#97: Robert Prosinečki

“It was obvious we had a classy player on our hands, and I initiated the contract proceedings right away…” - Dragan Džajić

He was part of Croatia’s “golden generation” of players during the 1990’s and somewhat a journeyman across Europe, his technical ability and masterful manipulation of the ball earning him an accredited reputation for being a talented player. Although he is not continentally-acclaimed, Robert Prosinečki was arguably one of the most talented and brightest stars Europe.

Robert Prosinečki, brought up in a Yugoslavian-orientated family where his mother was Serbian and his father Croatian, was born in the city of Villingen-Schwenningen in the former West Germany, on 12 January 1969. His father Đuro hailed from the village of Gornji Čemehovec near Kraljevec na Sutli and his mother, Emilija, from the village of Ježevica near Čačak. Robert would not move back to the country in which he would represent until the age of ten with his family in 1979 and leave the club that he had joined a few years before, Stuttgarter Kickers. It would be upon returning to his father’s country that he would then join national giants GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Dinamo Zagreb are one of the most prestigious clubs in Croatia and laden with a rich history of silverware and tournaments, much like Stuttgarter Kickers in Germany, who have also won multiple titles throughout their history since forming in 1899.

After spending several years in the youth ranks at Dinamo Zagreb, at the age of 18, Prosinečki would earn a chance in the first team during the 1986-87 season under the veteran Miroslav Blažević – a man highly respected in Croatia and often depicted as “the coach of all coaches”, given his extraneous CV and numerous amount of jobs that seem to link him back to the same club, Dinamo Zagreb. The club would finish sixth in the league that season ahead of several other Yugoslavian clubs and ahead of fierce rivals Hajduk Split. Prosinečki only played a few times including a debut goal but didn’t really play an integral part.

His father however was keen. Reported scuffles with club officials and questioning the management of the club, Robert’s father, Đuro, campaigned for his son to be signed onto a professional contract, being eligible since he was eighteen years of age at the time. The club and, more important Blažević, refused, leaving the possibility of Robert being released on a free transfer. Clearly his father was adamant on that being the last thing to happen and so therefore moved his son elsewhere, the city of Belgrade, in search of a new club willing to take him on. Blažević infamously claimed that he would eat his coaching diploma if Prosinečki would ever become a professional footballer. It’s funny because in the summer of 1987, the same summer in which Robert was released from his youth contract at Zagreb on poor terms, Red Star Belgrade came calling and gave him and his father the answer that they were looking for. Prosinečki signed for the club and became a professional footballer, amid the claims made by his former manager that he would seemingly ‘eat’ his coaching diploma had he become one, leaving him little option but to eat his own words with it.

Dragan Džajić, the-then club director at Red Star Belgrade remembers Prosinečki’s transfer to the club very well. So well in fact he reminisces about the first time he met his uncle as they searched for a new club to join. Being so impressed by the youngster’s talent and evident abilities, the contract was sorted out with Robert’s father “in five minutes”.

“On one of our visits to Zagreb we stayed at Hotel Esplanade where I got approached by a man who introduced himself as Robert Prosinečki’s uncle. He told me his nephew wasn’t happy at Dinamo and asked me if we could arrange a tryout. I told them to come to Belgrade in a couple of days and they did. At the tryout I saw this kid do wonders with the ball and I immediately asked our head coach Velibor Vasović to schedule an afternoon practice session at the main stadium so that I could see the kid one more time. It was obvious we had a classy player on our hands, and I initiated the contract proceedings right away. Our lawyer informed us that we wouldn’t have to pay a transfer fee to Dinamo so Robert’s father Đuro and I agreed everything in five minutes.”

Even upon arrival Prosinečki proved that Blažević’s words earlier that year were nonsense. He emerged into a starting role for the club and became notably one of the country’s best young talents and formed a prime partnership in midfield alongside Dragan Stojković, Žarko Đurović and Goran Milojević, going on to win the league and improve on the last couple of seasons that saw them finish third, second and fourth respectively, and not having won the league since 1984 under Gojko Zec. In that year he was also part of the Yugoslavian youth squad that would win the FIFA Youth World Championship (renamed to the FIFA U20 World Cup) in Chile, defeating the country of his birth, West Germany in the final 5-4 on penalties after two late goals in the 85^th and 87^th minutes respectively sent the match into extra time and then penalties before Zvonimir Boban netted the decisive penalty. It would be the Yugoslavia under-20 team’s first (and last) championship as they went on a string of failures to qualify for the championship up until 1993, where Yugoslavia slowly started to cease existence.

Prosinečki went on to win the individual accolade of Golden Ball and increase his reputation to a continental level. In fact, Prosinečki was so important to Red Star Belgrade that the club went on to try and bring him back from Chile early so that he could participate in their UEFA Super Cup tie against Belgians Club Brugge in the second knockout round. However, his national team-mates protested to FIFA official and the organisation’s João Havelange, whereby he intervened and stopped Prosinečki from leaving Chile, to which he would therefore go on to win the tournament itself and a personal award. During his time in Belgrade, he won three league titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991, the Yugoslav Cup against his former club’s rivals Hajduk Split 1-0 and famously the 1991 European Cup against French club Olympique de Marseille in Bari, Italy. The match could not be decided in normal time, much like the FIFA Youth World Championship, and so it too an extra thirty minutes and penalties before Robert would convert his penalty much like his team-mates and for the club to go on and win the European title. With it for his country, Yugoslavia would finish runners up to the Soviet Union, losing both legs 3-1 and 4-2 respectively for the USSR to win 7-3 on aggregate.

After scoring twelve goals in 29 games during what would prove his final season at the club, Robert would go on to join Spanish moguls Real Madrid. Belgrade may have said goodbye to their young starlet, but Madrid would say hello to one of Europe’s brightest stars. Real Madrid hadn’t done very well the season prior to signing their-then 22-year-old, finishing third in the league to rivals Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona, knocked out of the Copa Del Rey in the last sixteen and eliminated by Spartak Moscow after being held to a 0-0 draw at the now-named Luzhniki before suffering a surprised 3-1 defeat at the Bernabeu in front of a 90,000-seater capacity. To los Galacticos’ credit, they did defeat eventual league winners Barcelona in both legs of the Supercopa de España and didn’t necessarily go trophyless, but the season before proved to be much more fruitful. Prosinečki joined Radomir Antić at Madrid, a former Yugoslav international, where he was appointed in March 1991, for €15 million. Such a heavy price tag at the time demanded some big things from the young Croat, with eyes on him already firm and set.

 

However this was to be quite a time of frustration for everyone involved: Prosinečki’s debut season was scuppered by injuries and missed the first couple months of the season. Torn muscles and strains led to physios and coaches and the club advising a strict diet and regime in order for him to regain his fitness and reduce the recurrence of injuries. This changed his life completely and not particularly for the better as he had to give up a lot of lifestyle choices that were affecting his football. Of course his father Đuro made everything possible for his son to get back on track and show how worthy he is of the money Real Madrid had paid for him in the first place. It wasn’t until October 1991 that Prosinečki would score against the Catalans in the infamous El Clásico from a dead-ball situation, his first season with Real ended with just three appearances and that goal against Barcelona.

The next would prove to be a small improvement on the last, but one nonetheless as he racked up more minutes on the pitch. Radomir Antić was sacked in January 1992, being replaced by Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker before he was axed in the summer of that same year. Robert went on to make 29 appearances this time, scoring twice as the club finished runners up in the league again to Barcelona, this time by a point and four goals as Atleti came in third, also by a point, but fourteen goals off on goal difference. Real Madrid would go on to be shockingly eliminated by then-Serie A side Torino, a club that would then finish runners up to Eredivisie giants AFC Ajax, who won the tournament altogether on away goals.

