The Athletic

['O Zio]

The average League Two salary is £1400 per week. If living outside London and you are sensible with money you could definitely retire at 35.

In an absolutely perfect scenario you may be right. If you made it into the first team as a teenager, never went without a contract, played till you were 35. Plus lived the entire time in some absolute shithole for next to nothing, never had a wife and kids to pay for.. then maybe you could retire at 35


In reality though, that's really not what is going to happen.

 

[dontcallme]

In an absolutely perfect scenario you may be right. If you made it into the first team as a teenager, never went without a contract, played till you were 35. Plus lived the entire time in some absolute shithole for next to nothing, never had a wife and kids to pay for.. then maybe you could retire at 35


In reality though, that's really not what is going to happen.

I would agree that it would be difficult.

But earning £70k in Bristol you can buy a nice 3 bedroom house for £180k. No reason why you couldn't pay that off starting 18 by 24. Then you put your money into buying buy to let properties and there's no reason why you can't pay off a further 2 houses by retirement.

Paying off your house plus 2 rental incomes is enough to live on.

I know people who have done similar, it's far from impossible and you certainly don't have to live in a shithole or live without a family.

 

[Styopa]

In an absolutely perfect scenario you may be right. If you made it into the first team as a teenager, never went without a contract, played till you were 35. Plus lived the entire time in some absolute shithole for next to nothing, never had a wife and kids to pay for.. then maybe you could retire at 35


In reality though, that's really not what is going to happen.

Doing the sums £1400 a week equates to over a £1.2m before tax over a 17 year career. In contrast a person earning £35,000 salary a year would take roughly 35 years to make the same.

It seems fairly ambitious to imagine a person starting work at age 20 could be retired at age 55 on an average £35k a year salary. However as @dontcallme rightly points out the footballer has the massive advantage of being able to invest in capital from the start. Capital growth (such as property) often outstrips wages.

 

[dontcallme]

Doing the sums £1400 a week equates to over a £1.2m before tax over a 17 year career. In contrast a person earning £35,000 salary a year would take roughly 35 years to make the same.

It seems fairly ambitious to imagine a person starting work at age 20 could be retired at age 55 on an average £35k a year salary. However as @dontcallme rightly points out the footballer has the massive advantage of being able to invest in capital from the start. The earning potential of capital (such as property) often easily outstrips individual salaries.

Also footballers don't have student loans or other debts from training and education.

 

['O Zio]

I would agree that it would be difficult.

But earning £70k in Bristol you can buy a nice 3 bedroom house for £180k. No reason why you couldn't pay that off starting 18 by 24. Then you put your money into buying buy to let properties and there's no reason why you can't pay off a further 2 houses by retirement.

Paying off your house plus 2 rental incomes is enough to live on.

I know people who have done similar, it's far from impossible and you certainly don't have to live in a shithole or live without a family.

Yeah I guess you're right up to a point. But I still think you're looking at an extremely rare/optimistic scenario. I still think you'd be hard pressed to find an 18 year old with that level of financial discipline and business acumen, let alone one who is a footballer. I reckon the vast majority of them live fairly ordinary lives rather than being rich

 

[dontcallme]

Yeah I guess you're right up to a point. But I still think you're looking at an extremely rare/optimistic scenario. I still think you'd be hard pressed to find an 18 year old with that level of financial discipline and business acumen, let alone one who is a footballer. I reckon the vast majority of them live fairly ordinary lives rather than being rich

Definitely agree that it won't be the norm. But it is very doable without living as a hermit.

I work in property and work with lots of people who don't earn huge on their jobs but with correct money management are doing well for themselves. It's certainly possible but most, including myself, don't manage their money well.

 

[wishkah]

I'd love to way into tuis but I'm only half drunk and I need to be full drunk.

I've not only lived in Bristol but I've also lived in London and 0aid too much tax.

No way you live in a shit area and don't get your Cliftonville swag on with your footballers way. Toothless bristol lasses don't cider themselves.

 

[brasil_spur]

The average League Two salary is £1400 per week. If living outside London and you are sensible with money you could definitely retire at 35.

Would need to be very far outside of London. That's £72,800 per year, for a maximum of what 17 years? That's £4,239 after tax. Average UK income is £30,350 per year which is £2,023 per year.

So a 2 person household on an average wage is taking home close to the same salary as a single league two footballer.

I can't see any feasible way of that person retiring at 35.

 

[dontcallme]

Would need to be very far outside of London. That's £72,800 per year, for a maximum of what 17 years? That's £4,239 after tax. Average UK income is £30,350 per year which is £2,023 per year.

