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episode 11 of the Obi-Wan Podcast,

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Chris McCarty. It's the boss man

1:40

once more. I don't know whether to call

1:42

John Obi-Mikael by his real name or Harry

1:44

Potter. Your garms today, John.

1:46

Great to be back with you. Yeah,

1:49

thanks. Thanks. I mean, I

1:51

love it in my outfit, but I mean, I

1:53

don't think... I

1:56

don't think that the legend, the man

1:58

himself is... think he's

2:00

loving my outfit but yeah I love

2:02

it. I love it too John. You

2:05

always dress well you know that and of

2:07

course not very much for those of you

2:10

watching this on YouTube for those of you

2:12

listening to the podcast we have reached episode

2:14

11 there's been a lot of excitement over

2:16

this one. You've

2:19

had your runnings with and it's all been tongue

2:21

and cheek. Let's get there first because I've seen

2:23

a lot of people saying that. I think the

2:25

relationship that I have with Eddyn it's a relationship

2:28

that you know got a long way. We

2:30

both always had this banter when we're you

2:32

know at Chelsea together. I love

2:35

Eddyn to bits. I think all my

2:37

I wouldn't call it criticism he knows as well

2:40

when I speak to him is like listen a

2:42

lot of people think you criticize anybody but I

2:44

know exactly what you where you coming from and

2:46

what you're saying. You and

2:49

everybody else expect me to do more.

2:51

I could have given more and that

2:53

would have been much much you

2:56

know better and my career would have

2:58

been much much better compared to how

3:00

it finished and I

3:02

think that for me and for between me

3:04

and him that's not a criticism. We always

3:06

have a laugh about it. He calls me

3:08

like listen I know you know you're one

3:10

of those I always try to push me

3:12

to do more and I really appreciate that

3:14

but it was what a player he

3:17

was. You've said it time and time again all jokes

3:19

aside on his day the best that

3:21

you played with John. He could do it

3:23

all when he fancied it. He could do

3:25

anything. The only thing he couldn't do is

3:27

defend. Everything

3:29

else he will do. I mean the control

3:31

the touch the way he passes

3:33

the ball he can shoot he can dribble

3:35

he's quick he's strong. You know I think

3:37

for me I think the

3:40

talent that Eddyn has that has for me is I

3:43

can only compare Eddyn has that talent

3:45

wise talent wise pure talent wise I

3:47

can only compare him same talent

3:49

as Leona Messi but you

3:51

can also you can make a case or not

3:53

a case we can say that Leona Messi

3:55

went on to achieve much more and and

4:00

talent count whereas Edin didn't put in that

4:02

hard work. If he did I think he

4:04

would have been almost same close pair but

4:06

I never think anyone would be close to

4:08

Messi but I think yeah exactly Edin would

4:10

have been that one player in terms of

4:12

talent wise and the way Messi passes the

4:14

ball dribbles the ball that's the comparison I

4:16

have with him both. I think before you

4:18

know you might get some criticism about thinking

4:20

hold on what do you mean John but

4:22

I know exactly what you're saying is talent

4:24

wise taking away the endeavour and taking away

4:26

the dedication and hard work and we're not

4:28

for one second saying that Edin wasn't

4:31

dedicated and he wasn't hard working it

4:33

was just different talent wise. He wasn't

4:35

really. I

4:37

mean you said I'm worried about you. I mean

4:39

he tried a little bit but you can see

4:41

even when he tried he was like oh my

4:43

god fuck this shit. See

4:46

like you've said like you've just explained talent wise.

4:49

Because you could go either way he can go

4:51

either way. That's the thing John in all my

4:53

years watching football I mean for goodness sake you've

4:55

played the game at the highest level. A

4:58

player who is equally

5:00

adept and as comfortable going on there right

5:02

as he is to left. They

5:05

don't grow intrigued. Not many not many not

5:07

many and that's something that Leon and Messi

5:09

could do left and right you know the

5:11

low sense of gravity you know moving

5:14

around with the ball and just

5:16

going past people left right centre

5:18

and you know scoring different type

5:20

of goals and that's what the

5:22

both could do. And

5:24

again of course we

5:27

have to mention you know the great man

5:29

as well Cristiano Ronaldo which you know somebody

5:31

that we can all say that

5:33

you know he's worked putting the hard

5:35

work you know he's putting

5:37

so much hard work to be in that level

5:40

to be one of the best players ever that's

5:42

played the game because he's putting so

5:44

much hard work and he has achieved so much.

5:48

So for me so my

5:50

what I'm saying here is that

5:52

the talent pure talent wise is

5:55

Messi and Edin Hazard I'll

5:57

put them in same category. in

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all of this Obi-Wan podcast made possible

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I don't want to forget anyone the special

6:15

one Jose Mourinho, Joe Cole, it's now Ed

6:18

Hazard on the Obi-Wan podcast. I can't wait

6:20

to see what he's got to say about

6:22

your outfit John. This is Michaelo B from

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the Super Eagles and Charles and me as

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responsibly. He's in the

6:42

green room let's get him on now. Listen

6:44

I want to start John and I were having a bit

6:46

of a laugh. Edin Michael

6:48

Walter Hazard where the hell do

6:51

those middle names come from? You

6:53

have to ask my my dad and my mom. Michael

6:58

is my godfather. And

7:02

I think it's like I don't

7:04

know in England or in Europe but I

7:07

think in Belgium there is like when you have

7:09

a good father the middle name is

7:11

the one who takes the middle name so

7:13

that's why I call Edin Michael. And Walter?

7:16

I think Walter I don't

7:18

know him but I think he's a

7:20

friend of my dad that

7:23

maybe just died when I was

7:25

young or you know when I

7:27

was born so I don't

7:30

know that story that much but I heard

7:32

like yeah he's a friend of my dad

7:34

who passed away you know like a long time

7:37

ago. Well listen Edin let's get into it you

7:39

know your name's your retirement in October so you've

7:41

had a few months. Do you like my glasses

7:43

though by the way before we start? Not

7:46

at all. So

7:50

bad and your socks

7:52

and your socks. I

7:55

quite like the man. You know I wear socks. You

8:03

don't approve of the look then for John? No,

8:05

no, no, no, no, no. But we are not here to

8:07

talk about his time. Exactly. We're

8:10

here to talk about you. How has

8:13

retirement, how have the last three months been? Nice,

8:16

you know. I

8:18

can do what I want. I can

8:22

have time with family, with the kids. And

8:25

no, I love it. I love it. I

8:28

don't miss football at all. If

8:30

it's the next question, because people ask

8:32

me, oh, do you miss football? I

8:35

don't miss playing football. I miss this

8:37

kind of, you know, dressing

8:40

room story and, you know,

8:42

being friends. But I

8:44

don't miss playing football. I can play

8:46

football in the garden with my kids

8:49

and that's more than enough. Do

8:53

you watch it though? I mean, John and

8:55

I watch football all the time. Do you

8:57

still watch the games? I

9:00

watch it because I have friends that play

9:02

football and I have still my brothers that

9:04

play football. So, but to

9:07

be fair, I can't stay like 90 minutes watching

9:10

a game. I do like,

9:12

I just put the game on TV. I watch

9:14

10 minutes, then I do something, then I watch

9:17

a game a bit and no, no,

9:19

no, it's too hard. And

9:22

you know, the off games boring,

9:24

boring games also. So I'm not

9:26

that kind of people watching boring

9:28

games. I love

9:30

that. I love watching

9:32

the boring games, John. No, it doesn't. It doesn't.

9:34

I think to me that I think when I

9:36

finished playing, obviously, for me, it was

9:39

the same. I thought, you know, I wasn't going to miss

9:41

the game. Obviously

9:43

playing. And of course, you

9:45

just said it. One thing you do miss is

9:47

the dressing room banter, the laughs, the jokes that

9:49

we had before. Yeah,

9:51

you do definitely miss that because every

9:53

morning that's where you go. You're away

9:56

from the kids, from the wife in your ears.

10:00

You come in the dressing room and you

10:02

have three hours, four hours where you have

10:04

a banter with the guys and then you

10:06

go home. Definitely. We do miss that.

10:09

On that then, Ed, what was the best dressing

10:11

room that you were ever involved in? What was

10:14

the dressing room that you felt most at home

10:16

in? It's

10:18

all different. You know,

10:21

they were different. I have friends in

10:23

all dressing rooms. We had

10:26

a great story with Chelsea, with Lille,

10:28

my first club as a professional with

10:30

Belgium in the dressing room of Real

10:33

Madrid was nice also. So there's no

10:35

better or they're just

10:37

different. You know, I think Chelsea

10:40

is more like family team. You

10:42

know, we are friends. It's like

10:44

part of family. When you go Real Madrid,

10:47

you have to play, you have to win

10:49

games. And I remember a story, you know,

10:51

when we lost with Chelsea

10:53

the day after in the dressing room,

10:55

everyone's laughing in the shower. This

10:58

kind of thing don't happen that much in

11:00

Madrid. And

11:03

with Lille, it was different because I was

11:05

still a baby and you know, babies, you

11:08

just want to have fun. You just want to play

11:10

football and that's it. You don't

11:12

even think about winning games. No,

11:14

I think that's true. I think what he means

11:17

about us is it's not like we laugh on

11:19

the pitch during training. We choose where we obviously

11:21

where we make jokes if we've lost the game

11:23

the day before, maybe in the shower.

11:26

And if we know maybe like a Mourinho or

11:28

his assistant is coming in or and then everybody

11:30

keeps quiet, obviously we know we've lost the game.