Ironically for the then-25 year old Prosinečki, his best season at Real Madrid was his last as he scored six goals in the 23 appearances he made as Real finished in fourth for the first time since 1973. Eventually time ran up for him and club officials had become fed up with the frequent injuries picked up with their waning Croat. With Real Madrid he won the Copa Del Rey and Supercopa de España in 1993, as well as the Copa Iberoamericana the following year.

The 1994 summer transfer window saw him shipped off to Real Oviedo in the very north of Spain and start again at a club that had just finished inside the top half of the table since 1991. It would only be for a season, however, as he went off again, but this time to FC Barcelona. Again, time would not be on his side and neither would the injuries be as he moved for a third time, Sevilla this time round. The club were consequently relegated from the top division, sitting 20^th out of twenty-four teams in a 42-game season alongside C.F. Extremadura, Hércules C.F. and C.D. Logroñés. The same competition he won at Real Madrid, the Supercopa de España, he won again in 1996 to wrap up his silverware in Spain.

All in all the time spent in Spain didn’t prove to be very productive as his best years were eroded through injuries and dips in form because of it. Undoubtedly all three clubs would have loved him to stay without the injuries and their recurrences, but his physical fragility was clearly a problem and so therefore required him to go elsewhere – unfortunately.

Prosinečki eventually returned home in the shape of the club that saw him leave on bitter differences, GNK Dinamo Zagreb (at that point they were under the name Croatia Zagreb before retaining their original name) and spend three seasons at the club up until the turn of the Millennium, before moving to Hrvatski dragovoljac in the same division. Back in Croatia he helped his club win the league three times in a row and obtain both the Croatian Cup and Super Cup, whilst in Slovenia he won the Slovenian Cup in 2002.

The following summer Robert moved abroad to Belgium, Royal Standard Liège, spending just a season there up until moving to England at the age of 32 and signing for Portsmouth in the English First Division, now renamed the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons, in the second tier. The times spent in the south of England proved to be better than any of the years spent in Spain or Croatia as the Croatian built up a great rapport with the Pompey faithful. Playing 33 times and scoring nine goals, Portsmouth finished in seventeenth whilst Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City all achieved promotion to the top division, the Premier League. Portsmouth fans probably wished they had signed him sooner because his goals stopped the club from finishing much closer to the relegation trap door. As a result Prosinečki was inducted into Portsmouth’s all-time best eleven despite just playing one season with the seaside club.

 

The following year of 2002 Prosinečki announced his retirement from the Croatia national team, finishing on 49caps for Vatreni and scoring ten goals. With the success of the 1987 FIFA Youth World Championship, he went on to play for Yugoslavia at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italty, before representing Croatia at the 1996 UEFA European Championships held in England, the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups hosted by France and co-hosts Japan and South Korea respectively. Croatia finished third in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, among a generation of highly talented players hailing from Croatia, in the likes of Davor Šuker, Krunoslav Jurčić and even Slaven Bilić. Since the success of 1998, Croatia have not reached past the group stages of the World Cup and recently didn’t even qualify. Being relatively new to major international tournaments since the digression of Yugoslavia, Croatia have gone on to make it as far as the quarter finals in the European Championships, looking to go even further and possibly win it some day.

A stint in Belgium before once again returning to NK Dinamo Zagreb in order to play out the lasting days of his professional club career, Prosinečki racked up 400 club appearances in the five countries he played in and scoring 82 goals, moreover, scoring in every single season. Retiring from professional football at the age of 35 in 2004, Prosinečki would go on to then join former team mate Slaven Bilić as part of his coaching staff with the Croatia senior national team among others, and, qualifying for the 2008 UEFA European Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Now the manager of the club that catapulted him into stardom, he retains the same iconic figure around the club, as well as being the sixth star of Red Star (sixth Zvezdina zvezda) of the 1991 “golden generation” in youth players in Belgrade.

Among that individual accolade he has more: he won the annual Bravo Award in 1991, handed out by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo to the most outstanding European young footballer in Europe, the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport back-to-back in 1997 and 1998, recognising extraordinary sporting achievements in the country in which help develop the sport nationally, the Yugoslav and Croatian Footballer of the Year awards respectively in 1990 and 1997. Moreover, he is the only player ever to have scored in the FIFA World Cup finals for two different national teams and the fifth non-Spanish player to have played for both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

Though he may not have reached his pull potential as a world class player, Robert Prosinečki enters in at no. 97 in The Tireless Midfielder’s library of a midfield select – past and present, young and old, the library continues to develop until it reaches number one. Croatia is represented already in one part of their “golden era”.

(continued) “Our lawyer informed us that we wouldn’t have to pay a transfer fee to Dinamo so Robert’s father Đuro and I agreed everything in five minutes.” - Dragan Džajić

Tags: stuttgarter kickers

Hiatus

Those of you that are regulars to my blog page will have been well aware by now that I have not posted in a while. The lack of posts has been apparent in the fact that I hadn’t published one since March prior to the post on Gennaro Gattuso, joining the TTM Library at no. 98, and therefore presenting the concerns for some. I would like to clear this up and say that I have no intention of closing the blog, leaving it or doing whatever, but at the moment I would like to focus on my own priorities that are unrelated to the blog. At this point in time, it has become critical that I maintain focus on what it closer to me now whilst I can, to which can then relax tensions going into the next month.

There will be new posts soon, ahead of the UEFA European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, possible previews and reviews of the matches themselves, however this is not guaranteed. I am looking to start up a new series alongside the TTM library, maintaining freshness and variety amongst my posts and readers. On top of that the Tumblr page I have set up for this blog may experience some changes in the future, depending on what I decide to do with it but there will be some changes, positive and negative, over the coming months. I am hoping to get this blog it’s own domain and remove the tacky ‘wordpress’ part from it, as well as boost traffic and Twitter followers, contribute articles to other website and so forth.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused, but it was only fair that I would post something such as this in order to update those whose interest may have waned. Please, do keep in touch by tweeting me at the official Twitter page, @T_T_Midfielder or @iNickStuff, like the Facebook page and visit the Tumblr website, views, likes, comments (etc) are all appreciated.

Thank you.

#98: Gennaro Gattuso

“Either you do things seriously, or you don’t do them at all.” – Gennaro Gattuso

In Italian it is translated to “indossare il cuore sulla tua manica”. A bit long-winding and not really among the cliché foreign language phrases that are shoved into articles about someone notable and of high regard, but all the same, back in a language universally spoken, it means “wear your heart on your sleeve”. Something A.C. Milan legend Gennaro Gattuso does not fail in adhering to. If fighting for a cause means putting everything on the line, then be sure that this stout, rugged-faced bearded soldier will be one of the first on the front line to lead. Gennaro Gattuso defines the term ‘destroyer’ when talking about Italian football, and is synonymous with the club he has cried, sweated and bled for within the past 13 years that he has had the stitched badge emblazoned on the famous black and red stripes. His retirement is impending, but undoubtedly he is one of the most highly regarded defensive midfielders to have ever graced, or rather lunged into, the beautiful game.

Born and raised in the small town and commune of Corigliano Calabro, almost thirty miles northeast of Cosenza, Gennaro Ivan Gattuso took a while to get his football career off the ground. His long journey started in Umbria, further north than his birthplace and with A.C. Perugia Calcio who reside in the fourth tier of Italian football. He spent roughly five years with the club from 1990 until 1995 as the club continued their campaign in returning to the glorious days of the late 70’s where they finished runners-up in the Serie A to il Rossoneri, A.C. Milan. That was subsequently followed with a fall from the top flight as they found themselves relegated in 1981, second from bottom and several points adrift from safety with today’s more respectable Udinese Calcio surviving the drop. But during the mid-90’s Gattuso would slowly be integrated into the first team with cameo appearances over the course of two years giving him the opportunity to show what he is capable of. Within a short space of time he had made ten appearances altogether as they returned to Serie B, the second division in the professional Italian league system before slowly starting to slip back to where they came from due to a controversial decision by the chairman, Luciano Gaucci, to replace Giovanni Galeone with Nevio Scala – this led to a panic within the club ranks but still managed to get promoted via the playoffs system and spend the next six years in Serie A.

