in the first FA Cup back in 1871-72, while Rangers were guests in 1886-87. The list only includes clubs who still exist today in some guise – a few under new monikers.…

“THE FIRST BOLIVIAN SIDE TO TOUR EUROPE DID NOT EXACTLY TAKE IT BY STORM” You can imagine how the conversation went in the Bolivian city of La Paz back in 1933. “What shall we call our new club? We need a name to show we can take on anyone.” “Er, what about Club Usually Quite Prepared?” “That doesn’t sound too intimidating, does it?” “OK, what about Club Always Ready?” “Yeah, that’ll do.” The Bolivians have been ready ever since – and were widely considered national champions when they won the La Paz Championship in 1951. Known as the Banda Roja because of the red band on their kit – reminiscent of the attire worn by River Plate – they found it more difficult when teams from other areas of the…

“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT TO PLAY FOR BIG SAM AGAIN. I’M NOT ENGLISH, THOUGH. IT WOULD HAVE FELT STRANGE” Sevilla went into La Liga’s Christmas break in the top three and you’ve set up a Champions League last-16 showdown against Leicester. So how do you assess the club’s season so far? The season’s going well. We’ve been playing well in La Liga and we’ve qualified for the next round of the Champions League. We more than matched Juventus – even if it was hard as we played 10 men against 11 at home. Now people are taking notice. Can you compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid for the remainder of the season? Barça and Madrid are good teams, so we have to go game by game. We showed what…

MOURINHO SAID BARCELONA WERE GETTING FAVOURABLE TREATMENT THANKS TO THEIR WORK WITH UNICEF Gary Neville tells a wonderful story about Eric Steele’s epiphany. It dates back to some time around 2010, when Steele had been working under Alex Ferguson as Manchester United’s goalkeeping coach for a couple of years. One day, after training, Steele approached Neville. It had taken a little bit of time, but realisation had dawned, and he wanted to share it with the club’s captain. “He came up to me,” Neville remembered. “And he said: ‘Now I get it. It’s like a little island. When you’re on it, you protect it. And when you’re not on it, you are gunned down. Anyone who comes towards us, you just gun them down.'” Ask anyone who worked with Ferguson…

ROWETT UNLUCKY Gary Rowett’s sacking by Birmingham seemed extremely harsh – he is a young manager who was doing pretty well. Evan Hardcastle GET THE BINOCULARS I visited West Ham’s new ground recently and did not like it at all. All the fans were just way too far away from the pitch. Colin Burton CONTE'S A TOP BOSS Antonio Conte almost went under the radar when he joined Chelsea – maybe he’s the best manager of them all? Stuart Wilson WRONG TV CHOICE Television’s obsession reader with Leeds continues it’s – surely their FA Cup figure tie at Cambridge doesn’t merit live screening? Andy Mason KUDOS ON FERGIE The documentary , so on 262 your issues YouTube to finally channel about answer Sir to Alex the Ferguson spine was…

Granit Xhaka is on the edge of the centre circle, bouncing on his tiptoes. He receives a pass infield from Mohamed Elneny and pushes the ball into the open space in front of him. With the game all but over at 3-1 in stoppage time, and with Hull City’s defence retreating, Xhaka gets to within 35 yards of goal and chooses to break with an Arsenal tradition. Instead of passing, he lets rip. The ball hurtles through the Humberside air, past Eldin Jakupovic and into the net. The Arsenal faithful celebrate a meaningless fourth goal at the KCOM Stadium as if it’s a last-minute winner. At long last, they have a player who is willing to give the ball a good old-fashioned wallop. FourFourTwo recounts the fierce September strike to…

It’s a sweltering day in late July and a squad of teenage footballers runs wearily through the Lake District, each member carrying a log above their head. At the end of a muddied trail, the group dives into a river and swims downstream. The players must rely on their own acumen and the support of their team-mates to overcome each challenge. There are no player liaison officers on hand to solve their problems, nor any sports psychologists present to massage bruised egos. For three days, contact with the outside world is limited. All electrical devices – mobile phones, iPads and laptops – are banned, with players made to fill their free time by listening to some motivational speakers at mental resilience workshops. Sheffield Wednesday’s under-18 side are undergoing a punishing…

