Claude Makélélé

thumb|Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He last managed Super League Greece club Asteras Tripolis. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time, Makélélé has been credited with redefining the defensive midfield role in English football, especially during the 2004–05 FA Premier League season, where he played a key role in helping Chelsea win the title with 95 points. In homage, the defensive midfield position is sometimes colloquially known as the "Makélélé Role". Quotes At Nantes I played both an attacking and defensive role, but in Spain I was persuaded to concentrate on the defensive side: closing players down, constantly chasing. I like that role, it makes me feel really useful in the team. I’d say my function within the team now is to cancel out danger, to prevent the counter-attack and to hassle the opposition. How Claude Makelele changed English football, N.D It’s always difficult to win the Premier League and winning it for a second time in a row really demonstrates you are the best team. For me, it’s not about trophies. It’s about putting my name in the history books. Time is the best trophy. I left something for young players to understand how to play in this position. The relationship I had with the fans was electric and I appreciate it a lot. They gave me back what I gave them every single game. And I think this team will always be in the mind of Chelsea fans.‘It gave me an extra job, but it made me more concentrated and more focused. I analysed games more closely. I would speak with Jose Mourinho before games about where I could move to get away from the middle and to open space for others. Sometimes I made the decision on my own during the game and told my team-mates. They believed in me because they saw me taking responsibility and knew I had a clear understanding of the situation. I knew it was happening and I had the same thing when I was at Real Madrid. There were a lot of good teams in La Liga and they would always be marking me. I’m not scoring goals, why are they marking me?! I remember in the Premier League I was starting the play and the opposition striker would come and stay with me. I came to realise why they marked me. To play good football, with possession starting from the back, if you don’t have that creativity at the back, it’s difficult to win games. I remember during one game speaking to my friend Thierry Henry. He said, ‘The manager has told me to stay with you and I’m not happy because I want to play!’ So I said, ‘Thierry – move! Leave me alone! We were competitors and we always wanted to learn. At half-time, we talked about the situation, we changed, we adapted to the qualities of our team-mates. That was the way we got good results. We wanted to win and we would sacrifice anything to do that. We wanted to progress together, to win trophies. We had dinners together; we would go out together with our families. This created a positive atmosphere. We would bring that to the game, and in those years, we created something really special. Claude Makelele on 2005/06: ‘We created something really special’, April 29 2026 External links Category:1973 births Category:Football (soccer) coaches Category:Living people Category:Soccer players from France