🚨 Toni Kroos on Nico Paz’s performance against Torino: “Watch Nico’s goal against Torino. A header. I had to watch it twice because I thought they’d sent me the wrong player. I remember Nico as a young player at Madrid. Very comfortable on the ball, always looking for a pass that other players hadn’t seen yet. One day in training, he tried something difficult and lost possession. I told him, ‘You don’t have to prove you’re clever every time you touch the ball.’ He asked, ‘So I should play safe?’ I said, ‘No. You should know when the difficult pass is worth it.’ That’s the thing about talented young players. They often think their job is to show everyone what they can do. The really good ones eventually understand their job is to decide matches. Against Torino, Como were losing until the 82nd minute. Nico assists the equaliser. Five minutes later, he scores the winner himself. Then Como score again. He didn’t need 90 minutes of highlights. He needed five minutes to change the result. And people will ask why a player like that isn’t at Real Madrid. It’s a fair question, but Madrid is a difficult place for a young footballer. Sometimes you’re surrounded by established players and the opportunities don’t arrive when you need them. You can stay and wait, or go somewhere you’re allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. At Como, Nico doesn’t just have to play well. People look at him when the team is behind. That’s a different education. I actually think the most interesting thing tonight wasn’t the goal. It was the assist before it. When you’re losing late, everybody wants to be the hero. Nico saw a teammate in a better position. Then, when his own chance came, he took it. I hope people don’t rush to decide where he must play next. Let him enjoy becoming the kind of player that makes those decisions difficult. Although I will say this: if you keep winning matches like that, eventually the biggest clubs stop asking whether you’re ready. They start asking why they let you leave.”

🚨 Mourinho on Ronaldo’s rivalry with Messi and how he fought back to make it 5-5 in the Ballon d’Or race: “People look at Messi’s 8 Ballon d’ors and Cristiano’s 5 today, and they forget what happened between 2008 and 2017. I have enormous respect for Messi. Fantastic footballer. But I also have enormous respect for the man who refused to let Messi have the whole stage to himself. Cristiano won his first Ballon d’Or at Manchester United in 2008. Then Messi won in 2009. And 2010. And 2011. And 2012. 4 consecutive years. Do you understand what that does to a footballer? You’re scoring goals, winning matches, working every day, and every December you’re watching the same man collect the award. For most players, after the 3rd or 4th time, they accept it. They say, ‘Okay, he’s the best. Maybe I can be second.’ Not Cristiano. I remember being at Madrid and seeing how personally he took these things. You could congratulate him for scoring twice, and sometimes he’d be more interested in the chance he missed. I’d tell him, ‘Cristiano, we won.’ He’d say, ‘Mister, I know. But I could have scored another.’ That’s the mentality you’re dealing with. When Messi was winning those awards, Cristiano wasn’t sitting there wondering how to become more popular. He was asking himself how to become more dangerous. And look at what happened. 2013, Cristiano wins. 2014, Cristiano wins again. Messi comes back in 2015. Now it’s five against three. People start talking as if the competition is finished. Then Cristiano wins the Champions League and the European Championship in 2016. Another Ballon d’Or. Four against five. In 2017, Madrid win La Liga and another Champions League. Cristiano scores twice against Bayern in Munich, then three in Madrid. Three against Atletico in the semi-final. Two against Juventus in the final. These weren’t goals against teams who had already given up. These were the biggest matches of the season. And in December, he’s holding his fifth Ballon d’Or. Five against five. I want people to understand something. Messi didn’t suddenly become a worse footballer. Cristiano simply refused to stop chasing him. That’s why I laugh when people speak about Cristiano’s obsession with being the best as if it’s a weakness. Of course he’s obsessed. How do you think he got there? And then you have 2018. Cristiano helps Madrid win a 3rd consecutive Champions League. He leaves for Juventus. Luka Modric wins the Ballon d’Or, and Cristiano finishes 2nd. I respect Luka. Wonderful footballer. But you cannot tell me Cristiano had no argument for winning his 6th. People can debate the voting, the importance of the World Cup, the influence of changing clubs. That’s football. But imagine being Cristiano, looking at everything you’ve done, and believing you could have gone ahead for the first time. Of course that stays with you. And I think even Messi supporters, the ones who genuinely love football, understand what Cristiano brought to that rivalry. Messi had somebody who could answer him. When Messi did something extraordinary, there was another man capable of doing something extraordinary the following week. People who didn’t even support Barcelona or Madrid were watching. They were arguing about goals, trophies, records. Some people became football supporters because they wanted to see which one would win. That’s what Cristiano gave the game. You can prefer Messi. You can believe Messi is the greatest player you’ve ever seen. I have no problem with that. But don’t tell me Cristiano was simply fortunate to exist in the same era. He made that era competitive. For 9 years, from his first Ballon d’Or to his fifth, he kept finding another level whenever people thought he had reached his limit. And perhaps that’s the greatest compliment you can give Cristiano Ronaldo. He saw a footballer the world was ready to place above everybody else. And instead of accepting second place, he made the world argue about first.”