But it was in 1997 that Scotland would come calling in the form of Glasgow Rangers and joined the Gers on a free transfer. With his mother being Scottish herself, the decision was partly made easier as a result and the other being that he would be under the stewardship of legendary coach Walter Smith. In that season the blue Glaswegians finished runners-up to fierce rivals Celtic, reach the latter stages of both domestic cups in the Scottish Cup and the League Cup, whilst their furthest in Europe being the first round of the renamed UEFA Cup, losing 2-1 twice to Racing Club de Strasbourg whilst the Bhoys bowed out to Liverpool on away goals following a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park.

Within that season Gattuso would experience the departure of Walter Smith in mid-May as he stepped down from his role to then be followed up by a spell in the Premier League with Everton in Merseyside. Dick Advocaat steered the ship until accepting managerial duties of his nation’s national team, Holland, in the build-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup being held in Japan and South Korea for the first time ever in the international competition’s history. During his spell in charge however, he found little space for a then 24-year-old Gennaro, consistently playing him out of his beloved holding midfield position and instead in the right back slot. Eventually he grew tiresome of the Italian and shipped him back off to Italy in the form of Salernitana, a newly promoted side that were looking to bolster their squad for the new season. He transferred to the Salernese for a fee of £4million, and played 25 times in the space of just under a year.

Nonetheless they were relegated with a point less than Gattuso’s former club Perugia and a poorer goal difference of just four, ironically enough. Moreover, they qualified for the second round of the now-extinct 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup as well following the renounce of several teams and at that expense were able to garner extra financial income as a result. Regardless of such they were eliminated in the third round after emerging victorious over obscure Macedonian outfit Pobeda in a 1-0 win at home before being crushed by Turkish club Trabzonspor in spite of winning the first leg away from home 2-1. They were then defeated 3-1 by the Süper Lig at Stadio Renato Curio. Nice run though.

Then A.C. Milan turned their eye to the five-foot-nine Italian and poached him from Salernitana for £8million in a bid to strengthen the areas around prized asset Andrea Pirlo, who needed cover in the midfield, with the aging of Thomas Helveg, Leonardo Araújo, Zvonimir Boban and Demetrio Albertini obviously becoming a concern to then Alberto Zaccheroni (who would then be later replaced by Carlo Ancelotti not so long later). Reaching their thirties, their £8million buy was just 25 and looking to prove himself somewhere. Having not had the best of luck at clubs before and spending on average a season and a bit with his last three, this would hopefully be the one that would propel him into regular and first team football. Of course, being bought for such amount of money has it’s natural expectancy that one would perform, and so that tag was placed on Gennaro’s head.

And so Gattuso dutifully performed. The young boy from the south of Italy, already having been abroad before the age of 24 and having spent time at a club whose expectations are to topple their local rivals year in and year out, not only was a consistent and prominent player in Ancelotti’s plans, but also a great move tactically for a man that would be heading into a job having just managed his then-to-be employers Juventus F.C. as they finished second in the league to S.S. Lazio with a point to spare. Milan however finished third and wanted to continue the success that they had tasted from the season prior.

It provided tactical freedom to Ancelotti because the rarity of a good holding midfielder cannot be stressed further without one becoming tired and agitated by the lack of them. The system Ancelotti favourites is the diamond 4-4-2 formation, or better known as the 4-1-2-1-2. Gattuso played in the centre of that formation with the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Massimo Ambrosini and even David Beckham in his short spell with the Italians on loan, rotating with the regista Andrea Pirlo in the process.

Of course at the time Pirlo was regarded as one of, if not, the best in the world as a defensive midfielder and a deep-lying playmaker whose long range passes were so accurate and pinpoint that it would requires two players to charge him at one just to stop him from being able to ping these passes up to the forward who played in front of him – it was almost normal for that to be in the opposition’s game plan and probably still is today. But what was a concern was the fact that he lacked protection from his midfield. A player in a defensive midfield position doesn’t usually excel in passing, but as it is Andrea Pirlo, the tables turn. In their best years, the talismanic partnership of Pirlo and Gattuso would dominate the centre of the park on home soil, in Europe travelling around the continent and on the world stage for the Italy national team. Rotation of roles as Pirlo would roam forward as Gattuso held the fort in midfield, it would be significant in Milan’s quest for European silverware, something they had not won since 1994 and were seeking their sixth title.

Ancelotti’s superb managerial skills and tactical knowledge of the game combined with one of the strongest Milanese sides in the club’s history led to multiple titles and awards that now stand prestigiously in their trophy cabinet, in the cauldron known as San Siro. Maldini, Nesta, Shevchenko, Inzaghi and others, as well as that indispensable midfield in the period of 2001 to 2007, garnered two UEFA Champions League titles against Bianconeri, Juventus funnily enough, and in the re-match of that famous night in Istanbul, defeating Liverpool in the final to win their seventh European title, whilst clinching their seventeenth league title to proudly don the Scudetto emblem once more and win the Coppa Italiana, Italian equivalent of the FA Cup as we know it here in England. Glorious years that loyal Milan fans will never forget.

Then the next FIFA World Cup rolled around and following the heartbreak of 2002 where Italy lost in extra time to a golden goal in the 117^th minute to the co-hosts themselves, South Korea, Azzuri were out for revenge, and they were back with a defining vengeance. Marcello Lippi lead his national squad to a near-perfect qualification campaign with seven wins, two draws and their only defeat coming away against Slovenia, and gaining passage to the 2006 FIFA World Cup hosted by Germany with a group consisting of Ghana, Czech Republic, and the United States. Italy won two out of three of their games and drew one against the U.S. to then be drawn against Australia in the round of sixteen. The Italians won by a goal to nil through a penalty in the ninety fifth minute of injury time, scored by Francesco Totti, and get past the hurdle they fell to four years prior. Australia were devastated, but Azzuri did not mind.

Next they were handed Ukraine to which they had little trouble in defeating as the boys in blue and yellow were brushed aside 3-0 through Gianluca Zambrotta and a Totti double. The semi finals crept around and it would be Germany, the hosts, that would face Lippi and his squad of silverware hungry players. At this point, Gattuso had appeared in almost every single game leading up to the big game at the Westfalenstadion. He appeared in a midfield consisting of club mate Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi and Simone Perotta against a German midfield that had Michael Ballack, Sebastian Kehl, Tim Borowski and Bernd Schneider. Both had a playmaker and a destroyer, with Gattuso coming up against a Bayern Munich player that had already signed for Chelsea in May of that year on a free transfer.

As the Italian national anthem was blared out in a 56,000 capacity stadium, as you would expect, Gennaro sang passionately with his arms draped around team mates and was even on a caution for a suspension as the accumulation of bookings was slowly taking it’s toll. Overall he generally played well, showing his frustration, confusion and great ability to tackle throughout the entire two hours of the match as Germany were eventually eliminated following two very, very late goals from Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti in the 119^th and 120^th minutes respectively to book a date with France in the final of the grandest stage in the world of football, hosted in the modern arena of Olympiastadion, Berlin.

And as the final came two goals scored by both sides in the first twenty minutes of the game by Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi – who would infamously go onto have an incident with each other that forever scars the career of Zizou – meant that the game would not be able to find a winner through the full ninety minutes and the extra thirty added on. Yet again Italy would not be able to defeat their opponents during normal time and could not finish the job during the half an hour on top of that. It came down to penalties instead. Despite Gattuso never being given the opportunity to score from twelve yards out for his country in the World Cup final, his team mates converted all of their penalties whilst David Trezeguet crucially missed his against Gianluigi Buffon, thundering it onto the underside of the crossbar and out,  resorting to a head-in-hands pose, knowing that he should have scored it. Everyone knew it. Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty and Italy had become world champions for the fifth time in their history. Elated, Gattuso celebrated by taking off his shorts and parading around on the pitch until he was forced to either put them back on or leave the pitch – either way, it didn’t seem to matter as he had become a world champion with twenty two other men from the same country as him. He had served his nation well.

