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This is Martin's chat with James Pearce, the brilliantly connected Liverpool writer for The Athletic. A lot of James' writing makes up our latest book, At the End of the Storm, which also featured in last week’s episode – and is released today. The book is a collection of pieces from The Athletic telling the story of Liverpool’s historic title triumph, and James is the star of the show.

You’re going to hear a little bit about James’ background and how his years at the Liverpool Echo primed him for taking his coverage of the club to a new level when he joined The Athletic in the summer of 2019. You’ll also hear him break down a piece he wrote after Liverpool’s Super Cup win over Chelsea in August. This is a brilliant episode with a writer at the peak of his power. Enjoy

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Any Argentinian will still play second-fiddle to the legend of Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, but Federico Fernandez didn’t mind this and doesn’t feel that it ever held the club back. When he was at Napoli he lifted two Copa Italias, and he describes the route to the second one, defeating Lazio, Roma and then Fiorentina in a final with a nervy ending.

There’s stuff about ex-Napoli stars Pepe Reina – a man so positive that he is the world’s greatest teammate – and Edinson Cavani – the complete forward who will now make life hell for Premier League defenders.

We also discuss Federico’s international career, from the high of scoring with a header in a victory over arch-rivals Brazil, to the low of being dropped for the latter stages of the 2014 World Cup, the final of which, of course, Argentina lost to Germany in an agonisingly close contest.

Gracias Fede

Graham

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Federico Fernandez has made an impression on Geordie shores over the last two years, but it was Napoli where the Argentinian centre-half made the grade. His hero Roberto Ayala had done a stint at the Stadio San Paolo in the nineties and Federico sought his advice, but nothing could have prepared him for the football-mad city where five hundred people would wait by a restaurant if a player was breaking bread inside. Federico is still remembered by Napoli fans for his first two goals for the club in one Champions League match in Munich.

Before that, at Estudiantes in Argentina, Federico had been taught by Eduardo Berizzo, who had himself been a masterful centre-half. There was also the influence of a veteran Juan Sebastian Veron, whose work ethic, determination, and winning mentality raised the standards at the club. He encouraged a teenage Federico and gave him confidence.

You will love this Big Interview

Graham

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We're back, listeners!

Apologies for the extended hiatus. We were publishing a book... and this is a peek behind the scenes of how it all came together in double-quick time.

It's called At the End of the Storm: The Stories Behind Liverpool's Historic Title Win, and it is in partnership with The Athletic. It's out a week today - October 15.

This is Martin and Neil from BackPage chatting to Polaris' Pete Burns (the book is a co-publication between BackPage and Polaris) about how it all came together.

PRE-ORDER HERE

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Here’s another chance to hear my interview with Jamie Murray from season three.

Jamie is one of the best doubles players in the world, but his sporting obsessions extend beyond tennis. Not only did he regularly defeat his wee brother Andy in homespun wrestling bouts, he is also a decent footballer and in this Big Interview he picks his perfect five-a-side team from the ATP tour. It includes a certain Paulo Maldini after the Italian legend had hung up his boots and picked up his racquet. There’s chat about being attracted to Sir Alex Ferguson’s exciting Manchester United side, and of course the 2016 Scottish Cup final when Jamie’s beloved Hibernian at last broke their Hampden hoodoo.

Enjoy,

Graham

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Here's part two of my chat with Joachim Bjorklund - featuring a staggering Champions League run with Gothenburg, scalping Barcelona and Manchester United, plus stories from his time as part of a wonderful Valencia team under Claudio Ranieri and Hector Cuper. That side reached back-to-back Champions League finals, won a Copa del Rey and had Louis Van Gaal's Barcelona in their pocket.

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Here's Joachim ‘Jocky’ Björklund, my former colleague at La Liga TV and now Hammarby assistant manager. His son Kalle plays for him there, just like Jocky once played for his dad at Brann.

We had a simply fantastic conversation, discussing Jocky’s rapid rise to the Sweden team that reached back-to-back semi-finals at Euro ’92 and USA 94, and its stars, including Henrik Larsson and Tomas Brolin, his nation’s rock star footballer, and one worth revisiting.

Jocky says that the best two players he played alongside were Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne when he was at Rangers, and he speaks insightfully and movingly when he describes Gazza’s troubles.

Utterly brilliant, sparkling stuff.

Graham.

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Last season, our Socios at patreon.com/grahamhunter got an exclusive interview with Matt Jansen. For the first time, here’s the full episode.

In part two, you’ll hear more about the psychological damage Matt’s accident inflicted on him. With the best of intentions, Blackburn got him back playing but his sense of invincibility had given way to fear, and he didn’t want the ball any more. He was on medication and drinking heavily. Psychiatrist Steve Peters was a great help, but he couldn’t be with the footballer all of the time. Matt eventually quit football, but a phone call from his old pal Garry Flitcroft kicked off a spell playing and managing in the lower leagues.

There’s light-hearted chat in this interview too, such as why Matt’s Beatles-mad father nicknamed him ‘Maxwell,’ and how his Crystal Palace team-mate Hermann Hreiðarsson arranged to have him ‘kidnapped’ in Iceland. There’s also great stuff about the ordeal of having to knock back Sir Alex Ferguson, and what it was like to play alongside the wonderful Andy Cole.

What a life story Matt has. What a privilege it was to speak with him.

Graham

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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

Last season, our Socios at patreon.com/grahamhunter got an exclusive interview with Matt Jansen. For the first time, here’s the full episode.

In part one, you’ll hear how Matt was a thoroughbred centre-forward with a cultured left foot – and no little courage. After spells at his hometown club of Carlisle United and then Crystal Palace, he signed for Blackburn. He scored the first goal and set up the winner in Rovers’ 2-1 League Cup final victory over Tottenham Hotspur in 2002. Everything was going brilliantly, until he was cruelly denied a place in Sven-Göran Eriksson’s England squad for the 2002 World Cup.

Instead of heading to Japan and Korea that summer, he went to Rome with his future wife. England could wait – he felt invincible, the happiest man in the world. And then disaster struck. Matt was so seriously injured in a scooter accident that the paramedics thought he had died. After six days in a coma, he began his rehabilitation and made a full physical recovery. But when he went back onto the pitch everything he had previously done automatically became laboured. The sound of the crowd sighing added to the agony.

Thanks for sharing, Matt.

Graham

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Here’s another chance to hear my interview with Slaven Bilic from season three.

We hear about Bilic the Croatia centre-back, a member of the side so many of us adored at Euro ’96 and which nearly won the World Cup two years later. The manager, Miroslav Blažević was a master tactician and psychologist, but boy did he have the tools: Boban, Šuker, Bokšić and Prosinečki.

At Euro ’96, the players were ambassadors for a new country and lost the final to Germany at Wembley. They were christened ‘Croatian knights’ by their country’s president at France ’98 when they beat the Germans, but Slaven insists it was not a revenge mission. They won because they had more maturity, more self-belief, their usual incredible team spirit and also a slice of good luck. That luck didn’t hold in the semi against the hosts, and surely the Croatians would have prevailed in a final against a troubled Brazil.

A brilliant, passionate Big Interview.

Graham

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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