Table of contents for August 2017 in FourFourTwo UK

Every now and then, circumstances beyond our control will conspire to completely change or even scupper a cover story. There was the time when a legendary Brazilian forward ended up in the wrong city thanks to an unanswered text; our interview was off and it would take another 18 months to get him again! There was the occasion when one of our behind-the-scenes club features was postponed indefinitely due to flash floods hitting the local area. And who could possibly forget when one of the world’s best footballers almost missed his cover shoot because his summer barbecue had got out of control – when he did finally turn up, the barbecue and a 50-person entourage were in tow, too. We can now add the Spanish Court of Arbitration to that…

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal July 19 Pre-season in China and a new era: Arsene Wenger vs Bayern. What could go wrong? England vs Scotland July 19 World Cup semi-finalists England face a derby in their opening game of the Women’s Euros Man United vs Man City July 20 Jose vs Pep in the Champions Cup: who will boil over first in the summer heat of Houston? Everton in Europe July 27 The Toffees in the third qualifying round of the Europa League – the draw is on July 14 Chelsea vs Inter July 29 Antonio Conte was linked with Inter at the end of the season – now he faces them in Singapore Real Madrid vs Barcelona July 29 Miami hosts only the second Clasico to be played outside of…

FFT loves a barmy match-up – we once asked Peter Reid if he thought he could outfight a granny with a baseball bat (he said he could) – so news of Scottish Premiership outfit Inverness planning a pre-season game against 100 children was on point. The first 100 to buy the club’s new shirt were presented with a ‘golden ticket’ for the fixture on July 9, billed as the ‘biggest home match ever in the UK.’ It’s certainly an inspired scheme, though it does raise a few questions, like: what formation will the infants play? “We reckon they’ll try to dominate the midfield,” says Caley Thistle’s captain Gary Warren. “Maybe they will go for a 8-77-14 or something similar. We will need to press very high and create space in…

The Mixer Michael Cox (HarperCollins, £16.99) Michael Cox, he of Guardian Football Weekly fame, is an established voice on tactics, having made a name for himself courtesy of the hugely detailed zonalmarking.net. Now with his debut hardback, The Mixer, he has put together a chalkboard-lover’s guide to the Premier League era. One of the most impressive features is the sheer depth of research; Cox has delved into heaps of autobiographies to compile a thorough explanation about how the game has changed in England since the beginning of the ’90s. From the Premier League’s early days (the introduction of the backpass rule and Eric Cantona’s role in Man United’s tactical evolution), all the way through to recent campaigns, every tactical trend is analysed at length. Think of this as like a…

Vinicius Junior CLUB Flamengo POSITION Forward VALUE £38m FOOT R HEIGHT 1.77m NATION BRA AGE 16 TECHNICAL There’s huge excitement in Brazil about the ‘2000 generation’ right now – it is highly rated especially because of a long-term project built to track new talent across the country and abroad, to help Brazil avoid losing out on players like Diego Costa. The main fruit of this work so far is Vinicius, the 16-year-old wonderkid for whom Real Madrid recently agreed to pay €45 million. It might sound like a ridiculous fee – and it probably is – but the Flamengo frontman is the most talked-about starlet to break through in Brazilian football since Neymar. He is quick, can shoot with both feet and dribble in tight spaces, too. MENTAL Despite being…

Have you ever been so pleased with one purchase that you went straight back to the shop and got another? St Mirren know that feeling. To start the Saints’ summer recruitment drive, they brought in a keeper from Albion Rovers whose name is Ross Stewart, then two days later they went back to Rovers and bought a striker called Ross Stewart. This transfer policy may have been quite useful for old-school managers like Jack Charlton and Bobby Robson, who would famously forget the names of the players. Signing up a team of Ross Stewarts would solve that problem – however, for the staff it can get confusing. “The guy who does the commentary will have to come up with something,” says St Mirren’s commercial manager Campbell Kennedy, who insists he…