With it came individual accolades such as the annual FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament with him being picked amongst fellow countrymen Pirlo and Totti, whilst former foes in Vieira, Zidane and Ballack to make up the nine-man midfield that were selected. With that also came the FIFA Top 10 Players and arriving back home to be rewarded for his service abroad with an Italian order as fourth officer. Gattuso has not been given many personal accolades through his career and in fact has never really been amongst the top tier of players in the world in accordance to UEFA or FIFA for things such as European and world midfielder or player of the year. Saddening, but regardless of such, some would argue that he did not really fully deserve to be spoken in the same breath as the elite players of the world stage. Others argue that he doesn’t need personal accolades such as European and world player of the year to justify his quality – as it is stated in taking up the role of a defensive midfielder. He will still be forever remembered.

And now that he has recently started to begin talks about retirement and hinting at current Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri that he must either be a part of his plans for the 2012-13 season or he will not renew his contract and consider retirement. Strong stance as usual from the little gladiator, 34 years old is still the new 28 in Italy, but not for him, it’s either stay in or get out. He is probably hoping that it is not the latter.

Sunrise, sunset. Gattuso has struggled to get to where he is, controversy has followed him throughout and his actions have smeared the badge of his club a number of times, for both club and country (notably the incident with Joe Jordan in the 2011 UEFA Champions League) but few can doubt his tenacity, bravery, grit and determination to demand the cause reaching no end other than victory. He is evidently a winner, the trophies, medals and accolades prove it. Forever lined up with the greats such as Maldini, Pirlo, Inzaghi and Nesta, among a hall of legends, and globally respected, Gattuso resides in no. 98 on The Tireless Midfielder’s library of the 100 greatest midfielders of all-time.

“There is little to say after that performance.” – Gennaro Gattuso

#99: Frank Lampard

“Frank Lampard is an exceptional player – a huge asset to Chelsea. You pay attention to players who can get goals from midfield and he’s been averaging 20 a season. You don’t see him getting into stupid tackles or making a habit of becoming involved in silly rows. He remained restrained after Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and even made a point of swapping shirts with Andrés Iniesta.” – Sir Alex Ferguson

It’s a rarity to find a midfielder that can score goals consistently. It’s even more unorthodox when they have been at a club for so long, almost their entire careers, and be one of the longest-serving as well as being their fourth-highest goalscorer of all-time. Things like these are a dime a dozen these days, but Frank Lampard seems to have clung onto the past’s fashions of infamously regurgitated sayings such as “once a blue, always a blue”. Despite having worn the claret and sky blue colours of another particular London club on the opposite end of the capital during the years of his fledgling professional career, Blues fans seem to care little about his past. He has been at Stamford Bridge for so long that, what he has achieved and given back diminishes the ‘stains’. They have evaporated. Frank Lampard is perhaps one of the finest footballers to come from the East for a long time; he is one of football’s more uncommon midfielders.

Frank hails from a prestigiously well-known footballing family, recognised across the nation for their contributions to the game. Romford born-and-bred, his father once played the professional game as a left back for West Ham United during the 1970’s and playing for the club up until 1985 where he moved to Southend United to join a famous former Hammer in Bobby Moore and play out the remainder of his career for the seaside club. The heavy orientation on football led many to believe that Frank Sr.’s son would embark on the same path as his old man. His cousins were the same and very much participated in activities that involved a ball and jumpers for goalposts. At an early age he was introduced to local age-group clubs, rising up the ranks, before having trials at both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, until he eventually made his first mark in signing a youth contract for West Ham.

Upon signing and being involved within the youth and reserves setups respectively he found himself shipped out on loan to Welsh outfit Swansea City for a season. At the time Swansea were in the second tier of English football and had been for the last three seasons, drifting back and forth from the third and fourth divisions. In turn, this also meant that the facilities at the club, like most clubs would be for any youth player going out on loan to a smaller club from a much more established one, were considerably poorer and adaptation to the Football League Second Division would be required also. Nonetheless, those who had worked with Frank at a young age were weary of his capabilities to overcome difficulties and challenges that he is faced with. A determined character. Lampard’s contribution to the Swans’ season would be one goal in nine appearances as three managers came and went. Swansea went on to finish 22^nd in the league that season, condemning them to relegation and a return to the third flight.

Fortunately for Lampard it was only temporary. The next season would allow the youngster to then make a sturdy impact in the first team back in east London for his parent club. However it was halted by a broken leg suffered in a game against Aston Villa that ruled him out until the end of the season after just thirteen appearances. A mid-table finish and early exits from the FA Cup and the Carling Cup meant it was a quiet season.

But as time proves to be a healer Lampard was able to return to the action the following season as Harry Redknapp’s tenure of two years in would see the Hammers make consecutive top-half finishes running up to the new millennium. A fifth place finish in 1999 led to qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup (which they won the following year) and a veteran Ian Wright, aged 36, ending the season as top goalscorer with nine goals in 23 games before moving onto Nottingham Forest in the now renamed npower Championship for his final days. Lampard at the opposite end of his career clocked up 169 appearances in all competitions under Harry Redknapp’s stewardship, as well as 39 goals in the process – more than any other midfielder within the short time of four years at the club.

 

Moreover to the fact that time can prove to be a healer, it can also prove to change things within any space of time. Tribulations and delight in beating French contingent FC Metz 3-2 on aggregate to win the cup must have taken its toll as Redknapp and his assistant manager Frank Lampard Sr. were subsequently sacked that season. A poor finish of 15^th in the league and only reaching the quarter finals stage of the FA Cup in a 3-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at Upton Park (funnily enough) was enough to convince the board that it was not good enough. With ‘Arry being himself, his sacking was determined by poor comments to a fanzine that chairman Terry Brown felt unhappy with. The pre-agreed four year extension to his contract was out of the window before he even entered the office.

And as soon as the news broke, Chelsea came calling. A certain Claudio Ranieri was still working on his English had his eyes on one of the most promising English talents in the country.  As West Ham would not necessarily be hanging onto their prized player for much longer, it would only serve themselves financially better if they made him hard to get; and that they did. Negotiations between the two London clubs went back and forth as the fans of both sides only tasted the trickling news that would drip from the newspaper tabloids every morning on the back page. Headlines of what was going on behind the closed doors would serve as indicators as to who, where and what would happen. Eventually, the decision was made – Frank Lampard had signed for Chelsea for a fee of £11million, making him the fourth most expensive transfer throughout the 2000-01 season, rounding off the top transfers in Robbie Keane, Robbie Fowler and Rio Ferdinand who all went to Leeds United, Liverpool and Manchester United respectively.

His debut came up against Newcastle United in a 1-1 draw and his first sending off for his new club and professional career against Tottenham Hotspur a month later. Unlike his time at West Ham Lampard appeared in every league game that season for the Blues, scoring eight goals in the process and proving his worth to Ranieri. At the age of 24, Lampard became a Barclays and PFA Fans’ Player of the Month award winner in consecutive months of September and October, whilst picking up a runners-up place for the FWA’s Footballer of the Year award behind Thierry Henry as Chelsea finished second in the league behind the Les Invincibles squad of 2004, Arsenal. In addition to qualifying for the 2004-05 edition of the UEFA Champions League, Ranieri and Co. made the semi finals of the European competition only to lose out to Ligue 1 side AS Monaco 5-3 on aggregate. A scintillating season and stunning performances all round led to belief that Frank would become a world class talent in the future.

But what didn’t last was Ranieri’s reign. Chelsea Football Club underwent a complete overhaul with the change in people running the club and a set of new ‘men upstairs’. Russian billionaire and oil mogul Roman Abramovich acquired the club after reports proclaimed that the Blues were on the brink of administration and fighting for survival. Ranieri was dismissed after heavy investment was given (despite the rumours of his job being under threat prior) which led to then up and coming managerial talent Jose Mourinho stepping in. His triumphs in the UEFA Champions League to eliminate Manchester United over both legs and defeat the club Chelsea would succumb to defeat to in the semi final stage of the competition not long after granted him a £4.2million yearly salary, the highest paid coach in the league at the time. A storm of change seemed to have arisen over Stamford Bridge.