🚨 Luis Enrique on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia undergoing successful ACL surgery and what PSG can achieve when he returns: “I’m very happy the surgery went well. When you see a player like Khvicha suffer an injury like that, football becomes the last thing you’re thinking about. You just want him to be okay. I spoke with him after the operation. The first thing he wanted to know was how the team was doing. I told him, ‘Khvicha, you’ve just had surgery. You can ask me about football tomorrow.’ He said, ‘Mister, I have plenty of time now. I can ask you tomorrow as well.’ That’s Khvicha. He’s always thinking about football. I remember the Barcelona game. Before the injury, he was causing them problems. His movement, his pressing, the way he was attacking the space. You could see how uncomfortable they were whenever he received the ball. And what people don’t always appreciate about Khvicha is how much he works without the ball. Everybody sees the dribbling. They see him beat two players, create chances, score goals. But sometimes I have to tell him to stop chasing everybody because he wants to defend every part of the pitch. We had a conversation about this once. I told him, ‘You know you’re an attacker, yes?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Yes, Mister.’ I said, ‘Then why are you defending like we’re playing with 10 men?’ He told me, ‘Because if we win the ball earlier, I can attack again.’ What do you say to that? That’s the mentality he has. People ask me whether he’s the best player at PSG. I don’t like comparing my players, but I understand why people say it. He’s an extraordinary footballer. And when I saw him finish sixth in the Ballon d’Or, I was disappointed for him. Not because sixth is a bad achievement. It’s incredible. But I know what he did last season, especially in the Champions League. Sometimes I wonder how differently people would discuss him if he had been born in France, Spain or another country regularly competing for the biggest international trophies. He represents Georgia. He’s incredibly proud of that, and he should be. But he cannot choose the footballing history of the country where he was born. If you are evaluating the best individual players in the world, you have to be careful that a player doesn’t become less deserving simply because his national team has fewer opportunities to win major trophies. For me, Khvicha was one of the best players in the world. I believe he deserved to be discussed among the top three. But I also told him something after the ceremony. I said, ‘You finished sixth. Do you know what that means?’ He said, ‘That five players finished above me.’ I said, ‘Exactly. Now you have five names to remember.’ He laughed. Unfortunately, now he has a much bigger challenge than any individual award. He has to recover, regain his confidence and trust his body again. And we will give him all the time he needs. There will be no pressure from me to return before he’s ready. But I want him to understand something. Ousmane has already shown that a PSG player can reach the very top of world football. Why shouldn’t Khvicha believe he can do the same? Imagine having two different Ballon d’Or winners playing together at this club within just a few years. For PSG, that would be extraordinary. We have to create the environment where something like that becomes possible. When Khvicha comes back, I don’t want him thinking about proving the people who voted him sixth wrong. I want him enjoying football again, taking on defenders, working for his teammates and doing the things that made us fall in love with his game. And if he does all those things, perhaps one day I’ll be sitting in the audience watching him collect that award. But first, I want to see him walk back into training, pick up a football and smile. Everything else can wait.”