KLAAS SIGNING Davy Klaassen could be one of the signings of the summer – he is an excellent player who’ll surely do well at Everton. Sean McDonagh LACK OF STAR QUALITY Is this the worst England team for decades? We’ve at least had some star names in the past. Have we even got that now? Graham Redmond PETIT MERCIES Seeing Manu Petit do the League Cup draw out in Thailand was odd: still, at least we got Wolves against Yeovil out of it. Adam Lakeman DEFOE DEAL A RISK Jermain Defoe reader was great of at Sunderland but it’s , taken at 34, might Bournemouth figure live out to regret handing line him . a huge three-year deal? t Freddie Daviesbe a top- FRANCE CAN WIN IT France were ,…

It’s hardly breaking news to say footballers like taking good care of their appearance, but what do you do if your shock of bouncy curls are not kept in check by the existing comb market? Well, if you’re Franz Beckenbauer, you just design your own. Introduced in 1976, Der Kaizer’s Hairmatic not only styled the Bayern Munich sweeper’s barnet, but trimmed it too. It may not have caught on, but boxed and signed Hairmatics go for €75 on eBay. Wunderbar!…

David Harvey Who? Scottish goalkeeping royalty. Harvey is the last custodian to keep a Tartan Army clean sheet against Brazil, in a goalless draw at the 1974 World Cup finals. That’s about as rare as sheep voting for Burns Night. The Leeds-born Whites No.1 won the FA Cup in 1973 and the First Division a year later. Wasn’t he in The Damned United ? He was. He said actor Danny Tomlinson “is a good-looking lad apparently, though I’d have been happier if they’d picked Russell Crowe to play me”. How modest. So what’s he up to now? After retiring at 37, he managed a pub near York and then became a postman, saying, “The sorting office’s atmosphere was like a dressing room.” In 1994, he and his…

“Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium by 2 goals to 0 – the capacity estimated at 125,000. At least twice that number of spectators made their way in hope of seeing the match, and some 50,000 more than the seats and terraces could hold were admitted or forced their way past the turnstiles. From 2.15pm, long before the game was timed to begin, they were unable to make their way up towards the crowded terraces and were irresistibly urged forward – by the pressure of the jostling behind – to swarm across the track, onto the field. They simply could not help themselves, swept on like a tidal wave, carried along by the force of their own momentum ‘til they covered up the…

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Thiago Rabelo: The Brazilian writer went to visit the legendary Romario, now a senator for his native Rio de Janeiro state. “He always says what comes into his mind straight away. At the end of the interview he asked me, ‘Do you think I’m controversial?’ I think he already knew the answer!” Galya Gubchenko: Hailing from Saint-Petersburg, Galya brought our summer signings special to life with her artistry: “In order to convey the tension and emotion of the players in the game, I used sharp edges, triangles and a mix of colour and black and white.” Steve Brenner: The Florida-based reporter tracked down the players who represented Dallas Tornado during their incredible 1967 world tour. “I could have spoken to each one for hours. Some of the stories were amazing,…

 movements that were impossible for everyone except him. Alone he could change a game and make a goal, but he played for the team as well. If you make a run three times and the ball is never coming, the third time you think, ‘F**k it, he is never giving me the ball.’ But it was never like that with Zidane – when you made a run he would always give you the ball, exactly two metres in front of you, perfectly timed. He knew his team-mates would not make that run for nothing, and when a player is thinking like that, everybody wants to run for him. When you had the ball in defence, you would always search for Zizou as you knew you’d never lose the ball with…

 Hello Niall. In his book, your former Ireland team-mate Tony Cascarino claims you can sleep more than any other human being. Is this still true? “THE RULE I APPLY IS: ‘TO GET TO HEAVEN YOU NEED TO EAT A SACK OF S**TE.’ IT’S A SAYING THAT’S STUCK” Hi. Not any more, alas. The real world has caught up with me. I’ll get eight hours these days. It’s funny how you change. Everything was all right with the world back then. Now it’s planes, emails, early starts. I drink coffee too, so I am tired at the wrong times and sometimes can’t sleep – it’s a shame. It is. What was the longest stretch of sleeping that you ever clocked? About 15 hours. I used to eat at 7pm, be asleep…

