LAURA WOODS: YAMAL COULD BE BETTER THAN MESSI
MANAGER I ENJOYED INTERVIEWING MOST
Jose Mourinho was a bag of tricks. He is so smart and so charismatic, but if you caught him on an off day it would be murder!
I interviewed him ahead of Chelsea v Manchester United when he was at Old Trafford, it was his first return to Stamford Bridge, and I was banned from asking anything about Antonio Conte. It was the most difficult interview to date, purely because everyone was on edge, and Jose had a face like thunder. They subsequently lost 4-0.
He was hard work at Spurs too mainly because things weren’t going very well. Every question was like throwing a grenade and you weren’t sure which ones would make him blow.
He would come for pre-match interviews before the team news came out and tell you what his changes were on the spot. Which sounds quite courteous, but it’s actually terrifying when you’re trying to figure out if he’s changed his formation, what that means for the narrative of the game and then needing to adjust your questions while he waits and stares at you!
But I worked with him for talkSPORT during Euro 2020, and he was just magic. He was sat on Zoom in his office and there were about 100 trophies behind him. I asked which ones they were and he said ‘only half of them!’
He is a superstar and I have never lost that sense of awe around him. Terror, too, but mostly awe.
PLAYER I ENJOYED INTERVIEWING MOST
When we interviewed Jude Bellingham after Real Madrid won the Champions League final last season, he had that maturity and was basically already a pundit.
We sat there saying he spoke better than all of us on the panel! He’s genuine and thoughtful, and his Mum was behind the camera on the pitch celebrating with the team.
I saw Jude ask Jose Mourinho for a photo with his mum. It was a very sweet moment. He told us his mum is a huge Jose fan, and I thought: “you’ve just won the Champions League and that’s a priority for you?”
He’s just a lovely guy and an unbelievable footballer.
A GROUND I’D LOVE TO VISIT
La Bombonera in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s Boca Juniors’ stadium and it’s meant to be absolutely raucous – very steep stands and they apparently shake when the fans are on their feet.
On my bucket list is to go to a Boca v River Plate Superclásico match, they absolutely hate each other. A proper rivalry.
There is something I love about that pure tribalism in football, and this particular fixture is all about it.
YAMAL COULD BE BETTER THAN MESSI
If you’re going on stats, Lamine Yamal already reached 100 games for Barcelona – and he’s only 17. Lionel Messi had nine appearances, one goal and no assists. So on stats alone, he must be [better than Messi at this stage of his career].
But Fabio Capello came out saying Messi is unique and that was clear at 17. I’ve watched Yamal influence huge games, scoring goals in the Euros and Champions League semi-finals. He has no fear, is able to create things out of nothing, and has talent that is just unmatched at the moment – in his age group and beyond to be honest.
I think the long-term trajectory of his career in comparison to Messi’s will be interesting. Messi blew up later than Yamal, but we all know what happened next.
If Yamal can maintain this sort of consistency and these numbers he won’t just be a generational talent, he’ll become an all-time great.
LAURA WOODS’ GOLDEN GOALS PICKS FOR MATCHDAY 36
- Southampton 0-3 Manchester City
- Wolves 1-2 Brighton
- Fulham 2-0 Everton
- Bournemouth 1-2 Aston Villa
- Manchester United 1-0 West Ham
- Liverpool 3-2 Arsenal
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