11:33

So I think that's what it means. It's all like

11:35

we go out and start laughing, which you see the

11:38

team now they do all the social media on

11:40

the social media. There is just what I don't

11:43

like that they do now. That is that I

11:45

feel it's not nice because if you lose a

11:47

game, you don't go on a social media and

11:49

start posting something or you know what I mean,

11:52

or on the training pitch taking a

11:54

photo of laughing and things like that. But

11:56

I understand what he means just to correct

11:58

what Eddie is saying. saying is that we

12:00

it's not like we laugh no but

12:03

you know we know what we've done

12:05

we did when I say laughing is

12:07

more in a way that the

12:09

game is gone so is nowadays another game

12:11

is better to like focus on the other

12:13

game yeah you know you can't you can't

12:15

go back and try to win the game

12:17

again the game is it's not finish yeah

12:20

so just just love just

12:22

have fun and try to win

12:24

the next game that's it but in Madrid it's not the

12:26

same is it? it

12:28

is the same but not

12:31

not like that you know in different way you

12:33

know because you know is when you lose a

12:35

game I mean in a big clubs

12:37

when you lose a game is always drama you know

12:40

it's always because you are you are you

12:42

are playing in a big club to win games to win

12:44

all the games but yeah

12:46

that's the feeling when Madrid

12:48

you feel it you know you feel it

12:50

in training yeah the people they're

12:53

not happy at all because we just lost

12:55

the game and that's

12:57

the feeling I didn't have that feeling with

12:59

Chelsea because we were more like friends

13:02

yeah and you know that's

13:04

that's why it's just a bit different

13:06

but not that much. The

13:09

defeats hurt you Ed and

13:11

you know you've talked about your relationship

13:13

with football you've said there that it

13:15

was about enjoyment you lost that enjoyment

13:17

I wonder you know JT we spoke

13:19

to him on this podcast defeats really

13:21

hurt JT you know he felt them

13:24

in his soul were you like that

13:26

after a defeat on a Saturday night or a

13:28

Sunday night did you feel it? me

13:32

I'm this kind of guy where you know

13:34

for example I lose a game I

13:37

try to forget the game

13:39

like after five minutes

13:42

I don't have depression after a lose

13:45

or you know

13:48

a bad game or because I know

13:50

in football you can't you can't win

13:52

every game you know sometimes you lose

13:54

game and I

13:56

think it's also a bit of education you

13:58

know because I remember when I was a kid

14:00

my dad always say, okay, you lost,

14:02

you play bad, but in two,

14:05

in one week or in three days, you

14:07

have another game. So why you, you depress,

14:09

okay, I have fun with your friends and

14:11

in three days you're going to go back

14:14

on the pitch and win the game. That's

14:17

it. But also, also

14:19

when, when I was winning game, you

14:22

know, I was not, oh, I won, I

14:24

scored really crazy. Hey, the game is gone,

14:26

finished. The day after,

14:28

let's get back to the pitch training

14:30

and that's it. Same. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

14:33

You know why he felt that way?

14:35

Because he's good because he's good and

14:37

he knows the next weekend he's going

14:39

to be on the side. 11. So

14:42

for us, we know that we've lost

14:44

the game. We think, fuck me. We

14:47

are going to be out of the

14:49

team. That's your problem. For like three, four days,

14:51

we are thinking, fuck

14:54

me. We don't got to be in the

14:56

state in heaven. He's just there in his

14:58

house, sitting down, watching TV with his glass

15:00

of red wine, knowing that the next weekend

15:02

he's still, you know, on the starting 11.

15:04

But I mean, he, he won us games.

15:06

So he was the

15:08

best, you know, so he was allowed to

15:10

do that. Just on that, Eddyn, I wonder

15:12

mentally and I know we're jumping around here,

15:14

but as John says, you were

15:17

probably the first name on the

15:19

Chelsea team sheet. You for that

15:21

seven seasons, you were electric. When

15:23

you went commit to Madrid, that wasn't

15:25

necessarily the case. How did you deal

15:28

with that mentally? No,

15:30

like, like I said before, you know,

15:33

it's different clubs. You

15:35

know, when, when you sign in Madrid is like the

15:39

story start to zero, you know, the, you

15:41

have to prove again, you have to do

15:43

things. It's not because they pay

15:45

like big money that you're going to, you're

15:47

going to start playing all games. You have

15:50

to prove that you deserve to be on

15:52

the starting 11. And so

15:55

that's, that's what I did, you know, and

15:57

then, you know, the whole story I've been

15:59

injured. So things didn't

16:01

happen like the way I

16:03

want, but you know, it was

16:06

a, it was my

16:08

dream club, you know, so now,

16:11

you know, when you look after, now you see,

16:13

you see the story a bit different, you know,

16:16

that with problem and this and that, but for

16:18

me, it was like great experience to play in

16:20

this beautiful club. Of

16:23

course, I have plenty of injury

16:25

that, that, you

16:28

know, I was traveling a bit, but this

16:30

part, this was good. Could

16:32

you have, and there's a lot of fans

16:34

out there, Ed, and this is your opportunity

16:36

to tell your story. Could you have done

16:38

anything different? You talk about the injuries, when

16:40

you reflect on it now, could

16:42

you have done anything to help yourself? I

16:45

don't think so. I don't

16:48

think so. I think I was

16:50

a bit unlucky, you know, with that period

16:52

with COVID, because I just get,

16:54

you know, if you want to know the real

16:56

story, I went to

16:59

Dallas to do the surgery on my ankle, then

17:02

I came back to Madrid and it was COVID,

17:04

you know? So

17:06

I had the two

17:08

months, two months and a half COVID,

17:11

me alone at home, no physio to

17:13

do the rehab. Oh, wow. You

17:16

know? So I did my rehab alone and

17:19

Alone? If you

17:21

want, if you want, like, if

17:24

I have to choose one thing to change, one

17:26

thing is I should say to the doctor, bring

17:28

a physio. I need a good rehab. Yeah, exactly.

17:30

I have to do it because I want to

17:33

play, you know, at the highest level. And

17:35

then when the COVID finished, we

17:37

came back on the pitch. I pushed my body

17:40

like crazy, but my uncle was

17:42

not the same. And then I break everything

17:44

the season after. And then, you know, the

17:46

story. So if you want me to change

17:48

something, it's just that call the physio. I

17:51

come home. I

17:53

know it's COVID, but please come home. I

17:55

need good rehab and

17:57

think, think, think

18:00

be different at the club. But

18:02

did the club not offer you that? I mean,

18:04

knowing that you've just done a surgery, I mean,

18:06

the club should be like, okay, Edin,

18:08

Edin, somebody needs to go out and make sure,

18:11

you know, he gets his rehab done properly, you

18:13

know, go out maybe, not every day, maybe once

18:15

or twice in a week to make sure that

18:17

he does this and that. You

18:20

know, in that time, you know, people were

18:22

not allowed to go on the street or

18:25

to do the job or... Yeah, yeah. And

18:27

I didn't want to push, I didn't

18:30

push the physio or the doctor to, oh,

18:32

come on, I need someone, you know. For

18:35

me, my rehab, I did

18:37

a few, you know, a few exercises,

18:39

a few things alone. For me,

18:41

it was enough. I didn't think,

18:43

I didn't feel like, oh, I need

18:45

to do more, you know, at the beginning, you know.

18:48

After two months, I was like, oh, yeah, I should do more, you

18:50

know. Yeah, yeah. But at the beginning, I was

18:52

okay. I do my thing. I

18:55

go, you know, outside running a bit. I

18:57

do some exercise and

18:59

it was not that bad. But then when

19:01

I came back on the pitch, wow, I

19:03

felt it. And

19:06

honestly, Eddin, did you know, did you

19:08

think to yourself, shit,

19:10

I'm sure of where I need to

19:12

be here? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

19:14

yeah, of course, of course. But that

19:17

came, you know, straight after, you know, after that

19:19

period, after the COVID, you

19:21

know, we came back on the pitch and

19:24

we had like two months to play it till the

19:26

end of the season. So

19:28

I was like, and we were that close to

19:30

be champions. So I was like saying to Eddin,

19:32

no, me, I want to push, I want to

19:34

go, you know. And then the day we finished

19:36

champion, the day we just, you know, I think

19:38

we, we beat like a Valencia or Villarreal. And

19:41

I told him, I said, no, I can't do

19:43

it. I finished my, my body is suffering a

19:46

lot. So I need to do

19:48

a proper rehab and this and that, but was

19:50

already the end of the season. Yeah, yeah.

19:52

Wow. And

19:54

talk to us about your relationship

19:57

with Eddin Zidane because, you know,

19:59

growing up. Zizou 1998

20:02

World Cup the man's a demi-god a

20:04

demi-god to millions of fans around the

20:06

world What was he like to play

20:08

under Edd? But for me like

20:11

for me was my my is still the

20:13

number one, you know in the latest is

20:15

still the number You have Jonah B. Mikkel

20:19

And then and then and then he's

20:21

done just behind No, but no, but yeah,

20:23

it was like Was

20:31

what was my eyes also, you know just

20:33

to play you know with him as

20:36

a manager was like Just

20:39

just fun. You know, it's not someone we

20:41

talk in the Lord, but it's just Don't

20:44

he also this doesn't give you

20:46

so much instruction on the pitch.

20:48

Yes My

20:50

friend just play on joy just do

20:52

things a little bit And

20:55

try to score because you are here to score

20:57

and to win us the game. That's it So

20:59

so very different to Josie then very

21:02

different to Josie were very different

21:04

to other other manager The

21:07

I think I mean they all different at the end

21:09

They just want to they just want to play and

21:11

they just want us to play the game and win

21:14

the game. That's it Yeah, you

21:16

know your relationship with Josie How did you

21:18

how do you think how do you think

21:20

about that? Obviously? You

21:23

know, I think you didn't spend we did spend long

21:25

long time with him no like You

21:29

know me and Josie I Think

21:32

when he came. Yeah was my second season,

21:34

you know because I had one with the

21:36

material the material. Yeah. Yeah, so

21:38

it came in 2013

21:42

or 14, I don't remember and the

21:44

first two season amazing Remember we

21:47

the first the first year the team

21:49

was new so Was

21:51

just the beginning then the second season of Josie.

21:53

We want to one day. Yeah. Yeah And

21:56

we won the week up the the

21:59

League Cup Yeah, you know and

22:02

and then the third season was

22:04

like starting, you know problem. We lost

22:06

game and then You

22:08

know then at the end the relation just went

22:11

away a little bit Yeah, but

22:13

I just I just have like huge respect for

22:15

him and what it did on his whole

22:18

career as a manager and Just

22:21

now I say I can tell my kids

22:24

that Jose Mourinho was my manager for like

22:26

two years and a half Yeah, not just

22:28

just just good story, you know Yeah,

22:31

and he gave you freedom edin because

22:33

we've spoken to Josie. We were delighted

22:35

to have him on the podcast I

22:37

loved him. So he's such a

22:39

fun guy. Yeah, he was on the pod and I

22:41

know he was a badass at times He

22:43

was great on this podcast. What was

22:46

your relationship like? I mean, what did he say

22:48

to you? Did he give you total freedom to

22:51

go and express yourself on the football page total

22:53

freedom? I don't know But

22:55

but kind of freedom Now

23:00

but I Then he

23:02

knew that I was on

23:04

the pitch to to win this game You

23:07

know, that's that's that's simple as that

23:11

He asked me to do my job And

23:14

you know with with Jose if you don't do your job

23:18

You in front of everyone? Yeah But yeah,

23:20

he gave me freedom but not Not

23:23

like like like crazy, you know,

23:26

it just I remember, you know saying sometimes on

23:28

the pitch in training Don't

23:31

kick head and don't kick head and yeah

23:34

And I was like what? For

23:37

me Nobody

23:41

was kicking him No

23:44

one Now

23:51

it's night night at the end of the

23:53

day, it's not like he he doesn't run

23:55

around too much in training So we can't

23:57

kick him. Anyway, he was

23:59

true in somewhere. Yeah,

24:02

put that to bed, Edd, because yours had a

24:05

lot of fun at that. Did you just not

24:07

enjoy training? You came alive on a match day,

24:09

right? This kind of training, I don't enjoy it.

