show his full potential. He was brilliant.
What Gareth has become as a player
is something amazing.
With the talent you had in that Spurs
squad – yourself, Bale, Rafa van der
Vaart and others – should the club
have achieved more in that period
and won a trophy?
@Mel98x, via Twitter
It’s difficult to say. We really had a very
good team, with plenty of talent and
potential. Maybe we could have done
something more. We weren’t far off –
we reached a League Cup final and the
semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley
twice. We were close. But it’s difficult
in England. It isn’t easy to win things,
because there are so many big teams
with great players. I think we played
some excellent football and the fans
enjoyed watching us, but it’s a shame
that group didn’t win a trophy because
I think we possessed everything that’s
necessary to win titles. We achieved
important things, though: qualifyingfor the Champions League in 2009-10,
then again in 2011-12. Sadly, Chelsea
then won the Champions League and
we didn’t go. Spurs started growing as
a team and a club with us there. That
was also important.How close did you come to leaving
Tottenham for Chelsea? Why didn’t
the deal work out?
Aritro Sarkar, via Instagram
Why didn’t the deal work out? [Laughs]
Because Tottenham didn’t want to sellme to them, that’s why! To be honest,
I didn’t have big expectations that it
would happen – it was always really
difficult that Tottenham would sell me
to Chelsea, especially because they’re
rival teams from the same city. It was
nice to know that they were interested
in signing me, because it showed that
I was doing well, but it didn’t happen
simply because Tottenham just didn’t
want to sell me.What was it like going to see Roman
Abramovich on his yacht in the south
of France for talks?
Glen Smith, Acton
It was a massive yacht! It was a nice
moment and we had a small chat –
he’s a very pleasant person. I met him
there for the first time and we spoke
a bit, but that was it. That yacht was
amazing, though...Daniel Levy refused to let you go to
Chelsea, and then took a long time
to finally let you sign for Real Madrid
when you wanted that transfer. How
tough a negotiator was he?
Wes Chester, Cleethorpes
I think everyone knows that Daniel is
a very tough negotiator, and from that
standpoint it’s really good for the club.
I think he’s done so many great things
for the club: they’ve progressed so well
under him, and he always looks after
their interests. As a player, sometimes
you can’t understand this – you have
something on your mind; you want to
go; or you want to do something. But
he was always looking after the best
interests of Tottenham. That’s Daniel’s
strong side and he needs to continue
being like that, because the club is the
most important thing.How did it feel to join Real Madrid?
Jonathan Martin, Merida
It was a dream come true. When I first
found out that they were interested in
me, it was an amazing feeling. One of
the greatest moments for me was to
go over and sign the contract with Real
Madrid, because it’s the biggest club in
the world. I felt so proud and honoured
that they were interested in buying me.
Once again, it just showed that I was
doing something good; that the people
who needed to recognise my abilities
were recognising what I was doing on
the pitch. The day Real Madrid signed
me was special.You were voted the ‘worst signing of
the season’ in your debut year with
Real Madrid. Did you always believe
you could turn it around?
Keil Hampton, via Facebook
[Laughs] I remember a bit about that
poll but, to be honest, it didn’t affectYOU ASK
Clockwise from far left
‘Doing a Klinsmann’;
Bale and Modric would
reunite in Spain; getting
Croatia off and running
just four minutes into
Euro 2008; “I only said,
‘Can I please have some
tactical instructions?’”FourFourTwo November 2020 9