The next three years of Frank Lampard’s career would prove to be a collection of silverware as much as it was a collection of disparity and disappointment. His new Portuguese boss attained and kept hold of his self-induced nickname of ‘The Special One’ from the first day he set foot into the club, accomplishing back-to-back league titles and keeping Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United on hold for a few years. In this time, coupled with the new ownership and the breath of fresh air into the west London club, it would be a great time to be a Chelsea fan, player, coach or even employee. The club were on the rise, new players were arriving, trophies were starting to fill up the cabinet and start-studded squad had been assembled that Lampard would be very much a part of.

The mid 2000’s convinces many that it was the time when Lampard was at his best. Strong performances across the board in both the league and Europe meant strong progression in both competitions to the latter stages, as well as famous Champions League tie-ups with other European heavyweights in FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich. Memorable nights for all that watched and particularly for the neutral. In the 2004-05 campaign he scored one of the most important goals in recent history for Chelsea to put them through to the quarter finals stage where they met the Germans, Bayern Munich. He would go on to score a hat trick in that game as in form Bundesliga side would go on to claim the league and cup double. Though the Blues would be eliminated from the tournament by fellow compatriot side Liverpool, who would go on to play AC Milan in one of the greatest UEFA Champions League finals to date, Chelsea won their first league title in over half a decade and claim Mourinho his first ever Premier League title. Instant success for Abramovich.

The following season saw success once again fall to the feet of Lampard. Top goalscorer in the league and all competitions for the second year running, Mourinho had achieved back-to-back titles in the first two years of his time in England, something that is mostly dreamt of by coaches who would love it more than anything to do something similar. Community Shield winners in pre-season against fellow London rivals Arsenal, reaching the semi finals of the FA Cup in compensation of being defeated in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, Lampard was considered amongst the best midfielders in not just league, but the world. He finally picked up the FWA Player of the Year award in the process of team silverware and medals whilst finishing runner-up to Barcelona’s silky wizard Ronaldinho in contention for the Ballon D’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year. This tagged along with being voted in the Barclays Premier League Team of the Year, PFA Team of the Year, PFA Fans’ Player of the Year, Premier League Best Player, voted into the FIFPro World XI and European Sports Magazines’ Team of the Year. These are just the more notable ones, as there are a few more.

To cap off a trio of years in being arguably one of England’s best midfielders coinciding with Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard in the fantasy tandem that somehow did not show the same sort of performance on the world level, now part of football’s biggest mysteries and phenomena, medals, accolades and silverware followed once more. Chelsea had finished second in the league to Manchester United after the Red Devils finally broke Mourinho’s spell of dominance over the English land. A Champions League semi final that was once again halted by Liverpool 4-1 on aggregate to the Reds meant that it would be next year to try and prove it again. Domestic success was maintained in winning both the FA Cup and Carling Cup, defeating Manchester United and Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the new Wembley respectively, where a Didier Drogba goal in extra time settled the question of who would become FA Cup champions for that year. Instead of an Englishman Didier Drogba finished as the club’s top goalscorer in both the league and all competitions with 33 goals to make him one of the league’s top marksmen whilst giving Lampard an excuse to relinquish his crown and sceptre – instead he scored 21 goals and provided 15 assists in 63 games for Chelsea in all competitions and collecting even more accolades, mostly in the FA Cup and Carling Cup.

But with all of that success, there comes a time when one must slow down. For a while, Chelsea started to struggle a little bit and so did their goalscoring midfielder. The 2006 World Cup in Germany allowed the Chelsea clubman to play every single minute of the Three Lions’ campaign where he was awarded Man of the Match in the country’s 1-0 win over the Paraguayans, but suffering heart break in losing on penalties to the Portuguese in an intense. Compelling enough, he was one of the three players to miss his penalties alongside Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, where the successors would go on to finish fourth in the tournament behind the hosts Germany in a third-place playoff game. Italy and France came second.

Though despised, injuries began to rear its ugly head. Between 2007 and 2009 he suffered seven injuries, three of which affected his thigh muscles. Prior to the succession of injuries, he had only suffered four, two of which were on his ankles and feet. The time spent out accumulated up to 40 appearances in total throughout the 2007-08 campaign, making it his lowest-ever for the club and the fewest since his days at Upton Park during the mid-to-late 90’s. ‘The Special One’ had seemingly had enough of England and resigned from his job after a dismal 0-0 draw at home to Norwegian Tippeligaen side Rosenborg FK. Though they would progress up until the UEFA Champions League final, only to lose on penalties to recurring trophy rivals Manchester United, Lampard’s lack of availability may have somewhat affected them. Second in the league and runners-up in the Carling Cup whilst being knocked out from the FA Cup in the sixth round to Barnsley 1-0, there would be no silverware this time round.

Fast forward to 2010 and Frank had clocked 51 appearances for Chelsea in the season as Carlo Ancelotti helped lead them to glory after three managers came and went; Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink. Hiddink won Chelsea the FA Cup, but was in a temporary role since he had other commitments in the form of the Russia national team, being their head coach. Abramovich, being Russian himself and embedding some patriotism to his beloved country, understood this, and looked elsewhere in the form of Carlo Ancelotti. 2011, and Ancelotti had been sacked despite league success. Following him would be Andre Villas-Boas in a replica of Mourinho almost a decade back, but a slowing down Frank. 2012, 33 years old, and in knowledge that the time will come for him to hang up his boots soon. Qualification would not come for the European Championships in 2008 where the Croatians would progress instead of England in an embarrassing, humiliating exit from the preliminary rounds of the Swiss-Austrian tournament, whilst the 2010 World Cup would not be much better. A 4-1 defeat to Joachim Loew’s Germany in Bloemfontein.

Frank Lampard cannot be argued as one of the greatest English midfielders to have never won the World Cup or the Champions League. Starved of it greatly. Though this, it could be countered in the same breath that many other Englishmen, regardless of playing in the midfield or anywhere else are deprived of international success too – Paul Gascoigne rings a bell. His accolades as an individual speak volumes of what he has been able to achieve over the decade that he has been at Chelsea Football Club, the managers he has seen and gone, the pain and suffering he has been unfortunate to go through and the revival of his own career following the departure of whom he holds in high regard.

In the midst of his 30’s, this article will only serve to be an account of what he was like prior to retirement. He will retire soon of course. But when he does, will he have won the European Championships or the World Cup with England? Will he have attained the UEFA Champions League? Who knows? He could do so, but it remains to be seen. The amount of managers that have been able to see his talent flourish on and off the pitch will tell you a thousand times over of how deserving he is of at least one of them. Critics are there to say otherwise but overall it cannot really be held down for questioning. In my mind, he has done enough to win it. If he wasn’t, would he have been acknowledged the way he has been with the individual honours and awards he has been given, the chance to captain his club and country, entering record books time and time again for the Blues yet not win two of the most prestigious tournaments in world football? I doubt it.

Number ninety nine, as I think about it now, is a cruel number to him, and probably deserves higher, but this list is in no particular order. Whoever comes in a number one isn’t automatically the best midfielder ever in my eyes, but amongst the collective of those who have contributed an immense amount to the game unlike others. And again, this may be an exaggeration and even more so a cliché, but was a privilege to witness Lampard in his prime, his goals and his performances for his club and country. Few have had the opportunity to witness a number of midfielders that can score goals consistently like him and enter the record books as one of the highest goalscorers for the team they play for, and so, it concludes that he is among one of the greatest midfielders of all-time and comes in at #99 on my top 100 list.

Following a game against Hull City in which Lampard scores a belter, the manager at the time (Felipe Scolari) said:

“It was the best goal I have seen, my vote for World Player of the Year award will go to him, only a player of his intelligence could have done that.”