Footballers aren’t short of targets they can push to the ground: opponents, mascots, Paul Alcock. You would think they might leave stretcher-bearers alone, though. But not defender Andre Bikey. As Cameroon’s semi-final against Ghana in 2008 ticked over into stoppage time, a medic arrived on the scene to treat Bikey’s team-mate Rigobert Song, whereupon the Reading centre-back raced over and forcefully invited the poor St John Ambulance man to sniff some grass. With his team just minutes away from knocking out the hosts, Bikey earned himself a red card and suspension from the final. “Maybe Bikey thought I’m a Ghanaian supporter and that I wanted the player to go off the field to prevent them from wasting some more time,” wondered the wounded medical officer, Samuel Ashia. Or maybe he…

Jimmy Hill was a true revolutionary. He ended the maximum wage as PFA president, hosted Match of the Day and helped make chins fashionable...ish. And in the summer of 1958, the Fulham forward (far left) introduced football to weight training. Al Murray (far right) – Olympic weightlifting coach to the stars, including Sir Laurence Olivier – certainly worked his magic: the Cottagers won promotion back to the First Division the following season. No pain, no gain.…

TINA’S TURN In November there’s dancing in the streets of Raith as Rovers’ side, costing just £215,000, beat Celtic on penalties to lift their first – and only – Scottish League Cup. A raucous chorus of (Simply) The Best on the bus sets the tone for a win that helps Rovers to pay for two stands at Stark’s Park. Thanks, Tina Turner. NO ONE TOUCHED HIM, REF! “Are there any good diving schools in London?” asks Jurgen Klinsmann with a knowing laugh at his first Spurs press conference, aware that his reputation for theatrics goes before him. The gymnastic German then celebrates a debut header against Sheffield Wednesday in August with an enthusiastic dive. It had been Teddy Sheringham’s idea, apparently. PISSING IT ALL AWAY Diego Maradona’s World Cup ends…

“The first match played under new Football Association rules took place in Battersea Park on Saturday, amongst the members of the clubs now forming the association. The teams were chosen by Messrs CW and JF Alcock, with the president (Mr A Pember) and the secretary (Mr EC Morley) taking opposite sides. Where all played well, individual mentions hardly come within the reportable scope, but Messrs Pember, Hewett, Morley and both of the Alcocks all distinguished themselves well. Mr Chambers, of Sheffield Football Club, gave a capital taste of his quality. The President’s side obtained two goals, the final kick in each instance being obtained by Mr CW Alcock. In the evening, members dined at the Grosvenor Hotel. ‘Success to Football, irrespective of class or creed,’ was drunk and an agreeable…

Ben Woodburn The 17-year-old is the youngest ever Liverpool goalscorer, after netting on his debut against Leeds. Girls who lift FFT love it that more women than ever are in the gym. Just don’t hog that squat rack. Oscarine Masuluke The Baroka FC keeper ventured forward to score a 96th-minute bicycle-kick leveller to stun Orlando Pirates. Team selfies Real Madrid players posed for a group shot after drawing with Barcelona. Just drawing! Where’s your pride, lads? Alcohol A study claims that boozing is a direct cause of seven types of cancer. Er, Happy New Year, everyone. Sergio Aguero The Manchester City man is lucky that he wasn’t charged with assault over this, er, ‘tackle’ on David Luiz.…

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PATRICE EVRA “I smile when I think about Patrice, as I don’t think I’ve ever met a more positive person in my life! Off the pitch, he was always smiling. On the pitch, he always made a game seem winnable, even if we were trailing. And he’s not the tallest man, but he had no problem standing up to any big guy that confronted him.” STILIYAN PETROV “The motto for Stiliyan’s life should be ‘Never give up’ – that’s how you can best describe him as a player and also reflect on his magnificent fight to beat cancer. So many people respect and admire him. He was gifted as a player and is the best kind of human being.” CRISTIANO RONALDO “When I’m back in Bulgaria and I talk to…