So a 2 person household on an average wage is taking home close to the same salary as a single league two footballer.

I can't see any feasible way of that person retiring at 35.

Have already explained how it can be done and know people on low salaries who have done similar.

 

[spursfan77]

A great interview with Robbo.

With hindsight had he stayed with us and played under redknapp I reckon he’d of got back to his best.


‘I was the best keeper in England. Then suddenly the worst who’d ever played’
https://theathletic.com/1856663/202...eriksson-mcclaren/?source=user_shared_article

 

[MightyModric]

https://theathletic.com/1866281/

Have I missed this one being posted?

 

[spursfan77]

https://theathletic.com/1866281/

Have I missed this one being posted?

I quite enjoyed it, lots of the transfers remind me of sitting in the ITK thread refreshing on deadline day hour after hour. Seems we escaped quite a few transfers that wouldn't of paid off actually reading that. Lots that would off too of course, which all clubs can point to.

 

[wirE]

Anyone got the whole article?

Sensible Transfers: Who will join Hojbjerg in making ‘small changes’ at Spurs?

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is set to join from Southampton but Tottenham are also looking at these strikers and defenders

theathletic.com

 

[Saoirse]

Anyone got the whole article?

Sensible Transfers: Who will join Hojbjerg in making ‘small changes’ at Spurs?

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is set to join from Southampton but Tottenham are also looking at these strikers and defenders

theathletic.com

(Other contributors: Charlie Eccleshare and Alex Stewart)

Tottenham Hotspur finished the season with their best run of form since 2018, sealing sixth place in the league, but there is still work to be done. Jose Mourinho has done a good rescue job since he replaced Mauricio Pochettino in November, clambering slowly up the Premier League table back into the Europa League spots, even if it has not always been pretty.

We all know the way Mourinho wants Tottenham to play. He has Spurs mainly setting up in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3; always compact, organised, happy to defend deep if they have to. He wants them to be pragmatic, with a specific plan for every game. The 3-0 win over Leicester City on July 19 was the perfect example as Spurs dropped deep, tempted Leicester forward, and then exploited the space behind their slow back line in a ruthless counter-attacking first half.

But it is clear from watching Tottenham this season that the squad still needs some improvements. They are paying the price for a failure to invest in quality during the second half of the Pochettino era and while they still have plenty of firepower in attacking positions, the defensive spine of the team could do with reinforcements.

Mourinho confirmed in his last pre-match press conference of the season that Spurs would need a few upgrades in this window. But not many. “Small changes,” he said. “A big overhaul needs a lot of money involved, so we are going to be very balanced but again, the objective is to improve the squad. And that, I’m totally convinced we’re going to manage.”

Again, after the Crystal Palace game that sent them into their summer, Mourinho confirmed there would be additions. But not many.

“Of course, as a squad, the main thing is to keep our very good players,” he said. “And after that, trying to improve the squad. Are we going to buy 10 players? No. Are we going to buy players for £100 million? No. But we are going to improve. I enjoy working with Steve (Hitchen, the chief scout) on that organisation. We are very well connected with Mr Levy and the board. We are going to do what is possible to do.”

The first priority has to be a man to protect the defence. Spurs have struggled in that area ever since Victor Wanyama’s career was derailed by injury and attempts by Mourinho to use Eric Dier there this season did not work. For much of the last two years, Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko have filled the role but both, ultimately, are more progressive players.

Mourinho has identified his number one target for that position: Southampton’s Denmark international Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. He has impressed in his four years at St Mary’s and become an important part of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side with the way he scraps to win the ball back and uses it economically. But his time at Southampton is clearly coming to an end — he was recently stripped of their captaincy because of his desire to leave.

The Athletic revealed last night that the two clubs have agreed on a fee of £15 million that could rise to £19 million with add ons. The player wants to go. He is Mourinho’s top target and Southampton have decided to sell.

But even after Hojbjerg signs, Spurs will need more new faces, especially in defence. They have not signed a defender since 2017 — three years ago now, when Pochettino and chairman Daniel Levy added Davinson Sanchez, Serge Aurier and Juan Foyth, not one of whom could be said to have been a complete success. The 2016-17 season, when Spurs conceded only 26 goals in their 38 league games, feels a long time ago now. Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier are long gone, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose seem set to leave this summer.