Tags: 2005, abramovich, chelsea, drogba, frank lampard, manchester united, mourinho, premier league, ranieri, terry

Six Points: Why David Luiz should (or shouldn’t) become a defensive midfielder

Chelsea’s Brazilian defender David Luiz has been subject to praise and criticism since joining the Blues in January last year from Portuguese outfit SL Benfica. Purchased in the region of £21million, he is nearing the end of his first full year at the club, having nearly reached 50 appearances for the club in total. But since then the highly-rated centre half who has been noted for his attacking drive from the back, ability to pass and unorthodox shooting capacity, has drawn questions upon his playing position, as to whether or not he really is a centre back and, if not, where should he play?

Some have argued that his lack of discipline as a defender leaves Chelsea vulnerable at the back, lacking concentration in not positioning himself well enough, as well as being risky with his tackling. Others however have stated that it is just within his repertoire to get forward – some defenders have been known to have the same trait, even fellow team mate Gary Cahill before joining the club had a distinct reputation for getting forward for corners, counter-attacks and in open play. This “Six Points” article aims to look at the positives and negatives as to whether or not David Luiz should (or shouldn’t) be a holding midfielder.

 

Positives:

• Technical ability:

For a defender, Luiz excels in a category that most would be largely neglectful since their main priority is to have the concentration and awareness around them to make tackles interceptions, blocks and maintain a consistent string of performances. Meanwhile this, few have the capability to combine the two.

Statistics so far this season have shown that the former São Paulo and Vitória youth product has played the most accurate through long passes this season in the entire Chelsea squad, as well as the most accurate through passer behind Juan Mata. In fact, he is first and third in these two categories in the league. An impressive feat that displays his talent on the ball and what he can do. Accurate passing in a centre half is something that is highly appreciated, but hard to find and develop without neglecting other areas of the player’s game.

• Improvement since arrival and still learning:

He has come quite a long way since joining. His improvement has been visible both on and off of the pitch through the departures of Carlo Ancelotti and Andre Villas-Boas from the Stamford Bridge hot seat. Now under the temporary stewardship of stand-in manager Roberto Di Matteo, there is a sense of relaxation in his role. Whilst there were evident troubles surrounding the Chelsea locker room whilst AVB was at the helm and Luiz coming out to back his employer, Di Matteo’s fairly laid back regime does not exert pressure on him. He seems more confident in his own competences in defence, whilst trying to gather what is left of the season in what can only really be described as a “disappointment” for the Blues.

Upon over a year ago Luiz made his debut as a Chelsea player he made his debut against Liverpool in the Premier League, substituting Jose Bosingwa in the process. Glimpses of his performances came to light in front of the capacity crowd as he charged down the Liverpool opposition, made some good interceptions and attempted through passes that, though did not come off as intended, were still promising enough to warrant that there is still room and time to improve. Prior to his move, he was widely regarded as a bright prospect in Portugal, starring in Jorge Jesus’ Benfica squad that would go on to capture their second Taça da Liga in two years. Alongside fellow countryman Luisão, Benfica finished second in the league to Villas-Boas’ FC Porto that went the entire season unbeaten to claim the league title and the UEFA Europa League trophy in the same season, leading him, subsequently, to a job in southwest London. At 24 years old, could become one of the Premier League’s best defenders in a few leagues, given the right amount of time – perhaps even a great defensive midfielder too.

• Defensive awareness

Moreover the fact that David Luiz can pass and play a good ball in and despite the criticisms, he has shown great defensive awareness throughout the season. His ability to intercept the ball and clear his lines have been well known to Chelsea fans alike, as well as neutrals who have enjoyed watching him and his attacking tendencies break through.

According to WhoScored.com, Luiz averages the most interceptions per game than anyone else in the Chelsea team, and the most for any centre back in the league (fourth overall to Stephen Warnock, Lee Cattermole and Stilyan Petrov) and the fifth most offsides won per game in the league out of every centre half who plays for a side inside the top six. Half of whom play in the same side as him, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic.

Though statistics can only go so far in determining a player’s ability, they give an insight as to what a player is capable of, what they can do and what they contribute to their team. Of course, the statistics provided and the research show that David Luiz is not incompetent of defensive responsibilities, and he is still good enough in retaining the skills needed to become a solid defender.

 

Negatives

• Foul commitment

Whilst the positives have been acknowledged, negatives do include clumsiness at times, and lack of concentration for the full ninety minutes when it becomes crucial that those three points are secured, or when the win will see Chelsea through to the next round. Positioning, as mentioned before, it one place that could be strengthen with moderately tense training work done behind the scenes, which would help his game considerably.

Some research has shown correlation between the amount of times a player is dribbled past and the amount of times that they commit. Of the average 0.6 times average that Luiz is dribbled past in a match that number doubles when he is assessed in foul count. Overall this season Luiz has been dribbled past eleven times whilst committing 20 fouls in total. However, this is not suggest that every foul that he has made is directly from being dribbled past, regardless of how quick, slow, strong, weak or skilful the player is, but that there is a connection between the two – despite this, it is not a strong correlation and is therefore subjective to criticism.

Whilst Chelsea have the worst disciplinary record in the league (59 yellow cards, 4 reds), 27 of them have come from the defensive line – Ashley Cole, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Jose Bosingwa and David Luiz, totalling up to 42.85%. Now, this is a norm and is nothing really to be of concern since the defence is normally suppose to pick up the most bookings out of any area throughout, but 18.5% of them come from David Luiz, tying in with Ivanovic. This further decreases to a meagre 7% when calculating Chelsea’s bookings in total.

Again, the research and the correlations made are subjective and cannot necessarily be used against David Luiz. Though this, he commits the most fouls for a central defender in his own team and the fifth most in the league, behind the likes of Anatolin Alcaraz, Christophe Berra, Richard Dunne and Ryan Shawcross. It is something worth considering reducing so that he can improve his game whilst keeping a steady rate.

• Enough central midfielders, few backups if converted

Alex’s move to Paris Saint-Germain in France during the January transfer window meant that there would be one less central defender available for selection in the run-in for the battle against the possibility of not making the top four for the first time since 2002 and the days of another Italian in Claudio Ranieri.

The signing of Oriol Romeu from Barcelona’s youth ranks rankled with a few people in the Blaugrana camp, but however, the capture has proven to be a good signing indeed. With the likes of Fernando Torres and Juan Mata to assist the youngster in making the best of his stay at the club, they have all shown their worth to Abramovich and all of whom that are involved with the club. Romeu adds to the list of seven other midfielders who are either central midfielders or who can play in that position. Michael Essien’s return to the fold following his lengthy time out in suffering a knee injury during the pre-season meant that he would not be available for the beginning of the campaign, but providing opportunities for others.

It is fair to say that at this point in time, converting David Luiz into a midfielder is not a wise choice. In the knowledge that the likes of Essien, Ramires, Meireles, Mikel, Lampard and Romeu available, adding a defender-turned-midfielder would just complicate the situation. In addition to that, you also have the fact that there will only be three defenders available to play at centre half: John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill. That means that Jose Bosingwa will play right back and not Ivanovic. All you have to do really is ask any Chelsea fan for them to explain why that is not a good decision.

On the contrary to this point, many critics in the media have suggested that a summer clearout is needed if the club are going to make improvements and reclaim the strong fighting sprit they had within their ranks during the days of Mourinho, and the back-to-back Premier League titles that made them the strongest team in England at the time.

Meireles has hardly been a sensation since switching from Merseyside to London in his move from Portugal and joining former club mate Bosingwa in the Blues’ ranks, whilst some have hinted that time may be up for Frank Lampard in a couple years at his age of 33. Malouda and Essien both also are being nudged to the exit door. If Chelsea venture into the transfer market and purchase another centre half whilst making refurbishments to their midfield, then perhaps the conversion would be more suitable, but at the moment it seems like it would do very much more harm than good.