24:12

But then if you ask me to play a game in training, I'm

24:15

going to do it. You know what I mean? The

24:18

only thing I don't like is you ask me

24:20

to do two hours of tactics. Two

24:22

hours of tactics, going in the

24:24

gym for one hour, running for

24:26

one hour. And who's that manager?

24:29

You know, you know. No,

24:33

no, that's that's that's that's training. I

24:35

don't like it. But then when

24:38

you play games, I'm always there, you know,

24:41

I just rest myself for the game. I

24:46

need energy on Saturday. You've got

24:48

to produce on a Saturday. That's when

24:50

you make the money. You know, talking

24:52

about ZZU and Josie, you've worked under

24:55

Antonio Conte, Roberto Martinez, you know, out

24:57

of them all, Edin, and I know

24:59

you're not going to be disrespectful here,

25:01

but I need to ask out of

25:04

all the managers who got

25:06

the best out of Edin Hazard, in

25:08

your opinion, I think my

25:10

best time at Chelsea was

25:12

like with Antonio Conte. Yes. Yes. Yes.

25:15

I was going to say that, you

25:17

know, you didn't like the training. Let's just say

25:19

now he was the guy that didn't like his training. No, no, no, no, no,

25:21

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

25:23

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

25:25

no, no. But he brought the best out of you. I will definitely say that.

25:27

I agree with that. But you

25:29

know why? Because all

25:32

the week training bad and bad

25:35

training, so I was like, okay, going on

25:37

Saturday, I need to do something I want

25:39

to enjoy a little bit, you know. Because

25:42

I know the day after is going to be

25:44

back on the coming year run and again, tactic.

25:46

No, no, no, no, no. I have to do

25:49

something. But it's my only life. Ninety minutes I

25:51

can enjoy. I was that good at the moment.

25:53

I think you got 90 minutes for you. enjoyed

26:00

the whole week was playing

26:02

on a Saturday. That's it.

26:05

It's the only nice thing is he can just stop

26:07

the training and say okay Edin has that come out.

26:09

He has to be on the pitch all

26:11

throughout the next few minutes to win the game. You

26:14

remember him stopping this you know you do static,

26:16

no we have to do that. I was like

26:18

come on again. On Saturday was the best day

26:20

of all. You know we had Joe Cole on

26:23

a few weeks back

26:29

Edin and again everyone talks so

26:31

highly of you. You're a great guy,

26:33

you're an incredible player and you

26:35

always take in a little bit of credit. He said he played a

26:37

bit of an agency role with

26:39

you to convince you to join Chelsea.

26:41

I'm a big Man United fan Edin

26:43

so I remember that Sir Alex was

26:45

making regular trips over to France to

26:47

watch you at Lille. The

26:50

move how it came about to Chelsea

26:52

just how close were you to joining?

26:55

Were Man United an option for you back

26:57

then? I think

26:59

the last year with Lille in

27:01

France I had

27:04

all all manager trying

27:06

to call me or my agent. I

27:10

had a chat with Sir Alex Ferguson.

27:14

I spoke with Ari Redknapp.

27:16

That time he was the manager in Tottenham. I

27:19

went to Manchester to see the

27:21

Man City training run and

27:25

I spoke with I think at that time

27:27

was Mancini. I

27:29

went to see a game

27:31

remember that game when companies

27:34

go ahead against the Derby

27:36

against Man United.

27:39

I went to the stadium so

27:41

I had like few options but

27:43

not Chelsea.

27:47

Because the last year in Lille Chelsea was in

27:49

the league was not that good. You know when

27:51

you won the Champions League in

27:53

the league you wear like six or seven I don't

27:55

remember. I

27:58

knew I was leaving Chelsea leaving France

28:01

to go in Premier League

28:04

but Not Chelsea because I

28:06

wanted to play Champions League. Yeah, you know, yeah

28:09

and that more that most came Because

28:12

you want a Champions League. Oh Right,

28:15

right. Oh wow, then I went Oh, maybe

28:17

I'm going maybe Chelsea because you know next

28:19

season they play Champions League because they just

28:21

they just won it Wow, and then I

28:23

went and then I went to

28:26

South of France for holiday and that's where

28:28

I saw Abramovich And

28:30

then I was like, okay, let's go. That's

28:33

my club. So that was how it happened

28:35

So nobody contacted you until you saw him

28:38

and South of France. Yeah If

28:40

we didn't win the Champions League, you wouldn't have come

28:42

to Chelsea. Ah my friend Chelsea

28:44

was like far away That's

28:49

why I say thank you to Drogba I

28:52

was like thank you DJ For

28:55

man, you know you're killing me with this Had

28:57

you not moved to Chelsea if Drogba hadn't

28:59

scored that equaliser If

29:01

you hadn't met Abramovich in the South of

29:04

France, where could you have ended up? Manchester

29:10

No, you're killing me with that No,

29:13

but that that that's the reality of this I

29:16

was not thinking of going Chelsea because me,

29:19

you know as a football You

29:21

want to play Champions League, you know, especially

29:23

when you move from country to another one

29:26

Yeah, you know so like Chelsea was not an option.

29:28

Well, they did they want they

29:30

won the Champions League Yeah,

29:34

but now you're saying thank you to Drogba. You forgot

29:37

who the best player was in that game. Come on, Bessie Hey The

29:41

Champions League final, come on You

29:44

know, I'm not sure if you know who the best

29:46

player was Come on You're

30:00

fat. You're the only game you

30:02

play good in your parents. Oh

30:04

my God, you gave me a hug. Come on, we've

30:07

been told, JT in actual fact

30:09

told us on his episode,

30:15

Roman Abramovich's football knowledge

30:18

is incredible. There's a guy who really

30:20

knows his football. What did he say

30:22

to you to convince you? Yes, they'd

30:24

won the Champions League, but he's obviously

30:26

said, Eddyn, you're my man. I want

30:28

you to come to West London. What

30:30

was said? You know, Roman was

30:32

there when I had this meeting with

30:34

him, but me, I was not

30:37

talking English. He

30:40

was not talking French,

30:42

so we couldn't talk

30:44

together. So the one

30:46

who would make this

30:48

move was Michael Emmenalo,

30:51

because Michael Emmenalo was talking French

30:53

with me. Yeah,

30:55

yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's

30:58

the guy who helped me a lot in

31:00

that period. And now

31:02

we have just normal shot with

31:04

Roman, about football, about me playing

31:06

which position next season. And I

31:09

was like, what? He

31:11

just want to give me the key

31:13

of the team already. The

31:15

team already, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm

31:17

like, what? No. And then I

31:20

knew, and then I said to my agent at that time, I was

31:22

like, okay, let's go

31:24

there. That's my club. Wow. And you

31:26

know, did he say to you,

31:28

he has my checkbook, how much you want to

31:30

put? No, no, no.

31:33

We never talk about money. But

31:35

you know, also, the thing is like, that

31:39

season, I think you

31:41

signed Lukaku, De Bruyne, Courtois,

31:43

all the Belgium guys. So I was like,

31:46

okay, I'm going with my friends, you know? So

31:48

for me, you know, how

31:52

can I say that? Adaptation? Adaptation,

31:54

yeah. Adaptation will be better

31:57

with people I know, you

31:59

know, Belgian guys. And

32:01

then I came and then I went there the

32:03

old The

32:10

only one who saved me that that that

32:13

first season was them but then Baba Yeah,

32:17

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right he became

32:19

he became a close friend Edin Now

32:22

my guys my yeah, yeah, yeah true true

32:24

true that yeah, that's two What about zoomer

32:26

zoomer was also your friend was Zuma there

32:28

then I think yeah Yeah, you know custom

32:30

just I think it came two years after

32:32

get him two years after yeah, yeah two

32:34

yeah Yeah, yeah, so yeah, you're right that

32:36

Belgian Yeah, Kirtwa look a

32:38

coup and the bro and we talk

32:41

a lot about Kevin Yeah, I mean

32:43

what's a blooming player he is for

32:45

my money. He's the best And

32:48

we said this John. I know we love

32:50

yeah, Rodri. Yeah, yeah Still

32:52

think Rodri is the first name on peps team.

32:54

I think so too. They debated that I think

32:56

Evan de Bruyne on his day is

32:58

the best player in the Premier League. I agree with I

33:00

had it Yeah, of course.

33:03

Oh my far by far

33:05

not even close. Yeah. Yeah Because

33:10

he see things that all of players

33:12

don't see that's it I'm

33:14

you know unbelievable and the way and and

33:17

the way guajola Give

33:19

him the freedom, you know every time Kevin at

33:21

the ball is free Yeah, and you

33:23

know and that's why is the best because

33:26

Kevin free is the best player not even

33:28

in Premier League in the world For me,

33:31

you know, do you think that's why probably

33:33

obviously I know you guys, you know We've

33:35

a lot of time we've talked about the

33:37

English team with Franklin Paul,

33:39

Jared Post goes John Terry We offended

33:41

and they never managed to win anything

33:43

for for the England national team But

33:46

we can also say the same for you, you know

33:48

your team, you know, you have look how cool

33:50

you having the boy A

33:56

little bit of comparison there but for

33:59

some reason You guys, you know, you

34:01

have you, we have Kevin as well. For

34:03

some reason, you guys didn't, you couldn't manage

34:05

to, to, to, to win something like a

34:07

trophy for, you know, for your national team.

34:10

Why was that? Was there something, was it

34:13

just because you guys, there was no team

34:15

spirit or what happened? No,

34:17

the team was perfect. It's just, it's

34:20

just so hard to win something with

34:22

your, your country. Yeah. You

34:24

know, it's just so hard. You

34:26

know, it's not fun because you play

34:28

the World Cup every four years and

34:31

then in your career you're going to play maybe what,

34:33

two, three, if you're lucky for. Yeah.

34:36

And Euro same. You see how many

34:39

good teams they play in Europe, you

34:42

know, it's just the

34:44

level is so high. It's not easy.

34:46

We were that close in

34:49

2018 in Russia, but

34:51

you look at French teams, you

34:54

see the players. Yeah. There

34:56

is nothing, there is nothing to, to be,

34:59

you know, friends. I

35:02

don't think friends were much better than us.

35:06

Exactly. But, but if you,

35:08

if you look at the quality, they

35:10

have quality also, you know, it's not, we

35:13

lost against, I don't know, stupid

35:15

country, you know, we lost, we

35:17

lost against France. It's

35:21

interesting because I traveled to Kazan head

35:23

and I actually watched your game again.