And while their defensive record in the last few games was good — Tottenham conceded three goals in those six matches — they are clearly in need of strengthening. No position better encapsulates their recent struggles than right-back, where in three years they have gone from Walker to Trippier to Aurier. Spurs have tried to move on the latter before, without success, and it remains to be seen if they can sign an upgrade this summer.

Max Aarons of relegated Norwich City would be one option after an impressive season despite his club’s struggles, although Mourinho is understood to have reservations about Aarons’ size.

Another option Spurs are looking at is Timothy Castagne, a versatile Belgian who has played right and left wing-back in Atalanta’s 3-4-2-1 system this season. Their interest is understood to be real and now that Castagne, 24, is in the final year of his contract, he would be available at a reduced price this summer. The player himself, who has often been overlooked in favour of Robin Gosens and Hans Hateboer, is also interested in a move to Tottenham.

Spurs may pursue a new centre-back too, to accompany Toby Alderweireld, Sanchez and Dier, who will be their main men in that role next year.

Kim Min-jae, a 23-year-old South Korea international who plays for China’s Beijing Sinobo Guoan, is one possibility and, at around £10 million, is relatively affordable. Kim, nicknamed “Monster”, has the sort of physicality Mourinho looks for in a centre-back and is understood to have been recommended to him by friend and compatriot Paulo Bento, the South Korea manager. Kim is on the radar of several European clubs though, and Tottenham are not thought to be at an advanced stage with regards to a deal.

Nice’s Malang Sarr, 21, is another possibility, with the fact he is left-footed and can fill in at left-back potentially helping to offset Jan Vertonghen’s departure. Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma has also been linked with Spurs, but a move for him is not thought to be likely.

Milik could be available this summer but would he settle for being back-up again? (Photo: Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)



A bigger priority for Spurs at this point is finding a striker who could lighten Harry Kane’s load, with Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik one of their main targets and Mourinho a big admirer. Milik, 26, is entering the last year of his contract and with Dries Mertens extending his stay at the Italian club, looks set to continue to play second fiddle to him. Napoli have also bought Lille’s highly-rated striker Victor Osimhen and might need to offload Milik.

The concern for Milik would be that if he joined Spurs, it would be a similar situation with Kane as it’s been watching Mertens have all the fun. But as a No 9 adept at linking the play, Milik would be an ideal alternative to have to Kane and it would allow the England captain to be rested more than he is now. Again, though, the asking price will be an issue. Napoli are expected to hold out for around €40 million (£36 million), with Tottenham considering a fee of around half that a fair price.

If possible, Spurs would like to add a winger to the squad but are unlikely to have the funds to get one-time target Eberechi Eze from Queens Park Rangers. A free agent such as Willian or Ryan Fraser is more realistic — though the former could end up at Arsenal and the latter is not considered a priority.

Tifo’s suggested right-back: Denzel Dumfries (PSV Eindhoven)

If we assume that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is indeed on his way to Spurs, then attention can turn from their most pressing deficiency (no pun intended) to the next most pressing: a right-back.

Denzel Dumfries of PSV Eindhoven, the Eredivisie’s outstanding all-round right-back, is Tifo’s selection. According to Statsbomb, he won 2.2 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes in 2019-20 but this doesn’t quite convey how defensively solid he is — and PSV were the third-best defence in the Dutch top flight last season.

Dumfries is quick and, at 6ft 2in, has the sort of physical profile that makes him a useful set-piece defender and generally robust presence. He’s also excellent in attack — while not as quick or exciting as rivals Ajax’s right-back Sergino Dest, he does get forward, scoring seven goals and registering three assists in 2,242 league minutes this season.

He likes to loiter in the right half-space, as a slightly deeper option for PSV’s attack to recycle possession, or push up on the overlap at pace, from where he excels at whipping in low crosses — he would have more assists if their strikers, 17-goal Donyell Malen aside, were better at finishing.

The 24-year-old is good at crossing first-time but it is also noticeable how he will stop and check before crossing if given space — he isn’t just looking to hammer the ball in but rather tries to make sure he chooses the best option. Dumfries would certainly be an upgrade in every respect on Spurs’ current options and, with his former PSV team-mate Steven Bergwijn at the club already, there’s an existing connection.

Should Jose Mourinho fancy popping home to dip into the Portuguese market, a quick mention too for Benfica’s 19-year-old right-back Tomas Tavares — whose elder brother, Nuno, is a promising left-back at the Lisbon club.

Tomas has represented Portugal at several age-group levels and is a skilful, attacking full-back. While not possessing blistering pace, he’s quick enough and at that age can still add bulk to his 6ft 1in frame. While he has yet to score or assist in just under 900 league minutes, his all-round game and 2.8 tackles and interceptions won per 90 show promise.

