Tabla de contenidos para August 2016 en Australian FourFourTwo

In football, it seems more and more you should always expect the unexpected. Iceland taking everyone by surprise at the Euros. Messi quitting Argentina after another heartbreaking loss (and his shocking penalty). England going home early... oh, hang on. And in our now-annual Top 50 Aussies, one of our three cover stars only just scraped in last year, while another stepped out the shadows to finally show his real star quality in a blockbuster year. But the third didn't even get a mention last year – yet bombs in and goes straight to number one. That's an almighty achievement. Some of the stats from the top 50 make for interesting reading - 28 new entries in total shows the emerging talent that came through in the last 12 months. Outside…

I knew I’d made it as a player when I was about 16 and was playing in the Victorian Premier League. I’d won the best and fairest in my first season and that was probably the first time I had a feeling I’d make it, but you don’t really know until you’ve had three or four years of experience at the highest level. I was happiest when I was playing football. Nothing beats playing, it’s the best feeling, particularly when you’re young. The period when I started playing football at 16 was probably the most enjoyable one. My hero growing up was Billy Vojtek. He played for a number of clubs and played for Australia about 40 times. He was my boyhood idol and who I absolutely idolised and followed…

1 ALEN STAJCIC MATILDAS Stajcic has been a staple in Australian women’s football for almost 15 years. His hallmarks has been high tempo, possession-based, attacking football but the question mark was whether this style could translate to success onto the international stage. With Australia’s highest ever world ranking, the answer is a resounding YES. 2 JOHN ALOISI BRISBANE ROAR Alongside brother Ross, Aloisi returned Brisbane to their on-field best against a backdrop of boardroom uncertainty. Roar narrowly missed out on the A-League Premiership before bowing out to the Wanderers in heartbreaking fashion in the semi final. Aloisi will be looking to build on his bright start next season. 3 ANGE POSTECOGLOU SOCCEROOS Eighteen months on from Asian Cup success and Ange is still doing the business on the international stage.…

9 MASSIMO LUONGO Position Attacking midfielder Club Queens Park Rangers You joined QPR from Swindon in the off-season. What did you make of your first season in the Championship? It had everything, such as playing in a completely different role, more up front, because of the players we had. I was out for 10 games [following a change of manager], not even playing a minute and then I played the next 10 games in a row, then an injury, so it was a rollercoaster season. What’s the difference in standard? It’s more in your face. You get hardly any time on the ball. Ninety per cent of the teams press non-stop. If they’re not doing well, they’re not going to let you play well regardless. It’s a very difficult league.…

By the time Michele Ferri is ready to talk Juventus he can hardly make a sound. He has spent the previous night barracking for the AFL’s Collingwood – a team that garners his loyalty courtesy of their Juve colours. For Ferri football has always been black and white, all or nothing. Even his email address contains the word juve. It amounts to half a century of devotion. “I’ve been following Juventus since I was 10-years-old,” says Ferri who arrived in Australia from Italy at the age of 17. “Most of my family follow Juventus. I was in Italy almost seven months ago because of the passing of my younger brother. “Just a couple of days before I boarded the plane to come back, I went to watch Juventus play.” Sitting…

It took one man to kick-start Tom Pollock’s Atletico Madrid devotion. At Germany 2006, striker Fernando Torres dazzled in a star-laden Spanish team that went on to win the World Cup. Back in Melbourne and Pollock, a Liverpool supporter, watched on mesmerised. By coincidence, Torres soon left Madrid for Merseyside on a $50m transfer but Pollock, now enamoured by Spanish football, stuck with Atletico. “It was when Spain was starting to come towards their peak,” Pollock says now. “Another reason they appealed to me was that everyone either followed Real Madrid or Barcelona and there was a kind of rebellion against that.” Five years later, Pollock made the pilgrimage to Atletico’s home ground – the somewhat dilapidated Vincente Calderon – to see his club defeat Levante 3-2. “I never expected…