Ninety-two teams in 92 days. Nope, it’s not Sir Ian Botham or Jeff Stelling setting off on yet another blister-bursting charity walk, but a feat much easier on the, er, feet. Matthew Berry is a graphic designer in need of a New Year task back in January, and so took inspiration from the geeky groundhoppers. “I had started to follow The 92, where fans try to see a game at every ground in a season,” Berry tells FFT. “I wanted to do it myself but wondered, ‘How can I do it my own way?’ So I did one club poster a day, for 92 days.” A mission was born, squeezed around his regular work, and it started off with Arsenal (Premier League leaders – well, alphabetically). The cannon and football…

Things haven’t been going too great for the Italian defender Alessandro Masella since he moved over to Romania: three clubs, all struck by financial crisis soon after he’d arrived. That might have been easy to fathom if Alessandro was on £8 million per week – he wasn’t, he was just plain unlucky. The 20-year-old signed for Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt two years ago, only for the club to then get kicked out of Liga II mid-season due to cash woes. Onwards he went to Bacau in 2016 – but the same thing happened once again that summer. Lightning couldn’t strike thrice, surely? Well, near enough: he’s since departed Foresta after more financial problems left them clinging to survival, unable to fulfil their final fixture of 2016-17. “I’ve had bad luck at…

“I’D LIKE TO WORK FOR CHELSEA IN SOME CAPACITY… COACHING OR SCOUTING IS SOMETHING I’VE ALWAYS CONSIDERED” Big-name players tend to move to MLS either for money or the lifestyle. You accepted a pay cut to sign for LA Galaxy, so we’re guessing… [Laughs] Yeah, it definitely wasn’t for the money! So was it more about the lifestyle? Yes, but by that I don’t mean just sitting and doing nothing. I still want to work hard. It was a chance to get back to playing on a regular basis after not having had such a great time at Roma. I’d always wanted to play in MLS and it felt like the right time – I still have the desire to play football, but it’s not as demanding on my body…

“ANTOINE’S TECHNIQUE STOOD OUT – HE COULD DO GREAT THINGS WITH THE BALL. I THOUGHT, ‘IF HE GREW PHYSICALLY, HE’D BE INTERESTING’” Antoine Griezmann shifts in his seat, smiles and flutters his eyelids. “Excellent question!” the Atletico Madrid forward responds to an enquiry on French early-evening chat show Quotidien into where he’ll play in 2017-18. “It’ll be decided within the next two weeks.” Host Yann Barthes takes a coquettish sip from his drink. “OK,” says the presenter, who resembles a cartoon Gary Lineker. “If I say Manchester United to you, what is your answer?” “Possible,” comes Griezmann’s reply, followed by a Gallic shrug. “On a scale of one to 10? With 10 being a done deal?” “OK… six.” “Do you realise what you’ve just said.” “Yes, I do.” The…

“For me, passing is as good as scoring a goal – it was never my job to put the ball in the back of the net” Which of the game’s great passers did you like to watch as a youngster? I think that Pep Guardiola and Lothar Matthaus [below right] were two of the great passers of their generation and I watched them a lot. Paul Scholes was also a wonderful player and someone I really respected, and in the modern game Toni Kroos is now one of the world’s best passers. When did you realise that passing had become your area of expertise? As soon as I started playing football, passing was something that just came very naturally to me. My game wasn’t about dribbling or getting the ball…