He is one of Europe’s young right-backs to watch – this summer’s window might be one too soon for pragmatic Mourinho, though.

 

[Glasseye]

The Athletic is currently offering £1 a month for 6 months, reverting back to £7.99 after that

 

[taidgh]

The Athletic is currently offering £1 a month for 6 months, reverting back to £7.99 after that

They must be really hurting. A lot of big names on big salaries and not much to write about.

 

[Marty]

They must be really hurting. A lot of big names on big salaries and not much to write about.

They just hit a million subscribers according to their Facebook. I wonder how many pay full whack, my guess is less than 5%.

 

[SlotBadger]

Any of you fine subscribers fancy posting the Gary Lineker article, please?

My game in my words. By Gary Lineker

To mark his 60th birthday, Gary Lineker dissects some of the most important goals of his career and explains how he scored them

theathletic.com

 

[Laboog]

Any of you fine subscribers fancy posting the Gary Lineker article, please?

My game in my words. By Gary Lineker

To mark his 60th birthday, Gary Lineker dissects some of the most important goals of his career and explains how he scored them

theathletic.com

Not sure how it will look with images and videos copied but here you go..might take a few posts due to the length.

Every weekend, Gary Lineker hosts Match of the Day and asks the two pundits sitting alongside him — most typically Alan Shearer and Ian Wright — to analyse the day’s football.

Shearer and Wright are obviously specialists at explaining and critiquing the performances of centre-forwards, and therefore Lineker asks the questions on behalf of the layman viewer.

But Lineker, of course, is not a layman. Lineker was probably the finest finisher of his generation, a World Cup Golden Boot winner in 1986, and a domestic Golden Boot winner with three different sides — Leicester (1984-85), Everton (1985-86) and Tottenham (1989-90) — in three straight First Division campaigns, interrupted by a successful three-year spell at Barcelona.

“To score the number of times he did, you have to be technically accomplished as well as having that love of getting goals,” says Shearer. “He was very quick and very clever and cute, knowing exactly how to time his runs and where to be, to find the near and far posts. Gary was a brilliant finisher.”

Before succeeding Des Lynam in the host’s chair in 1999, Lineker was a pundit himself, and an expert at explaining centre-forward play. For two decades, we’ve rarely heard his analysis. So, to mark Lineker’s 60th birthday, The Athletic asked him to talk us through a few of his classic goals — and one he’d never previously seen…


Leicester 2-1 Ipswich, September 1984



OK Gary, so we’re starting near the beginning of your career…

That looks like Filbert Street…

Correct. This is against Ipswich in 1983-84. And this is a classic early Lineker finish.

Ah yes, the dink. We like the dink.

This looks like you and Alan Smith up front…

Yup, Andy Peake with the header.

So in the early days at Leicester, there are so many goals where you finish one-on-one. A lot of the time, just before the shot, you seem to delay by half a second, and the goalkeeper commits…

That’s absolutely right. Good spot. The whole thing about one-on-ones is, if you can make the goalkeeper react first, you win. Or generally you win. It’s then up to you about how you finish. But if you can get him to commit, particularly to go down early, it gives you more options.

The first option, in this case, is to flick it over him.

The second option is to go around him. But on this particular occasion he’s too close to his goal, really. In an ideal world, to go around him, it’s best when they’re near the edge of their box.

The one thing I used to hate — if he was a yard back here, and just stayed there, and stayed on his feet — that’s what I didn’t like. Because then your only real option is to knock it in the corner, and then you’ve got to be exceptionally accurate. I was never a whacker, I never blasted it.

But these ones, when they come out, if you can kid them a little bit with that stall, and make them go to ground early, then that gives you the option of the dink. Now, the dink isn’t an easy skill, but it’s one I was comfortable with — more so than slotting it away in the corner. When you’re running with the ball at speed, it’s not necessarily that easy.

I got a lot of goals like that, particularly in my early days, both at Leicester and Everton, because I had a lot of speed, which I tried to use to my advantage — a lot of defences used to play offside back then, so that was helpful — so I’d often I’d make a run towards the ball, bring the defender with me, and then spin. My movement before the ball is played will become a recurring theme, because that is the secret of goalscoring.

You go towards the ball, you spin and then you get in behind. I used to do signals for that with my team-mates — I used to do that (Lineker sticks his finger up and loops it around) — and that meant I want it behind. Then if they put the ball in behind, I used to back myself, speed-wise, to get in behind.

