GREAT
GOALS
RETOLD
FourFourTwo September 2019 33UPFROnT
Everton0-1AstonVilla,PremierLeague, 2000
Paul Merson
me. You couldn’t afford that kind of
error against him. But I tried to remain
focused – that was the only way of
fixing it and reversing the score. In the
dressing room, Big Phil told me that his
confidence in me remained the same.
My team-mates said the same.
Which defensive performance are
you most proud of from your career?
Against Germany in the 2002 final.
Nearly perfect, physically and tactically.
Was Jose Mourinho pivotal to you?
He’s the best coach in the world – the
best I’ve ever had. He demands a lot
from you, but he means well. He wants
you to improve, he motivates you. He’s
a winner. That scares some players, but
it’s what made him one of the best.
How did you end up with him at Inter?
He showed up in a tough moment of
my life. I’d just been released from
Bayern Munich by Louis van Gaal, who
didn’t take the time to get to know me.
I was feeling really hurt. Inter came in,
and out of 32 teams, which one did we
meet in the Champions League final?
Bayern Munich, of course! Mourinho
told me not to treat it like revenge. He
approached me for a private chat in the
dressing room before the game and
said, ‘We’re aware of what happened
to you at Bayern, but please don’t try
to decide the game on your own’. We
went home with the trophy.
When will you retire?
Maybe in the next year I’ll begin to plan
a career as a coach. But I want to get
some knowledge first and some
experience – you naturally have some
as a player, but it’s different. I want to
learn more. My contract runs until May
2020 – after that I’ll take some courses,
either in Brazil or in Europe. If I realise
I’ve got the gift to become a coach, I’ll
pursue a career in that area as I love
football. I’ve learned from the best.
What would be your coaching style?
It would be something that included
discipline, hard work and confidence –
something that worked very well with
Big Phil. And also a bit of what I saw
Jose do – how he motivated players,
demanded a lot from them, but at
the same time he had their backs.
No Van Gaal in that mix?
Certainly not! I don’t want someone
who has bias, who refuses to grant
a player a chance before getting to
know him, who judges him because
he’s from a certain country. If I’m
a coach, those things won’t happen.
Marcus Alves
Paul Merson may have won two league titles
with Arsenal, but one of his finest goals came
during four years at Aston Villa.
A few months after coming off the bench to
score his penalty in England’s shootout defeat to
Argentina at the 1998 World Cup – helped by
some positive thinking from super-spiritual coach
Glenn Hoddle – Merson moved to Villa Park from
Middlesbrough. “I played the best football of my
career at Villa,” he tells FourFourTwo.
He helped a talented side finish sixth in both of
his first two campaigns, before John Gregory’s
side opened the 2000-01 campaign with just two
defeats in their first 10 games – aided by Gareth
Southgate, Dion Dublin and a young Gareth Barry.
“It was a shallow squad, we struggled whenever
we got an injury, but some of the players we had
were frighteningly good,” Merson says.
Then came a Bonfire Night trip to Goodison Park,
when Merson was up against a man omitted from
that England squad for France 98: Paul Gascoigne.
Gazza left the field injured that day, but a dull
Super Sunday affair was lit up when Merson stole
the show with virtually the last kick of the game.A long ball in the general direction of Julian
Joachim had been nodded away by the Everton
backline; as the ball broke free in midfield, Mark
Pembridge and Stephen Hughes got in each
other’s way and Merson’s interception bounced
off Scot Gemmill. In an instant, the 32-year-old
composed himself and sent a 35-yard looping
howitzer of a strike over Paul Gerrard and into the
net, snatching all three points for the visitors.
“Wherever you are on the pitch, you know when
the goalie is not on his line,” Merson says.
“Sometimes he’ll be hovering around the penalty
spot. The ball bobbled around and I just decided
to hit it – I was absolutely knackered anyway.
When I looked up, the keeper wasn’t off his line,
he was back on it! It was a good job I hit it well.
“My immediate thought was the keeper had
a shocker – you couldn’t get the local paper under
his feet. In hindsight, it was a good goal – the
keeper should have been further forward and it
would have sailed over his head perfectly. John
Gregory was especially happy – maybe he had me
down as the first goalscorer!”
Pete Hall