Emma-Jane Stephenson never had a hope of being anything but a Tottenham supporter. Before she was born, her father partially filled out a Junior Spurs membership application. The date of birth was blank but somewhat hopefully the North Londoner wrote ‘David’ under name of applicant. Clearly she was no David. But the 40-year-old project officer has turned into a Goliath for the Lilywhites Down Under. Her mum’s club of choice, Dundee, never had a look in. “It’s all my dad’s fault,” Stephenson laughs. “He’s a lifelong Spurs fan, his dad was a lifelong Spurs fan. I basically had no choice in the matter. “I’ve got a signed photo of Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne from when we won the FA Cup in 1991 – it’s one of my prized possessions.”…

When Alen Stajcic joined the Matildas in autumn 2014, the team was in turmoil. Coach Hesterine de Reus had been dismissed as differences between the coach and the players became public fodder. The departure of de Reus came just a month before the Matildas’ World Cup qualification campaign at the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Appointed as an interim head coach, Stajcic guided the Matildas through qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and took them to another Asian Cup final. Once appointed permanently to the role in September 2014, Stajcic set about altering the Matildas from the inside out, with results following. In late May, FFA CEO David Gallop announced Stajcic’s contract extension until 2020 and spoke about the Matildas boss’s organisational changes within the squad set up.…

SABRY NOVEMBER 2000 After criticism from the midfielder seven matches into his first managerial job, at Benfica, Jose lays into the ‘always offside’ Egyptian in a press conference. MANUEL VILARINHO DECEMBER 2000 Benfica’s new chief had promised to bring back former coach Toni, so Jose issues an ultimatum: either extend my contract or I quit. No extension was offered, and so he quit. JESUALDO FERREIRA JANUARY 2002 Jose turns down a Benfica return with Ferreira as his No.2, later saying he’d had more success in three years than Ferreira in 30. “This is the story of a donkey who has worked for 30 years but never became a horse,” he added. VITOR BAIA SEPTEMBER 2002 Shortly after taking the reins at Porto, Mourinho drops keeper Baia, then suspends him after…

MARCELO BIELSA THE PROMOTER OF MODERN PRESSING Few people have inspired quite as many of the world’s current crop of top managers as Marcelo Bielsa. “He’s the best coach the planet currently has,” Pep Guardiola said in 2012. Despite that tag, Bielsa’s honours list is surprisingly threadbare – a couple of titles with Newell’s Old Boys, another with Velez Sarsfield, a gold medal as coach of Argentina’s Olympic team in 2004, and that’s about it. But it’s the way that Bielsa’s sides play the game that has made him almost messianic. A whole-hearted dedication to attack thanks to an ambitious 3-3-3-1 formation was backed up by an intense pressing strategy that has since been adopted by managers from Diego Simeone and Tata Martino to Jorge Sampaoli and Mauricio Pochettino. Pressing…

Did yo know? Bellerin’s ability to get forward and support Arsenal’s attack led to him assisting eight goals for his Gunners team-mates in al competitions last season, a figure that only Alexis Sanchez (10) and Mesut Ozil (20) surpassed 1 Be versatile Attackers can make the best defenders “At Barcelona I was a winger, but when I joined Arsenal they moved me to right-back. I thought that I would be better in an attacking role, but Steve Bould and Bacary Sagna helped me to adapt to the new position, which was key. Talking to two top-class defenders who really know the role offered fantastic insight. I also used my experience as an attacker to help make the switch – I know the positions on the pitch that wingers prefer to…

GK MANUEL NEUER What he’s done for both Bayern and Germany has been class – he changed the perception of what a keeper can do. I played against him at the 2010 World Cup, but not for long as I was sent off. LB ROBERTO CARLOS I played against him at the 2006 World Cup. As a defender he had strength and speed, but he could then burn you going forward as well. He’s one of the hardest strikers of a free-kick I have ever seen. AM RONALDINHO An absolute magician with his close control. I can remember thinking that I would be able to get the ball off him, but he just had this bag of tricks that would make you look foolish. Every time. RB PHILIPP LAHM He’s…