Did you work with a goalkeeper in training, in terms of practising one-on-ones, trying to understand their perspective?

Yeah, loads. I practised with Mark Wallington, the Leicester keeper at the time. He was really helpful, he used to tell me what goalkeepers would and wouldn’t like. He was a very bright guy, he went on to be a teacher, very intelligent.

There would be certain finishes in the game — like this one — where I was getting the goalkeeper to react early, which he said was the key. So I would always acknowledge him after a goal if it was one of the goals we’d worked on, I’d give him a little “yesss!” (Lineker punches the air.)

So I definitely studied and thought about — and I think completely worked out — the art of goalscoring.


Watford 0-2 Leicester, April 1986



OK, on to the next goal. This is another Leicester one, a very different type of goal — away at Watford from a corner.

Ah that one, yeah. That’s actually quite skilful for me!

What I like about this is how comfortable you are going with your left foot.

Yeah… people used to say I was one-footed but my left foot was all right. Not as good as my right foot, but it was fine. And that’s obviously a similar goal to the one in the World Cup semi-final against Germany.

Ah yes. I hadn’t considered that…

Yeah, there are similarities here, one I pull it across with my thigh, and this one with my foot.

The key to this one is that when it comes to me I’m in space, and space is everything in goalscoring. Can we go back to the start of that? To see my movement that pulls me away…

…look, I start to come out now, away from the defender. Defenders will always stay. I’ve pulled out on the off-chance they might miss it, or there’s a flick-on. So I’ve just taken a chance on where I think the ball will go. And there’s no way a defender will do that, they always wait to see where the ball will go. In fact, 90 per cent of strikers I watch — even to this day — wait to see where the ball will go. And in that case, you’ll always be up against a defender. So the secret is to make a move.

Now, most people will not notice that move. And 95 per cent of the time, the ball won’t go to where you make that move to. Therefore no one will notice you making those runs. From corners, I would get four or five goals a season just by little movements, pulling away like that, gambling on where I think it will go. And that’s the key word: gamble.

The 19 times out of 20 that it doesn’t go to you, no one notices, but on the 20th time that it does come to me, like this one, I’m in space, in the box, and I’ve got an opportunity. A lot of them will be easier than that. But therein lies the secret of goalscoring.

People used to say that goalscorers have a sixth sense of where the ball’s going to go. No, no, no! I’ve even heard strikers say that because they don’t realise how they score goals!

It is actually finding space in the box and gambling on where it’s going to be. I used to read reports all the time saying “Lineker, he did nothing all game, but then he was in the right place at the right time in the 89th minute.” But they hadn’t seen the umpteen runs I’d made.

It’s not a sixth sense. It’s not. Keep making movements, and if the ball finds you in space, you’ve got a great chance to score.

I only worried about my game when I wasn’t getting chances because that meant I wasn’t making the right movements. If you keep making movements, it will come to you.

With this goal, how early do you know what you’re going to do here?

That’s last second. I can see it coming, I’ve already gambled on the space. I’ve got to go with the ball that’s bounced. That part of it is largely instinctive, and a degree of talent to adapt to the ball bouncing. Particularly when I played — because now the playing surfaces are so beautiful, it’s probably quite easy to predict the bounce — whereas when I played you were never sure how much it would bounce. So largely it was about adapting quickly.

 

[Laboog]

England 3-0 Poland, 1986 World Cup



On to one of the more obvious goals. This is from the hat-trick against Poland. The first one is your favourite, right?

Yes, in a couple of different ways. One because it was a quintessential striker’s goal, attacking the near post. But second, because it was the most important goal of my life because it changed my life.

I’d gone five or six games for England without scoring a goal, I could have been left out. I wasn’t. Bobby Robson gave me another chance alongside Peter Beardsley — we had this partnership that we hit off instantly. Without the first goal, there’s no second goal, and so forth.

I’m chuffed with that because I was involved in the build-up. I think in commentary, Barry Davies says I passed when I could have gone on myself. He obviously didn’t know my dribbling abilities!

I can see his point: for most players, I could have gone down the line there, but I was never really a dribbler. That’s about gambling in space, that was my point with the one before, and this encapsulates it perfectly.

I’ve taken a chance there on running in front of the defender and hoping that Gary Stevens puts the ball on that particular spot, and thankfully he did. And that’s not a “sixth sense” of where the ball’s going to go. That’s hoping, and gambling on a spot, and if the ball’s laid in the right spot, I’ve got a great chance to score.

Are you always going to make this run across the defender?