35:25

I was there in the

35:28

stadium and first 45 minutes, I've

35:30

never seen a Brazilian team. I remember Zizou

35:33

in the 2000, what the

35:35

2010 World Cup, his famous performance against

35:37

Brazil. Yeah. It's

35:40

gone down and you know, it's a way

35:42

to do performance, but first 35, 40 minutes

35:44

against Brazil in 2018, you guys

35:46

were sensational in that semi

35:49

final against France. They stifled you on

35:51

a member. You can make a good

35:53

case to say Paul Pogba, one of

35:55

his best ever performances in all honesty,

35:57

out of possession. He was incredible in

35:59

Google. Can't he? It's the fine margins that

36:01

we talk about. And on that day they

36:03

stifled you and it was just difficult to

36:05

find any space in that game memory serves.

36:08

No, I think we were also a bit tired after

36:11

that game against Brazil. We

36:13

gave everything in Brazil and

36:16

then you have to play like

36:19

five days after again and Bape

36:21

running like crazy against Angola, Angola

36:23

County against Pogba. He's

36:26

running everywhere also, you know, it's

36:28

not that easy. And that game

36:30

we miss our ride back. You

36:32

know, Mune. Mune, yeah, yeah, Mune,

36:34

yeah, yeah. Mune was injured or

36:37

I don't know suspended. I don't

36:39

remember. And, you know, it's the

36:41

guy who can make those run

36:43

also to give, you know, space

36:45

to the team and no

36:48

excuse. I don't try to find

36:50

excuse, but it's just those

36:52

small things that can change the

36:55

game. And that's it. Roberto

36:57

Martinez talked to me about him. I

36:59

came across Roberto when he played actually in

37:01

Motherwell in Scotland, would you believe Ed? And

37:04

he's gone on, you know, he's had a good club

37:06

career. He won the FA Cup with Wigan and

37:09

then he landed in Belgium. I

37:11

mean, you guys were walking qualification.

37:13

You guys were the golden generation.

37:15

You were smashing teams, four or

37:17

five goals. You'd get into

37:19

these tournaments. What was Roberto like to work

37:21

under? Top, top, top

37:23

manager. Top, you

37:26

know, not just as a manager, as a guy. Yeah.

37:29

You know, he came in the dressing

37:31

room. He

37:33

changed couple of things, but not that

37:35

much. You know, before

37:38

Martinez, we started, we build, we

37:42

build that before Martinez already with

37:44

Wilmos. Okay. Manager

37:47

before. Okay. You know, we start to build

37:49

a good team, you know. And

37:51

then Martinez came with,

37:53

you know, more tactics. More

37:56

discipline, more this, more that. And

38:00

now he just let us play together.

38:04

And I think we spent six,

38:07

yeah, almost six years together. Wow,

38:09

six years amazing. Wow. Top

38:12

guy. Yeah. Also

38:15

the team around him,

38:17

people top. Now

38:20

I can just talk in a good way about him.

38:24

Yeah, you had Graham Jones, Thierry

38:26

Henry, Sean Maloney, as well,

38:28

a fellow, a fellow, a sport who's no outwig

38:30

in. I mean, yeah, you had a great coaching

38:33

staff. Yeah, it was

38:35

nice. And when Thierry Henry came

38:37

also was, you know, for us, my

38:41

part of Belgium, we used to

38:43

love French, the French team,

38:45

you know? Right, right. So Thierry Henry

38:47

came in the dressing room first time and was like,

38:49

what? You know, Lucapu was

38:51

also, wow, this guy. And then now

38:54

we just had a good time with

38:56

them. We didn't win anything, but I think

38:59

they're going to be the

39:02

one to see in the next Euro,

39:04

Belgium. Oh, wow. Keep an eye on

39:06

them. We talk about the

39:08

golden generation, but the new generation is also

39:11

good. Really? Wow.

39:13

Yeah. Doku. Doku,

39:15

yeah, we're going to say that. Yeah.

39:18

What do you make of him? Do you

39:20

think he will become like a great

39:22

player for the national team?

39:24

Yeah, yeah, for sure. He

39:27

has everything. And

39:29

he has everything and he is

39:31

now with Pep Guardiola. Yeah. Guardiola

39:33

is the team, everything also. Yeah.

39:36

You know, I said it to John and

39:38

I actually asked this question. I know you're

39:40

such a huge fan of Pep

39:43

Guardiola, John. For you, he is the best.

39:45

Yeah. You know, Eddyn, for you now, you've

39:47

retired, you're looking in. It

39:49

is Pep, the manager, out of all

39:51

the managers, Jurgen Klopp, phenomenal. You know,

39:53

you've talked about Zizou not in management

39:55

now. Is Pep the one that

39:57

you look at and think, I would love to?

39:59

to play for that manager? I

40:02

don't know. I don't

40:04

know. I don't know because this

40:06

guy demand you a lot. Yes, yes,

40:08

yes, yes. And you know, me as

40:10

a player, I like my freedom. You

40:14

know, if you ask me to, then

40:18

you have to say that I was like, what? I'm

40:20

not gonna say that. You crazy or what? So

40:22

I think it's the best in the world. Yeah.

40:27

But I don't know if you play, you know,

40:29

even though him is, I don't

40:32

know. I don't know. I don't have the correct,

40:34

but I can't say yes or

40:36

no. You just want to be a manager. You

40:38

want a manager to say, Aiden, you do what

40:40

you want. Give me the freedom. I'm gonna win

40:42

games. Give me the freedom. No,

40:44

definitely I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I

40:46

wouldn't see knowing, knowing Eddin and

40:49

also not seeing what Pep does

40:51

with his team. I

40:53

don't think that will ever work out,

40:55

both of them. I think, of course,

40:57

Eddin, as we know, I mean,

40:59

I was lucky to spend a lot

41:02

of time with him. He doesn't like training. Definitely

41:04

doesn't like training. Stop, stop saying

41:06

that. This

41:09

guy comes, he comes in training. His boots

41:11

are not done, but

41:14

yeah, we go like, well, I mean,

41:17

his hazard comes in

41:19

the, comes in the, you know, on Saturday.

41:21

I mean, the goals he scored, I mean,

41:23

I can talk about so many goals. The

41:25

goal against Arsenal at home. The

41:28

goal against Liverpool away at Liverpool. I

41:31

mean, it just shows the brilliance of the guy. Just,

41:34

we've always said with that much talent, it's

41:38

just God given. If he

41:40

had done a little bit,

41:43

but then if he had done

41:45

a little bit, would he have been

41:47

same player? Yeah. But it's just

41:49

the way he played the game. And I don't, I don't,

41:51

I don't think so. I can tell you, I don't think

41:53

so. You don't think so, Ed, and honestly. No,

41:55

no, I honestly, I don't think so. Because

41:59

just, It was me, you know? The

42:02

way I was training was me, the

42:04

way I wanted to train, the way

42:06

I wanted to play. I

42:08

could, yeah, sometimes I was saying to myself, come on,

42:10

just do a little bit more, you know? Just

42:14

because people, they just asked

42:16

you to do bit more. Just give

42:18

the people. And then I was like,

42:20

yeah, okay, okay, I'm gonna try one week. And

42:22

then after one day, I was like, ah, you know

42:24

what, man? No, no,

42:26

no, no, no, it's too much for me. After

42:31

one week, no, I don't train hard anymore. No,

42:36

finished. And you know, in Madrid, sometimes I was,

42:38

okay, okay, now new club, you have to do

42:40

a bit of gym. And then on the weekend,

42:42

I miss all my passes. I'm

42:45

finished, finished. I

42:50

love the honesty, Edd. And

42:53

you know, just on that, I want to put something

42:55

to bed. And I want your honesty, and you've been

42:58

brutally honest with us. A lot

43:00

of Real Madrid fans, the accusations that

43:02

you arrived in Madrid over way out of

43:04

shape, was that true? Being

43:07

honest with yourself, was that true? It was

43:10

true. But it's like,

43:12

me, every summer, you know, I have to

43:14

tell you, every summer I was like taking

43:17

four or five kilos. Yeah, yeah. Because

43:20

I gave, you know, I was like thinking,

43:23

okay, you give so

43:25

much in ten months.

43:28

You know, you put your body on, you

43:30

know, on the highest level. Yeah. People,

43:33

I'm playing, people, they just kick you, they just,

43:35

so, your time off is your

43:37

time off. Yeah. Don't ask

43:39

me to do anything, you know. I

43:42

enjoy to be with family. I

43:45

am going on the beach. Don't

43:47

ask me to run in those three,

43:49

four weeks. I can play football with the kids

43:51

on the beach, no problem. But

43:54

don't ask me to do anything else. Thank

43:57

you. look

44:00

at my, I'm not gonna say stats,

44:02

but every

44:04

year, every each year where I played

44:07

my career, the first month

44:10

was the month I was

44:12

a bit like, okay, it's just the beginning, you know?

44:15

And then after, you know, when you start

44:18

September, October, I was like flying. Yeah,

44:20

yeah. Because I need time to

44:22

put my, you know, my body,

44:25

my mind and, you know,

44:27

best in the best, but that's in

44:29

Madrid. In that period,

44:31

I went injured. I was injured and

44:33

this and that, so I couldn't recover

44:35

properly and this. That's

44:37

the only thing, but yeah, it's true. I came

44:39

back after holiday with five kilos,

44:42

but I knew it. So what's the, what's

44:45

the advice then, Eddyn? Is it crisps? Is

44:47

it chocolate? What was the biggest thing you

44:49

had to try and stay a million miles

44:51

away from? No, I don't

44:53

have any, you know, I love everything, you know,

44:55

with me. I

44:58

just want to spend time with family,

45:01

with friends, and if you ask

45:03

me to eat something, I'm going to eat, even if I

45:05

don't like it, I'm going to eat, you know? Just

45:07

to be around, you know? You

45:11

know, as a Belgian guy, we

45:13

love beers. Yeah. You

45:15

know, because my country have the best beers

45:17

in the world. Right, right, right, right. So

45:20

I don't tell you I'm, I

45:22

used to drink every day. It's

45:24

not true, but sometimes, you know,

45:26

after a good game, one or

45:29

two is nice. The feeling is

45:32

even better when you play a good game.

45:34

Yes, exactly, exactly. Almost none of the match

45:36

awards. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, one

45:38

of the things I know he really, really likes, obviously,

45:40

because on

45:42

the dining table, I used to sit closer

45:44

to him. We sit

45:46

close, so I know he loves

45:49

his rice pudding. He loves his

45:51

rice pudding. No,

45:53

no, no. I love to be

45:55

with you. It's not about rice pudding. It's just to

45:57

be honest. be

46:00

with you. I think Victor

46:03

was also there. Victor,

46:05

yeah. We just had

46:07

fun. Yeah, Victor was

46:10

like psycho. And

46:12

you know the good thing is like

46:14

the first two years my English was

46:17

not that good. Yeah. You know, me,

46:19

you talking together, I was like, what?