50 JASON DAVIDSON Position Defender Club Huddersfield Town Released by West Brom, Jason has bounced back to make his Championship debut against Hull City and scored his first goal in English football in a 5-0 rout of Charlton Athletic, alongside a run of World Cup qualifiers. HE SAID: “I’ve got unfinished business in the Premier League, so I want to play well and get back in the Prem.” THEY SAID: “He is an athletic player who has attacking ability, but most importantly he is a good defender.” Chris Powell. 49 ADAM FEDERICI Position Goalkeeper Club A.F.C. Bournemouth Fresh off his cup final heartbreak with Reading, Federici traded the Royals for the Cherries and settled in as second choice for the Premier League debutants. Deputising for Mat Ryan, he kept four…

1 TOMMY OAR After a clubless off-season, signed with Ipswich Town in August but opportunities were rare as he battled to regain fitness. Left in January to re-join Brisbane Roar. 2 LUKE BRATTAN Off the radar after quitting Brisbane and signing with Manchester City where he’s not in the first-team frame. Struggled on loan at Bolton, trained with Rotherham. 3 DANIEL DE SILVA A season of promise at AS Roma turned to frustration for the teenager at Roda JC. Knee and back injuries didn’t help, playing just once since the turn of the year. 4 DEVANTE CLUT The talented Roar midfielder’s progress stalled under John Aloisi, leading to his exit for Newcastle. Didn’t start once in 2015-16, despite impressive ACL and friendly roles. 5 AWER MABIL The former refugee shone…

For all the amazing career moments – winning the 1998 World Cup, the 2000 European Championship and two Serie A titles among others – there is one moment that will stick in David Trezeguet’s mind forever. Juventus qualified for the 2002-03 UEFA Champions League final and were up against AC Milan at Old Trafford in Manchester. The game failed to produce a goal and had to be decided via a penalty shoot-out. Trezeguet was first up for the ‘Old Lady’, but he had his spot-kick saved by Dida. The Brazilian goalkeeper also saved penalties from the Uruguayan duo of Marcelo Zalayeta and Paolo Montero, as Juve lost the shoot-out 3-2. “I had some good moments,” he recalls. “A great joy was the Scudetto, which we won on the last day…

Over the past five years Diego Simeone has turned Atletico Madrid into one of the biggest forces in European football. Los Rojiblancos were crowned La Liga champions in 2013-14, almost 20 years after they won their last Spanish title. Jose Luis Caminero was a big part of the team that won the title in 1995-96, as Atletico finished four points above second-place Valencia. The midfielder scored nine goals that season and was promptly awarded Spanish footballer of the year, just two years after finishing as Spain’s top goal-scorer at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Caminero believes there are a lot of similarities between the Atletico of today and the one he played in under Radomir Antic, who guided them to the domestic double for the first and…

There are not many modern-day footballers out there can proudly call themselves one-club men. Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville at Manchester United, Francesco Totti at Roma and Jamie Carragher at Liverpool are a few high-profile names that sit alongside Tottenham’s Ledley King. King joined Tottenham as a trainee at the age of 15 after spending his junior days at Senrab, where he played alongside his future international team-mate John Terry. Despite his 13-year career at White Hart Lane, King only has one League Cup to his name, but the former centre-half has plenty of optimism for the future, with Tottenham coming off their most serious title charge in almost 40 years. While they fell short of Leicester City in the end, eventually clipped by bitter rivals Arsenal into…