🚨 John Obi Mikel on Joao Pedro’s injury and Chelsea selling Jackson: “It’s a terrible blow because I think people underestimate just how important Joao Pedro is to this Chelsea side. I watched the Tottenham game and I kept looking at Palmer and Rogers. There were moments when one of them had the ball and you could almost see the pass they wanted to play, but the player who normally makes that run wasn’t there. That’s what Joao gives you. He doesn’t just wait in the box for chances. He pulls defenders away, drops into spaces, then suddenly he’s behind you. Palmer understands him. Rogers understands him. They don’t have to stop and think about where he’s going. I remember watching them together and saying to a friend, ‘Look at the three of them. Nobody is waiting for somebody else to do the work.’ He said, ‘That’s because they all want the ball.’ I told him, ‘Exactly. And when one gets it, the other two are already moving.’ You can’t replace that understanding overnight. But this is also why I never liked the decision to let Nicolas Jackson go. People kept asking whether Jackson or Joao Pedro should start. Why did it have to be one or the other? I played in teams where the manager had difficult decisions every weekend. You know what we called that? A good squad. Imagine you’re a defender. You’ve spent an hour dealing with Joao Pedro, chasing him into midfield, trying to follow his movement. Then you look at the touchline and Jackson is warming up. Or Jackson has spent an hour running behind you, and now Joao Pedro is coming on to find spaces between the lines. Which one would you prefer? Neither. And the funny thing is they could have played together. They’re different enough to complement each other. That’s what makes selling Jackson so frustrating. Chelsea didn’t just lose a striker. They lost the freedom to change a game without changing the whole idea of how they attack. Now Joao is injured, and everybody suddenly understands why you need those options. But I don’t want Chelsea supporters to think the season is finished. Danny Welbeck is there. I know people hear that name and start making jokes about his age. Let them. He’s played in big matches, against big defenders, under pressure. He knows how to make runs, how to occupy centre-backs, and how to bring others into the game. The question isn’t whether Welbeck can become Joao Pedro. He doesn’t need to. The question is whether Xabi Alonso is prepared to trust him enough to let him be Danny Welbeck. If you bring a striker to the club and then treat him like an emergency you hope never to use, how is he supposed to help you? I’d tell Xabi, ‘Give the man a proper opportunity. Don’t wait until you’re desperate and then ask him to save you in 10 minutes.’ Joao will come back. The priority is making sure he recovers properly. Until then, Chelsea have a player who’s been around long enough to understand what these moments demand. And who knows? Sometimes the signing people questioned in August becomes the one everybody thanks in May.”

🚨 Roy Keane on Manchester United keeping Michael Carrick: “You’ve just been humiliated by Bournemouth at Old Trafford. You’re near the relegation places, haven’t won in eight league games, and the people running the club decide to carry on as normal. Carry on with what? What exactly are we protecting? I keep hearing that Michael Carrick cares deeply about United. Of course he does. He played here, won trophies. Nobody’s questioning that. But since when did loving Manchester United qualify you to manage Manchester United? There are 70,000 people at Old Trafford who love the club. Some have watched this rubbish for years. Maybe give one of them the job. I’ve said from the beginning I didn’t believe Michael was the right man. That’s not personal. But this is Manchester United, not a job you hand somebody because he’s a nice fella. And the people above him are an even bigger problem. I’ll tell you what I imagine those meetings are like. Somebody walks in after Bournemouth and asks, ‘Right, what are we doing about the manager?’ Another fella says, ‘Well, the supporters were still applauding him.’ So what? They were applauding a former player who gave years to the club. They weren’t celebrating getting battered by Bournemouth. But I wouldn’t put it past this lot to think, ‘The crowd still likes Michael. Maybe we can get another week out of him.’ That’s the level of leadership we’re dealing with. And now they’re sending him to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are better than Bournemouth. They’ll punish you if you turn up like that again. What bothers me is that the people running United seem to have started negotiating how badly they can afford to lose. I can almost hear it. ‘Michael, listen. We know Chelsea are a good team. We’re not expecting miracles. Just make sure it isn’t another humiliation.’ And somebody says, ‘If we lose 1-0, at least we can call it an improvement.’ An improvement? You’re Manchester United! When I was there, if somebody came into our dressing room suggesting a 1-0 defeat was respectable, he’d have been told to get out. We lost matches. We got beaten by better teams. But you went into every match believing you could win. That was the minimum. Now the people making decisions seem to be hoping the next defeat doesn’t make headlines for too long. That’s not ambition. That’s damage limitation. Look at the supporters travelling to Stamford Bridge, spending their money, taking time away from their families. They’ll still turn up believing United can win. They’ll sing and demand that the players fight for every ball. How can the supporters have more belief in Manchester United than the people paid to run it? And don’t tell me sacking another manager won’t solve everything. Of course it won’t. Recruitment has been poor, leadership has been poor, and too many players have got away with unacceptable performances. But you don’t keep making the wrong decision because you’ve made wrong decisions before. If Michael isn’t the right man, make a decision. If you believe he is, explain why. Show some leadership. Instead they’re hiding behind a man who served the club brilliantly as a player, leaving him to face the cameras while everybody else disappears. I don’t feel sorry for him. I only feel sorry for the supporters. Because the frightening thing about United isn’t that they’re losing matches. It’s that the people in charge are starting to behave as though losing is perfectly normal.”