MEDICINE BALLS The use of medicine balls dates back 3,000 years when wrestlers in Persia would train with sand-filled bladders. Thankfully, modern versions are not quite so primitive and can be used to build strength, improve jump height and burn calories when used as part of a full-body workout. A study by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning investigated what effects a 12-week schedule had on the core strength of 49 baseball players. The results found the programme improved abdominal power by more than 18 per cent. Add it to your training regime and you’ll be able to twist and turn past defenders and show off a killer six-pack to boot. Sounds like a summer well spent to us. 1 “Medicine balls are great for using with a team-mate in…

If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night, wailing in agony with cramp holding onto you in a vice-like grip, a lack of general fitness may not be the reason for your woes. A study by Sports Health found that dehydration and loss of salt during exercise was a main cause of muscle cramping, after a review of research on the topic spanning at least half a century. Indeed, the Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana used to suffer from this very problem while he was at Southampton until the south-coast side finally got to the bottom of it. “We would measure his salt loss during matches and found he was a salty sweater,” says their director of sports medicine and science, Mo Gimpel. “Adam was losing a lot…

The West Ham stopper hosted a goalkeeping masterclass for some eager young keepers-in-the-making from our Pro:Direct Academy recently. Working in conjunction with his glove brand, HO, the kids were put through their paces and given some valuable hints and tips by the Spaniard. Adrián was also keen to show off his latest glove, the IKARUS Hybrid Roll/Negative, which features up to 30% more durability thanks to rubber particles in the EXTREME pro Latex palm. HO IKARUS HYBRID ROLL/NEGATIVE QR: 160093 - £75…

1 “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘YOUR REAL NAME’S BARRY ALLEN?’” USA Los Angeles What does Neymar get up to during his summer holidays? He dashes down to the nearest building site and poses for pics with a superhero, that’s what. OK, it wasn’t the nearest building site – the pictures with comic book star The Flash (alter ego, Barry Allen) were taken in a rather unglamorous area of the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park. Neymar was in the US after opting to miss Brazil’s friendly against Argentina, where Gabriel Jesus was busy getting his face smashed by Man City colleague Nicolas Otamendi. A wise choice, then. 2 POSING LIKE A BOSS England London Antonio Conte’s greatest tactical plans were all probably devised while tuning in to Wiley, Skepta and…

Answers 1) Bobby Robson; 2) Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi; 3) Dennis Bergkamp; 4) Dixie Dean; 5) Billy Bremner; 6) William McGregor (Football League founder); 7) John Greig; 8) Jimmy Hill; 9) George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton; 10) Laszlo Kubala; 11) Tofiq Bahramov; 12) Thierry Henry; 13) David Beckham; 14) Jock Stein; 15) Tom Finney; 16) Roy Hodgson; 17) Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Ray Wilson; 18) Alan Shearer; 19) Peter Taylor and Brian Clough; 20) Leo Messi (vandalised) JUST ONE LETTER OUT Mexican club Venados were derided on Twitter after excitedly announcing the signing of a chap called Andres Iniestra – when is Lionel Messri arriving, guys?…

Kevin Baker IT programme manager, 44 Fraser Forster Goalkeeper, 29 Q: Which club did Claude Puel join Southampton from? KB: Lille? No, Nice. ✓ FF: It was Nice. 6 1-1 Q: How many penalties did Matt Le Tissier miss while at Southampton? KB: He must have missed one pen, surely. Yeah, I’ll go with that – one. 6 FF: Was it one? 6 2-2 Q: Who was in goal when Saints won the FA Cup final in 1976? KB: I’ve got absolutely no idea, I’m afraid. : FF: I don’t know. I’ll have a stab at Peter Shilton. : 2-2 (Correct answer: Ian Turner) Q: What is the Saints’ highest league finish in their entire history? KB: I know this. 1984, we finished second. 6 FF: I’m not sure. Fifth?…