YES ANTHONY SHAW SEASON TICKET HOLDER “Alex Ferguson once claimed that Manchester United’s manager needs to be the most important person at the club, with complete control over his players and staff. Since he stepped down, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal have both failed to gain the control required: they sold established players and then failed to get an effective contribution from their squad. That will change with Mourinho. He’s achieved more in football than the majority of the players and will immediately command respect. They’ll be desperate to work for him. The same could also be said for Ryan Giggs, but United couldn’t afford to take such a risk with an unproven manager. He should prove himself elsewhere, like Luis Enrique did at Roma and Celta Vigo prior…

With the sun blazing and the smell of a sizzling barbecue wafting through the air, running laps around the local park isn’t too high on your to-do list. Cue internal slanging match. Do it. No. Get up and go. No. Move it you lazy so-and-so. No. Argh! Which voice should you listen to? The one in your stomach, of course. “Your gut has its own nervous system, just like the brain,” says UCLA professor of physiology, psychiatry and biobehavioural sciences, Emeran Mayer. “Ninety per cent of the messages between the brain and the gut are sent from the gut to the brain, so a large part of our emotions are actually controlled by the gut.” But why should you be listening to the muffin top hanging over your skin-tight shorts?…

1 Shanghai Shenhua (Xie Hui) 2 Sydney FC (Corica, Talay) March 7, 2007 in Shanghai, China The Lead Up It was the very first game ever for Sydney FC in the Asian Champions League, so we were going into the unknown really. We were playing against Shanghai, who had been there before, away from home and I remember the conditions were freezing cold. I think we all had gloves on, it was that cold and I can still remember training over there, trying to acclimatise to the conditions. The Match We had a fantastic start - obviously that was the first goal that any A-League team had scored in the Champions League. Ufuk Talay also scored a very good goal as well and I think they scored late on in…

“I called Van Persie an a***hole after the World Cup. I said what I thought at the time. It hasn’t changed” “People in England think I’m a bad guy, an a**hole, but I’m not,” Pierre van Hooijdonk explains as he puts his crutches to one side and sits down with a smile to chat to FFT . The forward made plenty of headlines during a sometimes controversial career – his three-month strike at Nottingham Forest remains one of the most infamous sagas in Premier League history – but the former Dutch Footballer of the Year is ready to tell his side of the story when we meet at the WestCord Fashion Hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The 46-year-old arrives with his foot in plaster, having damaged…

BRUCE KAMAU A big year for the youngster who won the domestic double with Adelaide, scoring the opener in the Grand Final and now a move to Melbourne City. AMY HARRISON A Young Matildas captain with exceptional close ball control, pace and football awareness. Another versatile player comfortable at full back or the wing. ALEKSANDAR JOVANOVIC After impressing at Jeju United in the K-League, he’s made the jump to China with Tianjin Teda and is now firmly on Ange’s radar. CALLUM ELDER On loan from Premier champs Leicester, his promising start at Peterborough was cut short by injury but he’s now back in business with the Foxes’ U21s. CHLOE LOGARZO Her work ethic has her in Rio contention where the fleet footed attacking midfielder with an eye for a pass…

1 MITCH LANGERAK The former Dortmund keeper struggled at Stuttgart with injury for most of the season before playing second fiddle to first-choice Przemyslaw Tyton. 2 ROBBIE KRUSE When he played, he was electric, however knee problems plagued the Socceroos attacker who would have featured on our top 50 had he managed to stay fit. 3 BERNIE IBINI The 23 year-old’s big move was almost instantly met with his untimely leg break, which has kept the striker on the sidelines, patiently waiting for his Jupiler League debut. 4 SAMANTHA KERR After a strong World Cup and USA season, the influential forward – a driving force of the Matildas attack – was struck down with a ruptured foot ligament. 5 LUKE DEVERE DeVere had a nightmare season after he injured his…