46:21

What does that say? So I'm gonna

46:23

take my rice pudding just to stay

46:25

next to them and then I, you

46:27

know, that's why I learned English. So

46:30

the rice pudding was just to

46:33

learn English and is that right?

46:35

Yeah, that's exactly. That's brilliant. You

46:38

know, we talk a lot. But the truth is

46:43

the rice pudding was good. It was really good though.

46:45

It was really, really good. I miss that.

46:50

In the Chelsea Habbo Hotel they used

46:52

to make it. It was really good.

46:54

Really good. And then after when Conte

46:56

came, he changed everything. He banned everything.

46:58

He stopped it,

47:04

right? Everything. Only pasta, only

47:06

pasta rice. Man, finish.

47:11

No more rice pudding. I

47:15

love it. And then of course, you know,

47:17

we've talked a lot. I

47:19

say it again, JT Lamptes,

47:21

John, you were the most talented

47:23

player that they've all played with. So

47:26

come on then, Ed, and I need you to think about this. If

47:29

you are all of their most talented player that

47:31

they played with, who is the

47:33

most talented player that you played with in

47:36

your career? Can I, can I

47:38

put myself? No,

47:43

I think

47:47

because I, in Real Madrid, I play

47:49

with the best player in the world.

47:51

For me, Madrid, Benzema, they are top

47:54

of the list, you know? When

47:57

you talk, when you say Kevin De Bruyne is top

47:59

of the list. list when you say Lampard,

48:01

top of the list, Juan Mata, for

48:03

me was top of the list. Genevieve

48:06

Miquel? What? No,

48:08

but you know already, I don't even know.

48:12

I'm going to give you one name and

48:14

John knows the

48:16

player. The

48:19

only one I was saying, wow, but

48:22

when I start playing young team

48:24

in France was Gail Kakuta.

48:28

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

48:30

yeah. What happened to him now?

48:32

Where is he? I don't know.

48:34

I think he's playing now the African Cup

48:36

with Congo. Yeah? But

48:39

he went back to France. He was at long,

48:41

I think he was at long for a while.

48:44

A double check. Yeah, or long. Or long.

48:47

Yeah, he was good. But you really think he

48:49

was the best player you played with? You

48:52

asked me talent. Talent, yeah. Talent,

48:56

Kakuta by far, number one.

48:58

Really? I mean talent.

49:00

Talent, yeah. Wow. Yeah,

49:02

I can tell you, he's an Amiens. He's

49:05

an Amiens. Yeah, I mean, wow.

49:09

The Ligadun. To be honest, he was really

49:11

good. He was really good. I

49:14

think for some reason, he didn't get the opportunity at

49:17

Chelsea. I don't know for some reason, he couldn't get

49:19

the opportunity at Chelsea. That's

49:22

part of his story, you know? So

49:24

why? I've got to ask Ed, what

49:26

was it about Gail that for you

49:29

to save her? I mean, wow. I

49:31

mean, that's a testament to his talent.

49:33

You know, I play against him a lot because

49:36

I used to play Lille

49:38

and he was playing in Louns, you

49:40

know, in the young. He's a derby. He's

49:43

not a France. He's derby. So

49:46

me, being me, we

49:48

used to win every game, every game, every

49:51

game, five, six, zero. We best play every

49:53

game. Bam. And then

49:55

every time we play against him, we'll lose

49:58

in game. He's the best player. He's

50:00

best player. He's best player. Really? No,

50:02

no, no, no. This is not normal.

50:04

Wow. That is...

50:07

And then... And

50:10

then at 16, he... I think he... Now

50:13

it's easy to say, but I think he went a bit

50:15

too early, Chelsea. He was 16 when he left France for

50:17

Chelsea, you know? And

50:21

that step at 16 is a huge

50:23

step. Yeah. This

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50:28

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50:43

gotta ask you this though. I mean, I was

50:45

re... I read, you know, somewhere, you

50:48

know, I know your relationship with...

50:50

I don't know about your relationship with the players in,

50:52

you know, Madrid. I was reading

50:54

where you left that Tony Cruz, you know,

50:57

said a couple of things, you know? You

51:01

know, he didn't mention name, but we... people

51:03

thought everybody thinks he was talking about

51:05

you. But

51:08

I think some of the comments he made was he

51:11

should have... wasn't really just viable, because

51:14

now you've just given us some excuses that

51:16

very valuable why you couldn't get

51:18

to that level because of your injury. That

51:21

straight away, when you went to Madrid, it happened

51:24

and with the COVID and everything. And

51:26

that couldn't get you to that level. And

51:29

when Jude Bellingham is signed or signed,

51:31

he's like, oh, we've seen the big

51:33

money come. And then they

51:35

don't work out, obviously. But

51:37

now you can see that what Jude

51:39

Bellingham is doing. Obviously, I

51:41

think it was a bit harsh on you

51:43

because, you know, he didn't put things into

51:45

consideration before making that comment. What would you

51:48

make about that? And also, Jude Bellingham as

51:50

well performing the way he's performing now,

51:52

you know, at Madrid. He's only 20 years

51:54

old. Wow, what a play.

51:57

I had a chance

51:59

to talk. with him a bit because

52:01

we talked the same plane to go to the

52:03

Ballon d'Or gala. So

52:06

I spoke with him. No, nice. I

52:09

saw him playing because he was playing in Dogmoon

52:11

with Torgen with my brother. So

52:13

you know, I was watching Torgen so

52:15

I watched also Belling up playing. I was like,

52:17

whoa. This guy, he was 19, 18. He was

52:19

already special. And then you know, big

52:25

moves. Sometimes it's a big step. Sometimes

52:27

people they can, they can deal with

52:29

it. Sometimes no, he's

52:31

also the, he's also part of

52:33

football. Yeah. Sometimes

52:36

there is nothing to explain. Things

52:39

happen because it happens. That's true. Just

52:42

on that, because, because Ed and John's right.

52:44

I mean, you strike me

52:46

as a guy. You care about your

52:49

family. What people say about you, right?

52:51

About you. You don't care. You've played

52:53

football. You're healthy. You're happy. Your kids

52:56

are happy. Who cares what people say?

52:58

So when Tony Cruz hints something like

53:00

that, does that even bother you? Do

53:03

you give it any time of day?

53:06

No, you know, he came to

53:08

my house yesterday to pick up his kids. There's

53:13

no problem with that. You know, people, they can

53:15

say, but you see, it's gonna be me can

53:17

talk bullshit with me and I'm still doing this

53:19

podcast. You know, I

53:23

don't care man. People, they can think

53:25

what they want. Not a problem. I

53:27

can't sleep. You

53:33

know, Ed, it's

53:35

refreshing to see this because

53:37

we live in a world, social

53:39

media, so much negativity, young

53:42

footballers getting criticized

53:45

day in, day out, the 24 seven

53:47

news cycle. What do you make

53:50

of it all? I mean, we talked to haven't

53:52

we, John off air about depression, no mental health.

53:56

You, you're someone, and I think you're being

53:58

genuine that it was water. off a

54:00

duck's back. You were like, you know what, I

54:02

don't care. What's your message to young

54:05

players who are affected by what's being

54:07

said in Britain? I

54:11

think when you take, you know,

54:13

from my example, I always think

54:15

football was something special, something I

54:17

have to enjoy playing football. You

54:19

know, there is nothing to

54:21

complain. There is nothing to I used

54:24

to love football. You know, I still

54:26

love football, you know, but when

54:28

I was on the pitch, I just want to enjoy. But

54:32

it's also again, I think it's part

54:34

of the education you have with

54:36

your parents, you know. I

54:40

remember my dad saying always when I was young,

54:42

oh, listen, football is not just, it's football,

54:45

but there's so many things around football. You

54:47

know, you can play a good game, you

54:49

can play a bad game, what

54:52

is always the next game. But

54:57

if you want to be professional, but you can't

54:59

do it, there's no problem. You

55:02

have other things around football that

55:05

you will love it. You just need to

55:07

find it. But, you know, I'm

55:11

a bit aware of all this, you know, this

55:14

new generation thing and this and

55:16

that, you know. For me,

55:19

my life is just about enjoying things.

55:22

That's it, you know. I

55:25

do good things, I do bad things.

55:28

That's it, keep moving. Yeah,

55:30

yeah. I've been saying that though.

55:32

I think Edin was the only

55:34

player, if I'm not mistaken. Edin

55:36

is actually tough to see. John

55:39

Terry, Frank Lampard, these guys, they

55:43

don't have a goal at a

55:45

player, a young player coming to

55:47

the team. And we

55:50

know what Edin does for us, he won us

55:52

games. But we won the league with Jose. It

56:00

was hard to see them have a

56:03

go at him. I never

56:05

had John Terry like have a go at

56:08

edit. Never. Never. I

56:11

never had him. But it was hard for JT to not

56:13

have a go at a player. But

56:16

especially was... For some

56:19

reason it just didn't happen with

56:21

edit. Just probably because whatever you

56:23

said, he didn't care. He

56:26

didn't bother him. So if you were just

56:28

screaming, you're just wasting your time, he would

56:30

go on that pitch on a Saturday. It's

56:32

actually a bullshit. I

56:36

think it's also the way I am. People, they... You

56:39

know, oh, I can act on the pitch.

56:44

I take everything for... We

56:48

go playing football, I'm going to have fun. If

56:50

we don't have fun, it's better I don't

56:53

go. Yeah. It's just about

56:55

it. I think JT

56:57

could say something to me or you or

56:59

even Drogba was there. Come on, Edd. You

57:02

know me, me being me, I was

57:04

like, come on, my friend. Come

57:07

on, man. But in a

57:09

good way, not in a way that I'm better

57:12

than you. You know what I mean. Because

57:15

I think I was always respectful

57:18

with all players. The

57:21

generation before me. We

57:23

talk about tough times, Edd, and I guess

57:25

there's two that stand out to me. There's

57:28

the move to Madrid and you've openly

57:31

spoken about that. And then I take you

57:33

back and I think you know when I'm going with this, because I

57:35

know you're in the papers this week, it's

57:37

come full circle. January 2013

57:39

at the Liberty Stadium,

57:43

the incident with Tom. Tom has never

57:45

looked back. He's a multi-millionaire now.