“LIFTING THE WORLD CUP WILL REMAIN MY GREATEST MOMENT. YOU CAN’T IMAGINE THE TENSION - MINUTES FELT LIKE HOURS” Augsburg 5-0 Nurnberg II May 17, 1986 Amateur Oberliga Bayern “This was my ticket to the big stage and my first step into professional football. It was one of my best matches of that season – one of those days where you feel you’re playing above average, even while you are on the pitch. Afterwards, somebody offered me a deal to play for Blau-Weiss Berlin – a club on the up at the time, even ahead of Hertha Berlin.” W Germany 1-0 Argentina July 8, 1990 World Cup final “Although I was a substitute and didn’t actually play, I have to choose this. I’d converted my penalty in the shootout in…

@GalacticKeegan I only found out in 1995 that a fixture list even existed. Before that I used to drive to every ground in the country hoping for the best. @wes_foderingham On a plane back to Glasgow and a guy asks me if I’m Gael Clichy! I told him yeah I’m on my way to sign for Rangers, he was buzzing! @Redknapp Had so much fun on board Princess Cruises, thanks for taking care of me. I’ve definitely #comebacknew :) @loughlinecho FourFourTwo has Messi as guest editor. At The Northern Echo we once had the Chuckle Brothers as guest editors. Echo 1 FourFourTwo 0. @afcbwattsy July FourFourTwo with Messi will go down as one of the great front covers of any magazine.…

1991 He is born in Macon, 40 miles away from Lyon, to father Alain and mother Isabelle. His grandad Amaro Lopes had played for Pacos de Ferreira in his native Portugal, and dad Alain played semi-pro – guess it’s all about good genes. 2002 Is let go by boyhood club Lyon, where he had been training every Wednesday. “It was our biggest mistake in years – a historic mistake,” the French club’s chief scout Gerard Bonneau sobbed. What a faux pas. 2005 He catches the eye of Real Sociedad’s scouts playing for Montpellier. After a short trial period in San Sebastian he returns to Spain and signs youth contract with the La Liga outfit. 2009 After taking his time to break into Real’s first-team squad, he makes his first start…

ITALY WAS TRADITIONALLY THE LEAGUE WITH THE MONEY: IN 1990 11 OF THE PREVIOUS 13 WORLD-RECORD SIGNINGS HAD JOINED SERIE A CLUBS Pietro Fanna was walking along a corridor inside the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, and he could hear weeping. As Verona’s captain got closer, it became clear all of the noise was coming from the visitors’ dressing room: the dressing room that contained Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan. A month later, Milan would beat Benfica in Vienna to win back-to-back European Cups, cementing their status as one of the greatest club teams of all time. Not until Real Madrid’s recent victory over Juventus in Cardiff, 27 years later, would another side retain the famous trophy. Milan’s 1990 triumph ensured that for the only time in history, all three major European honours…

Radford’s rocket was the winner against Newcastle Ronnie’s oft-aired golazo in 1972 levelled Hereford’s FA Cup replay. Ricky George made it 2-1 in extra time These items are kindly supplied by the National Football Museum, The FA and English School FA For more info, visit nationalfootballmuseum.com…

CHEESY NAMES Constructed in 1931, the Artemio Franchi stadium’s ‘D-shape’ was a nod to Fascist ruler Benito ‘il Duce’ Mussolini. Home fans call the away section ‘il formaggino’ – as it looks like a piece of cheese. UFOS STOP PLAY On October 27, 1954, a Viola reserve game against Pistoiese was halted as around 20 UFOs were hovering overhead, blanketing Florence in a stringy and sticky substance entitled “angel hair”. Science attributes it to migrating spiders. SEEING DOUBLE The career of Miguel Montuori came to an abrupt, unlucky, end in 1961, aged 28. The Argentine No.10 and 1956 Scudetto winner was hit in the face by a ball so hard that it detached one of his retinas and left him with blurred vision. HORSING AROUND Known as the ‘Crazy Horse’…