• Previous experiences have not told well

One of the main concerns surrounding David Luiz as a youth player was his original position as a defensive midfielder. Originally he was fielded to play a holding midfield role but having not impressed the coaches, he was deemed unsuitable, and almost leaving the club as a result. Despite this, perseverance prevailed with him and he was converted into a central defender where performances improved and was able to establish himself back as a bright prospect.

Indeed this was at a young age, at fifteen to sixteen years old even, but having not been in that role for such a long time, only to be thrusted or tried into the same again could possibly hinder his development. This is unless he has been practising the role in training and is slowly becoming accustomed to it after such a long time, but the repercussions again prove to be much riskier than playing it safe.

I am sure that those who believed he could play in midfield only wanted to see him drive up and down the centre of the park with the ball, playing through passes and imagining him scoring a belter from outside of the box, but you forget that he seems far more comfortable with it when he has a strong base position. Playing in front of the defensive line is a tough job enough and highly underrated at times, but since he is very much used to playing alongside another defender in a four man line whilst another six play in front, it can become overwhelming.

A conclusion

So to conclude this “Six Points” article, statistics go for and against the big Brazilian. He has shown that he can both attack and defend with his passing, ball interceptions, tackling and ability to dispossess the opposition (not forgetting that he averages the most dribbles for a centre back than anyone in the squad and the league, and the fourth most in Europe), but also areas to work on as many footballers do. The possibilities of it do not stop people from dreaming of him fulfilling a temporary role of the sort, but at this moment, it would just be a mistake in my personal opinion.

Tags: abramovich, ancelotti, chelsea, david luiz, defensive midfielder, roberto di matteo, role

#100: Garrincha “the angel with bent legs”

 “One day he came home with a little bird in his hand and I said: ‘Look, it’s just like you. It flies around a lot, but it’s not good for anything. It’s a garrincha (little bird).’ That stuck for the rest of his life”

I guess that quote from his sister, Rosa, would foreshadow his life on and off the pitch. Not only that, but a symbol of his own personal experiences as a child onwards and what he meant to the clubs he played for, the team-mates he socialised with and the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people that he left mesmerised by his remarkable and uncultivated talent.

Like a lot of what history has told us about the growing up of Brazilian players, Garrincha was not blessed with wealth, in fact, he was born in Pau Grande in the city of Magé southeast of Brazil and in the municipal state of Rio de Janeiro. It is a small sector within the terse state that over six million people live but favelas are plotted all over. His father was an alcoholic and would yet again foreshadow problems in later life. His birth defects would become something of a notable influence on him; his spine was deformed, his right leg was bent inwards and his left leg was six centimetres shorter than the other. Incredibly, none of these had a significant effect on his ability to play football, but give him an advantage.

But football would not be his first love. He started working in a factory at just the age of fourteen years old and even becoming a husband and parent by nineteen. He would inherit the dangerous alcoholic trait from his father and not become acrimonious with the well-known Brazilian beverage, Cachaça (the article will link back to this later). It’s ironic that he had next-to-no interest in the game of football because he seemed unaware of his own talent. The birth defects may have been a struggle to live with but proved stronger than thought at first. In 1953 he signed for local club Botafogo who were just over half a decade old at the time, still relatively new to the league scene and looking to fill their trophy cabinet with more trophies following their success within their state’s league. Delighted with him being over eighteen, Garrincha was thrusted into the reserves team immediately where, in his first training session, he even put to shame Nilton Santos by dribbling through his legs. Extraordinarily enough that Nilton Santos was – and still is – Botafogo’s highest appearance maker, he himself requested that Garrincha would be inducted into the Brazil national setup ahead of the 1958 World Cup in another five years’ time.

Garrincha would go on to score a hat trick in his debut game for the reserves side in a 5-0 thrashing and continued to put in scintillating performances for his new-found side. It was only the issue that there was someone of considerably more experience, Júlio Botelho, that would stand in the way of him travelling to the 1954 FIFA World Cup that Seleção would go on to be eliminated from in the first knockout round 4-2 by the Hungarians. Nevertheless o Glorioso would go on to win their tenth state title in nine years with their quick little wizard scoring 20 goals in 26 games and finishing second in the goal scoring charts, confirming a place in the squad for the 1958 World Cup eventually under head coach at the time Vicente Feola. Feola and his verde e amarelo would go onto win the tournament for the first-ever time in the country’s history and a company that involved a 16-year-old Pelé.

Prior to the World Cup, Garrincha scored one of his most famous goals in a friendly game against Italian outfit ACF Fiorentina where he beat four defenders and the goalkeeper before stopping the ball, waiting for them to all rush back, and then pot the goal into the net. Despite such a fantastic and audacious goal it upset the coaches, as they found it an irresponsible action on his part that could have cost him his place. But even so he went to Sweden and Gothenburg in particular where the Brazilians were up against the USSR in their group. Having already beaten Austria and drawing with England (who didn’t qualify after drawing twice and losing to the USSR 1-0), there was a sense of nervousness in the samba camp.

Feola was in acknowledgment of the problem from the start after gaining information from his fellow staff that the team they would come up against were a side that were extremely well organized and prove hard to break down. Moreover, scientific technology had not made the same breakthrough at the time as it has now in modern day football to help treat and condition footballers, so their fitness levels would be considerably better than that of most in the tournament altogether. However confidence remained. Feola instructed his team to attack from the off, putting immense pressure and high closing down all over the pitch to make it difficult for the USSR to attain possession and control of the game. A teenage Pelé and Garrincha both making their debuts at the time were advocates of this highly attacking formation and strategy that has now been labelled as “the best three minutes of football of all time” because of how much intense pressure the Soviets were under in such a short space of time. Already in a minute an assist from Garrincha allowed Pelé for a shot on target that thundered off the crossbar and leave the crowd in ooh’s and aww’s. The game eventually finished 2-0 to the South Americans and the team that were feared to be the dominant favourites from the start were out – a sigh of relief much from the other seven teams who qualified for the next round?

As Seleção progressed they reached the finals where they would face the hosts in their own backyard and go down to one goal after just four minutes. Vavá would equalise a few minutes later and allowing Pelé and Zagallo in on the act before Blågult would grab a consolation goal. The trophy was Brazil’s and celebrations were all round, bar Garrincha, who did not seem to notice that the World Cup is much unlike the league back home – everyone plays each other once, not twice, adding to his bemusement when he saw his team-mates running and frolicking in patriotic fashion with the flag of Brazil draped around them, breaking down even as his own fellow countryman Pelé did.  Like it was a little over the top for a competition that had only been around for almost three decades.

Subsequent to the triumphs abroad life would become rough for the World Cup debutant. Though he did not distinctly partake in all of the celebrations in winning the world tournament, Garrincha had started to gain weight fall back into drinking, inheriting his father’s alcoholic beverage in the process. Whilst his club were on tour in Europe he was able to get a local Swedish girl pregnant whilst his wife, Nair, gave birth to their fifth child and his mistress Iraci announcing her first pregnancy – this would be the long list in an variety of impregnations on the part of Botafogo’s skilful star whilst managing to run over his own father whilst under the influence of alcohol. Fortunately his father survived but his son would have no recollection of his actions whatsoever. Could have this been some sort of retribution on his part, or even irony? His father passed away in October later that year from liver cancer.

The 1962 FIFA World Cup came around four years later again, this time in Chile and closer to home without having to fly abroad, whilst Botafogo had won the Campeonato Carioca twice in 1961 and ‘62. Feola from the previous World Cup bade farewell to the national setup and made way for Aymoré Moreira, an ex-Botafogo right winger (coincidence?) that returned to the head coach role for the second time after taking an eight-year hiatus from football. Moreira’s side were automatically through with the hosts Chile whilst Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia all fought off Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador to make up the South American qualifiers. Once again Brazil topped their group without losing a single game, knocking out the English after they climbed above the Argentines to sit second in the group stage behind Hungary, eliminate the hosts Chile in the process before eventually facing off against Czechslovakia, a team they drew 0-0 to in the groups phase to win 3-1. Garrincha finished as the top goalscorer in the tournament tied with fellow compatriot Vavá and several others and being voted Player of the Tournament. A famous headline exclaimed: “What planet is Garrincha from?” and it was to be yet another time of happiness and joy for those who were able to witness the magnificent brilliance of the bent-legged angel from Brazil.