57:47

Tom's a happy boy with his

57:49

vodka. But when you look back on

57:51

that period of your career, was

57:53

that a real down moment for you

57:55

when you look back on it? No,

57:59

not at all. whole no

58:03

no because I was like after

58:05

that game I came back home just

58:07

saying to myself hey this

58:10

guy is just staying on the ball and me

58:12

I just tried to kick the ball then I

58:14

get the red card yeah then you know the

58:16

funny story is you know I

58:18

I can't say that but my my wife

58:20

was just pregnant and the baby was coming

58:22

now so

58:25

me getting the red card three games

58:27

out you

58:31

know that's

58:38

the reality perfect holiday for

58:40

you perfect holiday thank you

58:42

guys no

58:46

no no no no no no no people

58:48

they're gonna they're gonna think I did it

58:50

in purpose but not at all yeah no

58:52

no no exactly no I saw what happened

58:55

obviously you tried you actually did try to

58:57

you were like give me the ball give

58:59

me the ball you try to get the

59:01

ball off him and

59:03

then he moved the and then he moved the ball to

59:05

the other side and for you you

59:07

could see some of the ball on the side

59:09

so you try to kick it to grab it

59:11

from the other side but then you kick this

59:13

is you know it keeps the stream so yeah

59:16

it's a bit like when you play on the

59:18

street you know someone is on the ball hey

59:20

give me the ball man yeah yeah no but

59:22

the the funny thing is like I met him

59:24

like last week and we

59:27

just where was that in London in

59:29

Madrid it came in Madrid okay okay what

59:33

story to tell you know yes great

59:35

and listen he's not looked back

59:37

at it just on that so you are still living

59:39

in Madrid Madrid is now home for you Madrid

59:42

is my home yeah the weather is

59:44

nice nice people nice

59:48

and riyama who loves you more

59:50

at let's go Madrid fans are riyama did fans

59:53

I don't know you need to you need

59:56

to ask them you know just that

1:00:00

because again and I want to stay on

1:00:02

this mental aspect and then you're brilliant because

1:00:04

I come back to it it doesn't seem

1:00:06

like anything phases you be honest

1:00:09

with us did you feel a pressure

1:00:11

huge price tag you're

1:00:13

seen as the replacement for

1:00:15

Cristiano Ronaldo okay a year

1:00:17

removed did be honest with the

1:00:20

ass ed and looking in the mirror in the

1:00:22

morning cleaning your teeth did you feel a pressure

1:00:25

no no no I'm honest with

1:00:27

you no I was I

1:00:29

was I just was at

1:00:31

the moment but you know when I stopped when

1:00:34

I stopped the day I say no I'm out of

1:00:36

football I was I was thinking a

1:00:38

bit it's just it's

1:00:41

just a pity oh you said I yes yes

1:00:43

I did I see that the

1:00:46

things went that way you know because I

1:00:49

real Madrid was my dream club and

1:00:52

I you know I remember me I

1:00:54

remember first game of the season my first

1:00:56

year I was injured so I went I

1:00:59

went you know on the VIP box I

1:01:02

was watching the game and I was like no that

1:01:04

this stage on this for me that's where I yeah

1:01:06

I have to do fun no and

1:01:09

then when I when I when I when

1:01:11

I quit football I was like it's the only

1:01:13

not regret but because things happen because

1:01:15

happen you know but like oh it's

1:01:18

just a shame that I didn't bring

1:01:20

the smile on the face of the

1:01:22

real Madrid fan you know what I

1:01:24

mean yeah yeah I remember

1:01:26

when we obviously when you're at the

1:01:28

club at Chelsea you used to always

1:01:30

you were not saying it loud but

1:01:32

used obviously because I was always close

1:01:34

dining table you I know you

1:01:36

always made it clear to me

1:01:38

that you know where Madrid was that your

1:01:40

dream it was your dream you said you want

1:01:43

you from Chelsea you want to go there play

1:01:45

for three four five years and then you're gonna

1:01:47

finish this was you I remember

1:01:49

that and you said you're gonna be finished

1:01:51

football you're gonna finish football and that's it

1:01:53

I knew how much you really

1:01:55

wanted to play it was your dream club

1:01:57

I knew how much you wanted to to

1:02:00

Succeed and play well and be a

1:02:02

legend for a Madrid and I just

1:02:04

for me my opinion I just thought

1:02:06

the injuries really really did not

1:02:08

help you at all. No, that's that's

1:02:11

for sure Yeah, that's for sure. But

1:02:13

is just is just a long story

1:02:15

We can stay here like five hours

1:02:18

just to talk about it But the

1:02:20

the the main thing was injury be

1:02:22

unlucky I should do more be

1:02:24

told this or but at

1:02:27

the end, you know thing happened and

1:02:29

and and that's it We can't we

1:02:31

come back, you know, like

1:02:33

four or five before. Yeah, and

1:02:35

I will do exactly the same, you know Right,

1:02:38

right, you know, I guess the

1:02:41

million dollar question you only turn 33 earlier this

1:02:43

month You're

1:02:45

still a young man You

1:02:47

know where they're all first you retired

1:02:49

in October. Of course, you left

1:02:51

Briana good in the summer Where

1:02:53

they're all first from Premier

1:02:55

League Saudi Arabia America. Yeah,

1:02:58

I Couple of but

1:03:00

I don't I don't know if I can

1:03:02

say offer but you know people coming the

1:03:04

message me takes me or you

1:03:06

any interest in that club they give you big

1:03:09

money and this and that and But

1:03:13

I never talk with her or like

1:03:16

owner of a club and I just you know, right

1:03:19

like always people

1:03:21

around agents. Yeah, this

1:03:23

bam bam but

1:03:26

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing big Yeah,

1:03:30

Cristiano came out in Dubai a few weeks

1:03:32

back He and of course he's

1:03:34

got to say this but he thinks the

1:03:36

Saudi Pro League is already bigger than we

1:03:39

go Given the fact you played in France,

1:03:41

you know that lead. I mean

1:03:43

is it I'm not the grave of him, but And

1:03:50

I know a lot of people don't agree

1:03:52

with him Yeah, the thing is like the

1:03:54

now in if you look at the At

1:03:58

the league in Arabia. They have big players.

1:04:01

You know, it's just they are not big

1:04:05

team, but they have big players, you

1:04:07

know, in France now they have maybe

1:04:09

less big players, but they're more

1:04:11

like team. I'm sure

1:04:13

I'm sure if the I

1:04:16

don't know if league league

1:04:18

team play against Arabian

1:04:20

team, they're going to win

1:04:23

it maybe not easy like people think.

1:04:26

But I think so the

1:04:28

level in France is is good.

1:04:30

I'm watching French league, you

1:04:32

know, so and

1:04:35

the no, no, they have

1:04:37

talent. They have young players that they can

1:04:39

play football. Paris is good, you know, so

1:04:42

the level is there. Did you

1:04:44

ever have a chance to move? I mean, for

1:04:46

Ed and Azard and PSG, that

1:04:48

seemed like a match made in

1:04:50

heaven. Was there ever an

1:04:53

offer from PSG over the years? No, Paris

1:04:55

was the club with me. They try to

1:04:57

push every summer when I was

1:04:59

playing with Chelsea. Yeah, you

1:05:02

know, but I always say my club

1:05:04

in France is Lille. Yeah, I'm not

1:05:06

I'm not gonna go in other club than Lille.

1:05:09

Wow. So I was I

1:05:11

was I was clear with them. Wow. At the

1:05:13

big like no, so even if they

1:05:15

came with like a like a like a blank

1:05:17

check, you know, to to to write. No,

1:05:21

no, no, no, no, really, I love football.

1:05:23

I know. I know. I love. I know

1:05:25

you do. I love

1:05:27

the fans. I love the, you

1:05:29

know, and when I say something, you

1:05:32

know, even money that Yeah, you know, I don't

1:05:35

Yeah, I know. I know. I know. I know.

1:05:37

Of course. But not the one like,

1:05:42

Oh, I need that money. I need the Yeah,

1:05:44

yeah. Because, you know, listening to

1:05:46

you there, and I love that.

1:05:49

Lille is your club in France.

1:05:52

I come back to Zizou because he's

1:05:54

someone that fascinates me Zizou the manager,

1:05:56

Ed and I talk to friends,

1:05:58

I talk to colleagues, about

1:06:00

whether Zizou is

1:06:03

capable of managing in England. You

1:06:05

know, he had great success, the institution

1:06:07

of Real Madrid. You've already said on

1:06:10

this pod, he's very laid back, not

1:06:12

too many instructions, gives you freedom. Could

1:06:15

Zizou be a success at, say,

1:06:17

Manchester United? Could Zizou be

1:06:19

a success at Chelsea, in your opinion? Zizou

1:06:22

is going to have success everywhere, my friend. Really?

1:06:26

No, everything this guy is doing on his life

1:06:28

is going to have success. Believe me. Wow. An

1:06:32

intelligence like that is good, is good

1:06:34

at everything. Really? Yeah!

1:06:37

Oh, bring him to United then. I

1:06:39

was going to say bring him to... Maybe not

1:06:41

United, but... But

1:06:46

actually, I never saw him on the sidelines

1:06:49

speak as much. Yeah. But

1:06:52

I just think he had a lot of

1:06:54

great players. Do you

1:06:56

think Zizou was a bit more like, we'll say,

1:07:00

Robasto Di Maseo when we won the

1:07:02

Champions League? Because he

1:07:05

was just the guy who... He just made

1:07:07

sure everybody was together, everybody was giving

1:07:09

him freedom. He was just there to

1:07:11

oversee. He didn't try to

1:07:14

change players so much. He gave everybody freedom

1:07:16

to express themselves. Do you think Zizou is

1:07:18

a bit like that? No,

1:07:21

he's a bit like that, for sure. But

1:07:24

with his touch, you

1:07:26

know, he's still doing things, he's

1:07:29

still, you know... But

1:07:31

you know, when

1:07:34

you are manager of Real

1:07:36

Madrid, for example, you, John

1:07:38

will be making in 10 years manager. Your

1:07:43

thing, you're going to say something to

1:07:45

Bellingham, oh, you have to pass like this, or you

1:07:47

have to... No. No, no, no.

1:07:50

Because this Bellingham knows how to

1:07:52

pass the ball. Exactly, exactly. I

1:07:56

think as a manager, you just have to

1:07:58

put like the best players. You're best

1:08:00

player in a best position

1:08:02

to win games. That's it. Don't

1:08:05

give them so much instruction Don't give just

1:08:07

you go there you do your magic that's

1:08:09

it. You're happy because you know

1:08:11

in football I know that when you're happy

1:08:13

in your life You

1:08:16

produce the football. Yeah. Yeah,

1:08:18

that's that's always been always like that

1:08:21

Yeah, so just try to bring the

1:08:23

players, you know to make the player

1:08:25

happy. They don't produce that Yeah, did

1:08:27

you think if if the zoo stayed

1:08:30

a bit longer in Madrid your you

1:08:32

think probably your career my dear would

1:08:34

have picked up

1:08:36

picked up a little bit I Don't

1:08:39

know. I don't know. I don't because I know

1:08:41

because for me I mean your honey boy Carlo

1:08:43

wasn't that wasn't that great from what I from

1:08:45

what I read? No, no For

1:08:47

me Carlo was the best manager for me, you

1:08:49

know, I know yes exactly. Yeah

1:08:52

for me is this fantastic guy Yeah,

1:08:55

it's just it's the good guy, you

1:08:57

know good relation with the players and

1:08:59

this I Love

1:09:02

the ways is with you know

1:09:04

people they just say things but between

1:09:06

me and and him. Yeah, it was

1:09:08

always respect You know,

1:09:10

I couldn't give it more on the pitch. So that's

1:09:12

why I was not playing and then Vinik Rodrigo

1:09:15

then they also great player. So I

1:09:17

lost my I lost my my

1:09:21

place on patient and then that And

1:09:24

then maybe was not happy with me training,

1:09:26

you know how much I love training Maybe

1:09:32

But yeah, that's the but the

1:09:34

way Carlo was doing training for me was

1:09:36

also one of the best. Yeah I

1:09:39

love how you say Vinny there Vinicius I'm

1:09:41

such a huge fan Ed and I you

1:09:44

see his development in the last few years

1:09:47

Is he if killing him back pay an

1:09:49

Erling Halland or the two? Kind

1:09:51

of you know the the the inner parents

1:09:53

to Ronaldo and Messi is Vinicius

1:09:56

junior one of those is he coming up?