Nike R9 boots The US sportswear giants’ first real foray into the boot market in ’98 was this swish, future-proof effort. Endorsed by Brazil striker Ronaldo, cool doesn’t come close to describing these. Woolly Bully Ex-Wimbledon hard man Vinnie Jones’ acting ‘prowess’ is well known, less so his whistle-heavy aural assault with the Soul Survivors in ’93. Very shouty. Tip & Tap The 1974 World Cup just about had it all: Johan Cruyff, some kamikaze defending from Zaire and a pair of cherubic mascots from West Germany with terrific freckles. Who needs animals?…

Childhood heroes Zinedine Zidane [top], Ronald Koeman and Fernando Redondo. Proudest day My first game for Real Sociedad. I’d worked so hard to achieve it. Happiest moment Lifting the World Cup with Spain in 2010. Biggest regrets Just missing out on league titles with Real Sociedad and Liverpool, and the Champions League with Bayern Munich. Worst night Champions League defeat against Real Madrid last season – my final chance to lift that cup again. Prized possession My Predator Mania Champagne boots. Alternative career Economist, as that’s what I first studied. What football means It’s my life. I’ve lived the game so intensely and I’ll love it forever.…

In the 100mph cauldron of Premier League football, gaining that extra millisecond over your opponent can prove to be the difference between winning and losing. And Bournemouth have attempted to do just that by bringing in a visual skills expert to work alongside their first-team and academy goalkeepers. Sherylle Calder, who is also referred to as ‘The Eye Lady’, has spent the last year putting glovemen through a range of workouts using Eye Gym – a piece of computer software. It measures how quickly you can spot and react to objects, such as footballs, heading towards your screen, with the difficulty level going up as you improve. The aims are to enhance the speed at which keepers detect a threat – for example the ball or an opposing player –…

BEAT THEM  With the skills to pay the bills, you’ve always got your opponent’s number, beating them with either a bit of trickery or just outright speed. UNDER ARMOUR SPOTLIGHT PRO FG QR: 158243 - £250 PUMA ONE 17.1 FG QR: 154810 - £160 NIKE MERCURIAL SUPERFLY V FG QR: 153791 - £240 BOSS THEM  You’re the leader on the pitch, taking control for your team and influencing the game with your ability on the ball to pick out defence-splitting passes. MIZUNO REBULA VI MADE IN JAPAN FG QR: 156067 - £260 UMBRO MEDUSAE PRO FG QR: 163088 - £150 ACE 17+ PURECONTROL FG QR: 156940 - £250 OUTCLASS THEM  Sometimes you just can’t beat a classic pair of boots, with their traditional shapes and beautiful leather uppers. MIZUNO MORELIA…

We’ve checked the stats across the top five leagues in Europe to find the best performing boots from the 2016-17 season according to the numbers. And here they are: THE CREATOR Worn by players like José María Callejón, who can boast 13 to his name, the X 16+ Purechaos comes in with the most assists across Europe. ADIDAS X 16+ PURECHAOS FG QR: 144649 TROPHY HUNTER An honourable mention has to be made for the Mercurial Superfly CR7 and its namesake for a haul of trophies that included La Liga and the UCL. NIKE MERCURIAL SUPERFLY V CR7 FG QR: 153761 GOAL MACHINE Cavani and Aubameyang secured the Golden Boot in their respective leagues in the Hypervenom Phantom III, with Kane doing the same in the low-cut. NIKE HYPERVENOM PHANTOM…

EDWIN VAN DER SAR “I got to play with two of the game’s greatest-ever keepers in Van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel, so this was a difficult decision. There was nothing to separate them as shot-stoppers, but Edwin was a better player with the ball at his feet, which would suit how I like my team to play – passing out from the back. When Pete eventually left Man United in 1999, I told them that Edwin would be a good replacement for him, but it was another six years before they actually listened!” PAOLO MALDINI “The thing that struck me when I first went to Milan was what a brilliant person he was. He had played in more than 600 games, and yet had the most laid-back and humble…