However after twelve years at Estádio General Severiano he would be sold to Corinthians Paulista in São Paulo and not too far from his old club. They themselves had won their own state league, Campeonato Paulista, fifteen times but the last time that they had done until Garrincha’s arrival wasn’t for twelve years. The bulk of Garrincha’s professional career had been fulfilled, so the move for him at the age of 33 would be in his retirement years. His fitness had declined, he was still a fairly average drinker and not looking as great a prospect to be selected by the returning Vicente Feola as he did nearly a decade ago. Struggles with a knee injury did not help either as it hampered his ability to perform at the level people were almost expecting of him.

Surprisingly enough he was still selected and played a part in the 1966 World Cup in England, probably one of very few times that he would set foot inside Great Britain. Already in the first game of the tournament he scored in his country’s 2-0 win over Bulgaria with an excellently taken free-kick that would be one of the goals of the tournament with the outside of his foot. But following the win, Hungary would once again be on hand to subject Brazil to a defeat, beating them 3-1 at Goodison Park in front of 52,000 spectators and capturing second in the group. Brazil finished third and were already out, astounding critics who thought that they would go on to win their third World Cup for the first time in history, as the last two proved to be successful with such a talented squad. It would mean the end for Garrincha on international level though, as it proved to be his last game for Canarinho.

After his small spell at Corinthians he travelled from club to club throughout Brazil before retiring at local side Olaria, a team situated in the lower ranks of the Campeonato Carioca divisions in 1972. The following year a farewell match was held in honour of his career where a FIFA world team was assembled to face the Brazil national side of the time, consisting mainly of South American players and other winners of the 1970 FIFA World Cup that was held a few years prior, celebrating the occasion in the country’s biggest stadium, Maracanã in front of over one-hundred thousand spectators, a huge capacity crowd that both wanted to see the match itself and the bowing out of a heroic figure from the game.

Eventually as his professional career in the game had closed, financial and marital problems would arise. Subsequently separating from his first wife Nair in 1965 after thirteen years of marriage he then married his second wife Elza Sores in an unofficial ceremony, a samba singer before they separated in 1977 due to more marital problems. Reports suggest that he struck her which would prove to be the turning point in their marriage’s end. Other affairs include a showgirl by the name of Angelita Martinez, leaving it to be known that Garrincha fathered fourteen children but numbers have fluctuated to the stunning amount of 36.

A decade after his farewell match and a beautifully-arranged atmosphere surrounded by people who loved and cared for their little garrincha and spending his final years playing amateur football, Garrincha passed away from liver cirrhosis on January 19, 1983 following an alcoholic coma. He was 49 years old. Thousands of fans and former players gathered for his funeral in that year where they all mourned his death, yet praising his life in the same breath, and his epitaph reading: “Here rests in peace the one who was the Joy of the People – Mané Garrincha.” People even wrote and painted on a wall “Obrigado, Garrincha, por você ter vivido” (Thank you, Garrincha, for having lived).

In spite of his own death being foreshadowed by his own father’s actions, the struggles he lived through whilst not being able to sustain marriages as a result of his alcoholism, people did not give him the nickname of “Joy of the People” for the sake of it. It had a meaning behind it. Yes, you could argue that Garrincha was a drunkard, a womanizer and someone who physically abused their wives whilst also fathering an inhumane amount of children, his life as a footballer and as an entertainer to people all around the world served as a purpose for the greater good of both himself and to people of today, who love the game, and in every respect reminisce about Garrincha with great joy. People in Botafogo and throughout Brazil love Garrincha as much as they do love Pelé. In fact, funnily enough, Brazil never lost a game when they both started. A great pairing of two unbelievable players that, unfortunately, one would suffer from things that were not necessarily within his own control.

Garrincha ‘Joy of the People’, ‘The angel with bent legs’, or simply just Mané. Liked, loved, cared for.

“Without Garrincha, I would have never been three-time world champion” - Pelé

Tags: brazilian players, pau grande, sister rosa, team mates

The Mesut Özil effect

 People’s general perception of the modern winger has become castigated in a way. No longer do the criteria require just a burst of pace and the ability to cross the ball into the eighteen yard box, but a range of attributes that vary on the ‘style’ of the winger. For example, not every winger that you see in a team is blisteringly quick, able to get past their full back as he scrambles back hurriedly to block the perpetual cross, no – in another case, that winger may have the ability to cut inside and deliver a sweetened pass into the box, or play one-two’s with a team-mate and still beat his man, and whip the cross in.

Modern football has changed a lot of things in our view and perspective of things, whether it is related to the game or not. Tactically, managers nowadays have to rethink their strategies when believing that the 4-4-2 would be the best route in their next game or that the 4-2-3-1 would have a significant advantage of their opponents in the cup quarter final at home, and since wingers have become a staple to any system within football since it’s incarceration, it was only a matter of time before football itself would develop a new role for the contemporary wide man.

So when Mesut Özil signed amongst the whirlwind that was the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ in his own signing for Real Madrid, that apprehensive understanding of what a winger would normally be expected of would be dead. Özil is no speedster. Granted, he is a magnificent talent and given the time he has ahead of him, can become a real world class player (the coaching staff at Werder Bremen will tell you just that) but he is no player to run at the opposing full back with such force that he stumbles over as he swerves ferociously off the pitch.

This brings me to the brief point of what has slowly bucked a small trend in the Premier League, though the world of football has been very much used to the concept – the advanced playmaker. If you have never watched David Silva play for either Manchester City or his previous club Valencia, shame on you. I would go as far as saying that he is the best midfielder in the league, but at running risk of scathing criticism I will withdraw the statement with unreserved apology. Nevertheless David Silva’s prude excellence lies not within his physical assertion on the defending opposition, but his flourished technical abilities that make him stand out. Like a paint brush and an easel. It’s mainly the reason why he has the most assists in the league and averages the second-most key passes a game (behind Juan Mata). His importance to Manchester City cannot really be measured with any tool, but any player or fan can tell you how much of an indispensable figure he is to the left wing of their attack.

The same is with Özil. A clasped atmosphere around the Santiago Bernabeu on the evening of a Spanish night when Los Galacticos are rampant will evoke signs of both content with the team’s performance and how they feel about the players. When their little German winger touched the ball again and again in their home game against Espanyol, the crowd would be eager to see what he could come up with. Quick thinking and a weighted pass whilst he is closed down naturally was the course of action, but you could tell that he was almost always going to bring something good out of it. An almost palliative inevitability soothed the fans amongst the chanting and roaring that seemed to have filled the stadium and its overcast lights.

Hence the Mesut Özil effect.

I personally love watching this beady eyed, sweat drenched six foot footballer cogently keep Madrid’s attacks going in the final thirds of the pitch. His performance at the 2010 World Cup was outstanding, which has led to beliefs that it was to be the ‘icing on the cake’ for Werder Bremen to be bombarded with interest and offers from clubs around Europe. I found myself impressed by his skill and eye for a pass, only wishing that he could come to the Premier League and develop it further. Alas, he lies within the ranks of one of Spain’s most prestigious clubs and will perhaps continue to do so until football’s ideology of old age. His influence on the side is not totally individual – something that would be quite far-fetched – but he has had brought a significant change to the way that Mourinho deploys him and the way that his team plays entirely. It is unfortunate, however that, Özil cannot sustain the arduous task of a ninety-minute game week in and week out that is particularly critical of most players’ games, but the Özil effect  could shed light on a new trend in European football if pushed on with.