You’ve got three real (possible) movements. You can do what I did, gamble on the near post. You can make a little run towards the near and then check to the far post, which was one I didn’t enjoy because I think it makes the pass harder. And the other one is to stand still, which I didn’t used to do much. They’re your three choices.

The other option is to wait and see where the ball goes. But the defender does that, so he’ll always be in front of you.

It’s another perfect example of how to score goals. I watch a lot of strikers these days, and so few do it. I often think, just 10 minutes with someone, and I could get them to do it… I don’t know… because I talked to some before and it doesn’t seem to sink in. I suppose in that sense it did come naturally but I think it’s something you can learn. I can’t see why you wouldn’t.

I think I could take someone like… who’s a wonderfully gifted footballer? Let’s talk about the man of the moment, Marcus Rashford. He’s clearly a very intelligent young man, he’s a wonderfully gifted footballer, he’s super quick. He’s got everything. But he doesn’t score many poacher’s goals. And I look at him, and he doesn’t make those movements because… either it doesn’t come naturally to him, he’s not thought it through, or no one’s ever told it to him. But if I had 10 minutes with him, even if he just reads this one day…

I’m not singling him out because I love watching him play. But this (goalscoring) is an art form in itself, and I think I could help many strikers do it. And I’m available, if they want to give me a call…

Let me just show you the replay of this Poland one, because there’s something I love about this replay. If you watch the defender, there’s just a little look over his left shoulder…

Yeah, he doesn’t know where I am. I will also now check back slightly because my whole purpose there is to get in front of him. And I’m hanging out there because — if you freeze it there…

…if I’m where he is now, already, then the danger is, by the time I make the burst, which has to be at speed, I’m past the near post. And then it becomes difficult to score. So the longer you can hold yourself back before the absolute burst of speed, the better in that position.

In fact, this is exactly where you want to be. And the whole thing in my mind, the whole reason I didn’t dribble towards the left was because of this scenario, that I ultimately would have wanted.


Barcelona 3-0 Real Madrid, January 1987



The next one is another great example of movement. It’s again the opener in a hat-trick, this time against Real Madrid…

Yeah… I love this goal! This is my favourite… one of my favourite all-time goals. Just purely for the absolute gamble on the goal.

Who’s this with the cross, the little No 5?

Victor! Victor Munoz. Played for Spain many times, was at Barcelona for years and years.

Again, this one’s all about the movement, right?

And you’ll see this as he hits it, I’m just gambling where it might go. Most of the time it wouldn’t go there but when it does, you can’t miss.

And it’s quite deliberate. You really back off in terms of your positioning here…

Yeah. I come away to go in again.

Are you making that run in relation to the defender? Because initially, he can see you…

He can see me there. But my first run there is taking a chance that it might be flicked on, and it wasn’t, so I come out immediately because I don’t want to be stuck in there, so I get back into a position where I can attack, and then I go — bang. I don’t know the ball’s gonna go there, I’m not following the ball there, I’m just hoping it goes there.

So I go back and in. You either go in and back or out and in. And it’s always one movement to move the defender, and then one for yourself.

Alan Shearer and Ian Wright also always say that — one for the defender, one for yourself. Is that something coaches always told you?

Yeah. Coaches always used to say that. You’d do a lot of exercises where you’d do crossing, and you’d drift out and then make a run. But what I found is that a lot waited too late to make the run, because they’re half-waiting to see where the ball will go. And the key is not to wait. It’s just: guess where it might go. Most of the time it’s wrong. But you gamble on where you think will give you the best chance to score.


England 3-0 Northern Ireland, October 1986



OK, the next one is Northern Ireland…

Is this the chip?

This is the chip, yeah.

Yeah… I was quite proud of this one.

So it starts with a Glenn Hoddle tackle in midfield, which is…

…yeah, that’s unusual in itself.

That’s a different goal. I’m quite chuffed with this one because it’s quite unusual. I didn’t call many really what you’d call “high-quality” goals. It’s nearly outside the box, not quite… a chip with the left foot running away from goal is not easy, so I was particularly proud with that one.

This is another one where I’m more fascinated by the replay because it’s got a great angle… there’s another fake run…

Nearly always is.

So this one you’re pretending to go into the right channel…

Yeah…

…and then you cut across…

That’s right. I mean that’s a long run across, again, just to gain space. I’m not necessarily doing it on that occasion because I might get a goal or a chance, but it’s just a good movement to make. Again, you move one way, then go another way, which is a very common theme. But I didn’t expect that finish.