The Back Page

Graeme Le Saux spent numerous family holidays in Mallorca, but he couldn’t have guessed that one day he would become a non-executive director at the island’s – now La Liga – football club. Real got promoted after a thrilling play-off with Deportivo and now the challenge is to keep improving while staying in the top flight.

Graeme was an elegant left-back with Chelsea, Blackburn and Southampton, and he tells us about his toughest opponents, offering insight into how the likes of Brian Laudrup, Chris Waddle and a young Cristiano Ronaldo bedazzled and befuddled. Graeme just loved the challenge.

Subscribe to The Big Interview YouTube channel

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Here’s another chance to hear my interview with Thierry Henry from season four.

You’ll hear about how Barcelona’s talented players adapted to the visionary Pep Guardiola’s methods. The 2009 6-2 victory at the Bernabéu – in which Thierry scored a double and then went off injured –felt like the moment things fully clicked, and the Frenchman recovered in time to star in the Champions League final against Manchester United. Barcelona knew they would win – they could see the defeat in the United players’ eyes, and not even Sir Alex Ferguson had a response.

There’s also chat about playing with Lionel Messi, whose talent is not of this planet.

Brilliant stuff.

Graham

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Here comes part two of the November Q & A, in which Graham and Pete mourn Levante's demise, look at interim managers from recent Spanish history and examine the tea leaves of Xavi's first weeks in charge of Barcelona.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Hola

Welcome to this month's Q and A. Here myself and Pete Jenson talk Vinicius Jnr, the rise of La Real, Rayo Vallecano and who might win tonight's Ballon d'Or.

Enjoy

G

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Watching Real Madrid - and in particular how their coach, Carlo Ancelotti, handles his veteran midfield trio of Casemiro, Modric and Kroos - I saw one side of a theological divide. Call it hawks versus doves; Robin Williams versus the Marx Brothers; systems versus players.

Here is why I think the Madrid ideology cannot navigate a critical run of games ahead, and why it all means Zinedine Zidane was never the guy Manchester United need right now. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

For such an intelligent football man, you might be surprised to learn how Brad Friedel was once in the grip of crippling superstitions. Oddly, when he crossed the white line, the nerves disappeared.

Also in part two, you’ll hear about the one man Brad feared facing most of all: Alan Shearer. And there’s great stuff about how goalkeepers must never let their inner feelings show on the field of play.

Thanks, Brad. I could have chatted all day.

Graham.

Subscribe to The Big Interview YouTube channel

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Today, I'm presenting to you an episode of Between The Lines, a podcast that tells the stories behind great sports writing, produced by Martin and Neil at BackPage, my producers and the publishers of the books I wrote on Barcelona under Pep Guardiola and the Spain team that won a hat-trick of tournaments.

In this episode, Neil and Martin talk to Mark Palmer, the translator of The Immortals, Arrigo Sacchi’s memoir of Milan’s 1988-89 season, which ended with the first of two back-to-back European Cup triumphs for the great team of Baresi, Maldini, Rijkaard, Gullit and Van Basten.

The Immortals brings to life the training diaries of Sacchi and captures in time one of the greatest club teams in football history.

There are lots more stories on Between The Lines - take your pick here

Buy The Immortals here. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

Brad Friedel fell in love with English football long before he arrived on UK shores to grace the No.1 jerseys of Liverpool, Blackburn, Villa and Spurs. A trip to Wembley during a childhood family tour of Europe gave him the bug.

He was hardened by his Ohio upbringing, which set him in good stead for coping with the glorious craziness of Galatasaray.

This is an absolute corker of a Big Interview.

Graham

Subscribe to The Big Interview YouTube channel

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com

In this episode, Neil and Martin talk to Mark Palmer, the translator of The Immortals, Arrigo Sacchi’s memoir of Milan’s 1988-89 season, which ended with the first of two back-to-back European Cup triumphs for the great team of Baresi, Maldini, Rijkaard, Gullit and Van Basten.

The Immortals brings to life the training diaries of Sacchi and captures in time one of the greatest club teams in football history.

In this interview, we talk about why this – and not an earlier Sacchi autobiography – was the right one for us; Mark’s task in bringing the eccentricities of Arrigo Sacchi to life; and what happened when we went to Sacchi’s hometown to meet the man himself.

Buy The Immortals here. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpagepress.substack.com

Here's my latest for ESPNFC - on Xavi's first game in charge of his beloved Barcelona, against their city rivals, Espanyol. The two teams are level on points, which means Espanyol have a sniff of finishing ahead of their neigbours for the first time since World War Two concluded. And they have, in Vicente Moreno, a coach who, like Xavi, has a very high ceiling in terms of what he might achieve.

Not the kind of opening act Xavi would have selected.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit revistadelaliga.substack.com