Paulo Dybala Position: Forward Age: 22 The Argentine finished 2015/16 as Juve’s top scorer with 23 goals across all competitions. Creative, agile and versatile, he is deadly from free kicks and penalties. In 2014, Spanish sports magazine Don Balon named him the world’s top 100 young players born after 1993. Vanstrattan says: “He’s a very talented player. Someone who can score goals and another one who could be a huge star in future years to come. Juve have got these great young players – it will just be interesting to see if they can hold onto them. It’s always a difficult with the prices they can demand and Dybala is certainly a player that a lot of clubs would like to have.” Álvaro Morata Position: Forward Age: 23 The young…

Saúl Níguez Position: Midfielder Age: 21 Skoko says: “The young Spaniard brings a lot of energy to the team and is another one to look out for in the future. He scored a crazy equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League which just goes to show what he can do. I think there are a lot of clubs chasing his signature at the moment and he’s been linked to Manchester United. Their new coach (Jose Mourinho) will definitely know a lot of these players in Spain and there’s every chance he’ll be looking for some young blood. He’s definitely one of those who will excite if he’s on the plane to Melbourne for the International Champions Cup.” Antoine Griezmann Position: Forward Age: 25 Skoko says: “The Frenchman has been…

Christian Eriksen Position: Attacking midfielder Age: 24 The good news for Spurs is that the 58-capped Danish international has no intention of leaving the Lilywhites – just yet. The midfield wizard notched up 13 assists in the 2015/16 EPL season and Dele Alli credits his own rapid rise to the influence of the Dane. Moore says: “He’s just a player who continually finds dangerous areas in the field and can play that killer pass, and score that goal himself. He has fantastic delivery on set pieces and continually gets in the right positions. If he’s isn’t successful it doesn’t concern him, it doesn’t stop him from continuing to do the right things – it’s the sign of a very clever and confident player. Harry Kane Position: Forward Age: 22 Leicester…

1 UNITED WILL PLAY MUCH DEEPER Jose Mourinho doesn’t park the bus every game, but United will unquestionably play deeper than last season. Under Louis van Gaal, they defended close to the halfway line and allowed space in behind – which helped them achieve the joint-best defensive record in last season’s Premier League. Mourinho will ask his team to defend closer to the penalty area, allowing space in midfield. 2 TRADITIONAL DEFENDERS Jose likes old-school, no-nonsense defenders who concentrate on their job – defending. It’s difficult to imagine he will continue with Daley Blind (left) at centre-back, preferring an aerially dominant player. He’s also unlikely to use converted wingers like Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia as the full-backs, because he requires players who will tuck inside and offer close protection…

MASTERCLASS Hector Bellerin Arsenal’s lightning quick full-back The Spaniard on how to become the ultimate modern-day defender by adding extra pace to your game. PRO TIPS Arda Turan Barcelona and Turkey’s dynamic midfielder The Catalans’ pass master reveals the secrets to finding time and space to create chances for your team-mates. FITNESS Chris Pickering Elite Olympic athlete and sprint expert Add some extra power and pace to your game with this advice from the former Team GB sprinter.…

“I love getting on the ball, but I struggle to find enough time and room to play my game. Can you help?”Tim Wilson, via Twitter Arda Turan Barcelona midfielder & Turkey captain “Start by dividing the field into three areas. Keep it simple in the first two by controlling the ball and making quick passes – then play with freedom in the final third. This is where you create chances and score goals. If you think you’re going to lose possession, try and put yourself between the defender and the ball. You might force them into making a foul, buying your team some time. If you’re struggling to get into the game, drop deeper to receive the ball off full-backs and centre-backs. There will be more room and less chance…

“If you want to run faster you need to tweak your technique. Footballers often let their foot hang loose when they sprint, whereas sprinters keep it tense, producing more force when they hit the floor. This change can make a big difference. Improving leg strength is crucial, so focus on the back and front squat. Start off with three sets of 8-10 repetitions to build up your general strength, and then tailor sets and reps to suit your position. For example, if you’re a winger and your game is based on power and making lots of sprints, or you’re a defender who needs to jump explosively, you would suit a higher load and lower reps - so try five sets of five reps instead. A player whose game is based…