1:10:00

Japie and Alon, they

1:10:02

are different players. You know, they're more... If

1:10:05

you talk about Alon, Alon

1:10:07

is the guy who is going to score 50

1:10:09

goals every season, you know? Playing

1:10:12

good or playing bad, he's going to score goals. Inside

1:10:15

the box, you know? Around the box. Inside

1:10:17

the box, yeah. I never saw a

1:10:19

guy like that, you know? And again, because he was

1:10:21

playing with Doga, so I watched Dogmon, you

1:10:23

know? Yeah, true, true. And

1:10:26

I was already saying to my brother, what? This guy is

1:10:28

that good. He scores every game,

1:10:30

three goals. He was like, this guy

1:10:32

in the box... Forget one,

1:10:34

yeah. Well, that's

1:10:37

Mbappe, Vinicius, the different player.

1:10:40

But yeah, definitely he's the one who is coming

1:10:43

to that level. Yeah,

1:10:45

yeah. I don't know

1:10:47

if he's going to win Ballon d'Or or something like

1:10:49

that because there's so many things to do to win

1:10:51

Ballon d'Or. But

1:10:53

yeah, he's going to be world class for the

1:10:55

last 10, 15 years. And

1:10:59

Rodrigo... You know me, Rodrigo, I'm

1:11:01

a huge fan of Rodrigo. Really? Wow.

1:11:04

Yeah, he's a good player. He's a good player. Who do

1:11:06

you, obviously? We

1:11:09

have this, obviously, everybody has this debate. For

1:11:11

you, who is the greatest? Who is the GOAT?

1:11:15

Ronaldo, Messi. Oh, no, this

1:11:17

again. Please. No,

1:11:19

but for me, Messi is the one. Messi

1:11:24

is the one. If you talk

1:11:26

about football, but then the people, they

1:11:28

have different opinions. Ronaldo

1:11:30

is the GOAT to score

1:11:33

goals. Exactly. Yeah. To

1:11:36

bring trophies to the team. To score goals.

1:11:38

Yeah. Goals and this guy

1:11:40

is, wow. You just... He's

1:11:43

a machine. Look at him now. He's 39. He's

1:11:46

still scoring goals. Yeah.

1:11:49

He's going to score goals. He's

1:11:51

50. Yeah. You

1:11:54

know? Me, I'm more

1:11:56

in the... My style of playing

1:11:58

is Messi. You know, it's those

1:12:00

kind of, for me, for me, for me, the

1:12:03

greatest is either, you know, and

1:12:05

then you have, like I said, is Jono be

1:12:07

me? I

1:12:09

mean, we have this today.

1:12:15

There's no right. It's

1:12:18

a debate. Is it? You have your

1:12:20

opinion. I'm all opinion. I think that's

1:12:23

the thing though. When I, when I speak about

1:12:25

it, you know, I get messages from, you know,

1:12:27

my Instagram, you know, I'm like you now. I

1:12:29

don't give a fuck what, what, what they, what

1:12:31

they write to me, you know, fuck it. I

1:12:33

don't play football anymore. And they

1:12:35

come to my Instagram and they start sending

1:12:37

messages. And now I send back Apathy. I

1:12:39

don't know. I don't joke right now. I

1:12:41

go back. I send back. You

1:12:44

know what I mean? But it's my opinion.

1:12:46

I'm allowed to have my opinion and

1:12:49

my opinion is same like you. I

1:12:51

think Ronaldo is the greatest goal scorer ever.

1:12:53

He will continue to score goals. But

1:12:56

as a footballer, as a complete

1:12:58

talent football player, it's no, it's

1:13:00

Lionel Messi. And for

1:13:02

me, that's my opinion. And

1:13:05

people can, you know, they can say whatever they want,

1:13:07

but that's my opinion. And I

1:13:09

just got to ask you on that, who do

1:13:11

you think, obviously now they both finish. I

1:13:14

don't think they will win Ballon d'Or anymore. Who do you

1:13:16

think the next Ballon d'Or is going to be?

1:13:21

I think now Ballon d'Or is just about

1:13:23

who is going to score more goals and

1:13:25

who is going to win Champions League. You

1:13:27

know? Wow. Because

1:13:30

for me, it's like you

1:13:32

just said before, it's opinion.

1:13:35

You know? For me, it's like if

1:13:38

you talk about best

1:13:40

player now, I don't

1:13:42

know. Alain is great. He's

1:13:45

great. He's going to score. He won Champions League.

1:13:48

He deserves to win Ballon d'Or. But

1:13:50

for me as a football

1:13:53

player, you know, it's

1:13:55

not the way I like to

1:13:57

watch football. Alain is going to score

1:13:59

three goals. Yeah, yeah. Well,

1:14:01

you know, when you say something like that, oh,

1:14:03

this guy don't respect Alan. Exactly. You

1:14:07

know, but it's not do I'm not

1:14:09

watching football for Alan. It's perfect the

1:14:11

way he's doing things. Yeah, but I'm

1:14:13

watching football for Bernardo Silva. Yes. For,

1:14:17

for Kevin De Bruyne for, I don't

1:14:19

know. Jude Bellingham. For,

1:14:21

for Jude Bellingham for, I don't

1:14:23

know, Jack Rillish. Yeah. You

1:14:26

know, those funny nuts made that this, you

1:14:28

know what I mean? Ed, and you've

1:14:31

mentioned man city players there. What about

1:14:33

this current Chelsea team? Do you stick

1:14:35

on the TV and watch Chelsea? My

1:14:39

kid, my second one, Leo is Chelsea

1:14:42

fan, but crazy. Wow.

1:14:45

He's sleeping with Enco Cushart now. He's

1:14:48

just waiting Enco Cushart to come back

1:14:50

on the pitch. But

1:14:54

no, it's, you know, as I said, as

1:14:56

a Chelsea fan is you want, you want

1:14:58

Chelsea to be first, you

1:15:00

know, you want Chelsea to, to win every game. You

1:15:03

know, I know they have, they have a good, they

1:15:06

have a good manager. I love Pochettino. So

1:15:10

I think it's the guy who can bring, you

1:15:12

know, back the team to where

1:15:15

should, you know, they should be

1:15:17

there. But the

1:15:19

Premier League is so hard. Yeah. You

1:15:21

know, the Premier League. So I think man

1:15:23

city, they are better than Chelsea.

1:15:26

You see Liverpool, they are better than Chelsea.

1:15:29

Tottenham. Tottenham. No,

1:15:32

no, Tottenham. But

1:15:34

right now, right now, right now, though, they're playing

1:15:37

a bit better. They're playing better. They're,

1:15:39

they're like third or fourth in the

1:15:41

league. They play, they play, they play

1:15:43

good football. Yeah. But you know,

1:15:45

Tottenham. As a Chelsea legend, you

1:15:47

also, you can't say that. No,

1:15:50

I'm not saying they're going to win the

1:15:52

league though. But right now, that's for

1:15:55

sure. For sure they're not going to win the league. For sure.

1:15:57

Tottenham and Arsenal for sure they're not going to win the league.

1:16:02

But no, no, you as a Chelsea fan, you

1:16:04

want Chelsea to be the best. But

1:16:07

it's so hard. It's so hard. There's

1:16:09

big change in the last two

1:16:12

years in the team, in not

1:16:14

just the players, but the owner

1:16:17

change. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

1:16:20

It's the new story of Chelsea. And as

1:16:23

a Chelsea fan, we just have to push them

1:16:25

to just follow them. And yeah. Yeah.

1:16:29

Do you like Cole Palmer, Eddyn?

1:16:31

Because he's an interesting one for me. I

1:16:33

actually, I saw Pep, he was

1:16:35

in Abu Dhabi recently, and you know, he doesn't

1:16:38

make mistakes often Pep. I'm

1:16:40

starting to think they were

1:16:42

a bit hasty getting rid of Cole

1:16:44

Palmer, Manchester City. He started brilliantly. I

1:16:46

know he's got a lot of penalties,

1:16:49

but he's a talented boy. You

1:16:52

have to score penalties. You do? Yeah.

1:16:55

And he's doing that. You know, people

1:16:57

just say, okay, penalty is easy, but

1:16:59

okay. You still have to go

1:17:02

and shoot. Exactly. Yeah.

1:17:05

Did you score penalty in your life? No.

1:17:08

Or maybe. It's not

1:17:10

that easy. In

1:17:13

Nigeria, I used to shoot the penalty. I used

1:17:15

to be the, you know how it is, huh?

1:17:17

In Nigeria, national team, basically

1:17:19

I was the Zidane in Nigeria,

1:17:21

national team. Not just

1:17:23

Zidane, in Nigeria you

1:17:25

have physio, doctor,

1:17:29

captain, ambassador of the

1:17:31

country. Bro,

1:17:34

just more than football. More

1:17:38

than football. I know that. No,

1:17:41

but just to take a family top

1:17:43

player. And you know, the left foot

1:17:45

is sometimes they have something magical. Yeah.

1:17:48

Yeah. Yeah. He's

1:17:50

been amazing with us. I mean, he has, I

1:17:52

think a lot of your fans will want to

1:17:54

know what's next is a

1:17:56

future in football. Totally done.

1:17:59

Could you ever be tempted at 30 feet to

1:18:01

come back? No, in the future

1:18:03

it's not in football, that's for sure. I

1:18:07

mean in football not as a manager, that's

1:18:10

for sure. But I

1:18:12

would love to do something in football like

1:18:14

but for kids. You

1:18:16

know that early like when they're five,

1:18:19

six, seven, at just the beginning when

1:18:21

they just want to play, no

1:18:24

tactics, no, they just

1:18:26

want to enjoy it.

