Author: martin

I FIRST interviewed Pablo Zabaleta at his tiny flat in the suburb of Didsbury at the start of his time in Manchester. The Argentine has now made over 300 appearances for the club which he joined just before Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008.

He also scored the forgotten goal of English football. 2012. Final game of the season. Edin Dzeko equalises against QPR in the 92nd minute. Then, “Aguerooooo” seals the title with the famous last-minute strike. Pablo opened the scoring that day and told me that at half-time, with the score 1-0, he thought HE would be the “hero of the day, the hero of the city!”

He is fascinating on those final few moments of the 2012 season, revealing how the injury-time news that QPR were safe from relegation changed everything in City’s favour and helped Aguero to claim his place in history.

We cover a lot in this conversation, starting in 2005 at the Under-20 World Cup, which Argentina won. Zabaleta was captain and a little Argentinean kid called Leo Messi had joined up with the squad the previous month. We play Pablo this video of him scoring (jump to 7:10 for the goal) in the semi-final against Brazil and reflect on the achievements of that golden generation of players, including Angel Di Maria, Aguero and Messi.

Pablo also speaks emotionally about Dani Jarque, his former teammate at Espanyol, who died of heart failure in 2009. Andres Iniesta paid tribute to Jarque in the 2010 World Cup final after scoring the winning goal, when he took off his Spain top to reveal the message: “Dani Jarque: Siempre Con Nosotros” (Dani Jarque: Always With Us).

Pablo talks about how the role of right-back has changed under current manager Pep Guardiola and his motivation to remain “part of the club even if they can spend £50-60m on a right-back”.

Enjoy

Graham

As president of Real Madrid – and as an influencer while out of that office – Ramon Calderon was inside some historic deals: Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid being chief amongst them. In this, the second part of my interview with him, you’ll hear the story of that transfer, and also a whole bunch of other decisions, made by him and by Florentino Perez, the man he succeeded and who would return to power at the Bernabeu, with Ramon Calderon as a frequent critic.

You’re going to hear very nice things said about David Beckham. You’re going to hear about Predrag Mijatovic and the need to delegate. You’re going to hear about how two goals in the last 20 minutes of a football match can restore one’s faith in a higher power.

I hope you like it.

Graham

In his pristine legal office in downtown Madrid, Ramon Calderon comes off as a perfectly-mannered, spritely and talkative elder Real Madrid fan. Reason enough to mine the stories you are about to hear. But his status as not only a lifelong supporter, but also a board member and former president of that great club make him the perfect guide into the legend of Madrid.

This is a guy that saw Alfredo Di Stefano play and later got to know him as a man. And for this, part one of the interview, we’re going to focus more or less on his time as a supporter in the 1960s and 70s. There is a glimpse of what’s to come in the way he breaks down the model Madrid use to turn superstar players into vast reservoirs of cash, but even that is rooted in the incredible vision of Santiago Bernabeu, the man behind Madrid.

Enjoy!

Graham

Hello!

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was born in Surinam, learned football in Holland and spent most of his career in England, with a season in Spain at Atletico Madrid. Few are better placed to discuss the differences in football cultures.
He has a strong take on the issues within English football, but it is his home nation of Holland that he singles out for the most criticism. Why do the Dutch keep coming up short? Jimmy gives it to us straight!
He also talks Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Gudjohnsen, Valeron and more.

Enjoy!

Graham