1:18:28

That's my next step

1:18:30

now. I have to do something, you

1:18:33

know. Where there is no

1:18:35

money, there is no instructions,

1:18:38

just ten half foot man. That's

1:18:41

football. I can imagine what that team is going

1:18:43

to look like. And

1:18:45

you're going to see they're all going to finish

1:18:47

like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They

1:18:51

need defenders. A new way of training.

1:18:53

Defender, no, we don't play with

1:18:55

defenders. And

1:18:58

Edin, obviously you, your brother's fantastic footballer,

1:19:00

huge fan of Dorgan, what he did.

1:19:02

You've got boys, are they trending? Is

1:19:04

it football that they're leaning towards? Are

1:19:07

they going to be guys that we're

1:19:09

going to keep a close eye on?

1:19:11

Now they play, they play football, they

1:19:15

enjoy, you know. They're going to do

1:19:17

what they want. If they don't play football, they're going

1:19:19

to do something different. You know,

1:19:21

the only good thing is like if they

1:19:24

are in the world of football, I know

1:19:26

the world of football so I can teach

1:19:28

them things. Yeah, yeah. That's the only good

1:19:30

thing. If they play football, I know

1:19:33

they want to play football, they want to play, they

1:19:35

want to be professional. But

1:19:37

it's not easy to be professional.

1:19:39

Yeah, and you also know the

1:19:41

dad who's like, okay, play football.

1:19:44

You're not pushing them. You let

1:19:47

them be what they want to be, what they decide. I

1:19:50

know it's also hard to have a name like

1:19:52

that. You

1:19:54

have so many examples in football that you know,

1:19:57

you have the dad who has been top player. and

1:20:00

the kid, the driver, it's hard because

1:20:02

also of the name. Yeah. You

1:20:06

know, but you can't be like your dad or

1:20:08

you know, it's things sometimes for a kid, it's

1:20:10

not easy to hear, but yeah,

1:20:12

you know, they do what they want. If

1:20:14

they want to play tennis, they're going to play tennis. If they want

1:20:17

to play golf, they're going to play golf. They

1:20:19

want to do what they want. So

1:20:21

John has revealed in this podcast, Roger

1:20:23

Federer's his hero, the tennis fan. Oh

1:20:26

wow, me or me, number

1:20:28

one, Zidane Federer. Really? You

1:20:30

see? You see? Yeah. Federer.

1:20:33

Yeah, Federer for me. You know, I

1:20:35

have two girls, two girls twins and

1:20:38

they love to play tennis. Wow,

1:20:40

they don't really like it. I push them to the

1:20:42

lane. Let's put it that

1:20:44

way. But

1:20:46

you know, people, they always

1:20:49

compare. In this world, we

1:20:51

always compare things. Yeah. And

1:20:53

they always better Federer or

1:20:55

Nadal or Djokovic, you know.

1:20:57

Yeah. It's

1:21:00

like same with Messi, Ronaldo or

1:21:02

Zidane or Ronaldinho. If, let's

1:21:05

talk about Ronaldinho. If you take my

1:21:07

generation, we're all going

1:21:09

to say Ronaldinho was favorite. Yeah. Because

1:21:12

this guy was maybe, okay,

1:21:14

his prime was maybe two, three, four

1:21:17

years. Exactly. He

1:21:19

should don't have more, but

1:21:21

what he bring on the pitch, thank

1:21:23

you. Yeah, he was really good. And

1:21:27

this guy just brought us emotion. Yeah,

1:21:29

it's interesting because you're a little younger

1:21:32

than me, Ed, and I'm revealing my

1:21:34

age now. Ronaldinho was, as you say,

1:21:36

for two, three years. My guy, the

1:21:38

guy that I think was

1:21:40

Ronaldo Nazario, when he burst into

1:21:43

a PSV and then Barca, he

1:21:45

was doing things I'd never seen

1:21:47

before. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:21:49

No, no, no. Those Brazilians, but those

1:21:51

Brazilian people, players, they have something special,

1:21:53

man. I don't know what, but you

1:21:55

know what? They just play. They

1:22:00

don't care. They play for fun. And

1:22:02

we're gonna drink a beer together. And

1:22:06

that's football I love. What

1:22:09

you're saying, Edin, I think you might be

1:22:11

Brazilian. I think you might be Brazilian from

1:22:13

what you just said there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:22:15

I'm born in Copacabana. That's

1:22:18

the real story. What

1:22:21

a legend. Fantastic. We

1:22:24

used to call Cobham, Cobham Cabana. Yeah.

1:22:28

To fill this Britney land, fill in, you know.

1:22:32

I think that's only you that saw it.

1:22:34

Cobham Cabana. I know he used to, yeah.

1:22:36

Cobham Cabana. Antonio

1:22:40

Conte, do not go without. Listen,

1:22:42

Edin, you can stay with you all day.

1:22:45

Thank you so much. I know that you

1:22:47

are, you know, incredibly

1:22:49

the respect between the two of you, John.

1:22:51

How humbled are you that Edin has given

1:22:53

his time? I mean, I chased him for

1:22:56

two months. And obviously, he was like, don't

1:22:58

worry, don't worry. I will do it. I

1:23:00

promise you, don't worry. I will come. I

1:23:02

will be on your podcast. I never do

1:23:04

podcasts a lot. But for your podcast, I

1:23:06

will do it. And he kept doing

1:23:08

his work. So, I

1:23:10

mean, the respect we have and the relationship

1:23:12

that I have with him, you know, he

1:23:14

started obviously from the club and I was

1:23:16

so lucky to sit next to him. So,

1:23:19

I know him really well, really, really

1:23:21

well. And even in the boss, we used to sit

1:23:23

closer to each other. So, we

1:23:26

still have that respect. And I can tell the

1:23:28

truth. I just wanted to be like you. But

1:23:30

I'm angry he doesn't like my dressing today. You

1:23:32

know, I tried so hard to like to look

1:23:35

good. Look, he's completely disgusting, man. It's

1:23:40

better. It's better. You know, on the video, we don't see it.

1:23:45

Even my glasses, you don't like. Now

1:23:48

your glasses, okay. You're getting old. You're

1:23:50

getting old. You have to do something.

1:23:53

It's normal, my friend. You're

1:23:56

getting old. You're getting younger. You've

1:24:00

got no say, I'm only 30 twigs. Exactly.

1:24:04

You're a young pup and just find a

1:24:06

word from you. Because John's right, he's chased

1:24:08

you for two months. You've agreed

1:24:10

to do the podcast. You don't have to worry now

1:24:12

about John bothering you now, Eddyn. But

1:24:15

for you to come in this morning. I'm coming

1:24:17

to Madrid to meet him

1:24:19

for my next episode with him, face to

1:24:21

face. We are, I'm

1:24:23

coming. You're coming for him. But

1:24:27

your decision to do this, Eddyn. I mean, it was

1:24:29

a no brainer, right? You wanted to come on and

1:24:32

give your respect to John. No,

1:24:34

you know, at the beginning I was like, because

1:24:37

people from my family, they know, he

1:24:39

just say, like I say, I say, but thing

1:24:41

about me in a good way. But

1:24:43

you know, people, people, they thought always, no, he

1:24:46

just say, but thing, don't do it with him.

1:24:48

And I always okay. He's my friend. I don't

1:24:50

care. You know, we just, we just gonna have

1:24:53

fun. Yeah. And you, and you have

1:24:55

fun. I do it. I'm the

1:24:57

first one to do when they turn around. I'm

1:24:59

going to go there. I'm going to be there.

1:25:01

Thank you. Thank you. Thank

1:25:04

you. Thank you. Thank

1:25:06

you. Thank you. Thank you.

1:25:08

Enjoy retirement. I'm looking forward to seeing

1:25:10

that six year old playing football we've

1:25:12

never seen before in the coming years.

1:25:16

Be ready that is going to be the new generation. At

1:25:19

the end of the

1:25:21

game, they're going to end like

1:25:23

12, six, you know, something

1:25:25

like that. No, like one zero. Thank you.

1:25:28

Thank you so much. This

1:25:31

is Michaelo B from a super

1:25:33

Eagles and Chauncey Mirthada urging you

1:25:35

all to sign up with

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responsibly. Wow. I didn't

1:25:55

ask our John. You said he was going to be

1:25:57

blockbuster. I didn't expect him. to

1:26:00

be that good how honest and

1:26:02

candid and jovial what a pleasure he

1:26:05

was I spoke to a couple of

1:26:07

people before you know the port and

1:26:09

everybody said oh well he doesn't really

1:26:11

say much but I think and

1:26:14

I think that comes on again again from

1:26:16

what we said before we started the respect

1:26:19

the the the the the the friend exactly

1:26:21

the the love between both of us and

1:26:23

he's you know he's held nothing back real

1:26:28

unfiltered you know he's coming here and he

1:26:30

said the way it is and this is something

1:26:32

I love about Edin he will tell you how

1:26:34

it is and of course he's like I said

1:26:36

he smashed me to bits with my outfit it

1:26:42

is the Obi-Wan podcast made possible by Betwina

1:26:44

I do sincerely hope and you guys have

1:26:46

enjoyed that as much as John and I

1:26:48

have we'd love to hear from you please

1:26:51

do read the podcast give us your feedback

1:26:53

we're always in the market for a bit

1:26:55

of feedback we'd love to hear your thoughts

1:26:57

tell your friends about us as well do

1:27:00

subscribe to the Obi-Wan podcast across

1:27:02

all of your podcast platform as well

1:27:04

as YouTube and download it subscribe tell

1:27:06

your friends about it as well and

1:27:09

we really do appreciate your continued support

1:27:11

episode 11 Edin Azard

1:27:13

in the can next week

1:27:15

John we're going when we're we off to the

1:27:17

floor is yours who have we got well

1:27:20

I mean you mean after Edin yeah we've got

1:27:22

another big guy another big name on a big

1:27:25

name keep them coming you know what I mean

1:27:27

check on the way next week on the Obi-Wan

1:27:29

podcast made possible by bet winner we've got to

1:27:31

give loads of love to bet winner yes they've been

1:27:33

with us every step of the way in season

1:27:36

one John and they've been absolutely amazing

1:27:38

I mean the support the support they've

1:27:40

given us it would this wouldn't have

1:27:42

been possible without bet winner they've

1:27:45

been there supporting us you know they they came

1:27:47

in and they're like you know what we love

1:27:49

what you're doing we're gonna go all the way

1:27:51

with you and massive massive thanks a

1:27:53

bit yeah a reminder as well and the kale 12

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that's the promo code yet to take advantage

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of a bit winner dot com.

1:28:00

Do check them out. Fantastic supporters of

1:28:03

our podcast and well that is it

1:28:05

for another week. Ed and Hazard in

1:28:07

the can. We promised you fireworks, we

1:28:09

got that and more. Make sure to

1:28:12

again join us for episode 12 of

1:28:14

the pod next time around but for

1:28:16

myself and John.