A season and a half on, and last month’s unveiling of Thomas Gravesen on the pitch at the Bernabeu does little to explain the mystery of why Claude Makelele was allowed to leave Real Madrid. If anything, the arrival of the former Everton midfielder in the Spanish capital merely accentuates what an inexplicable strategy it was.
It has taken many months for Florentino Perez, the Real president, even to hint that taking the oil out of his magnificent machine might not have been his wisest decision, but it was not difficult to read between the lines when he welcomed Gravesen as ”the player we were lacking”.
Those words floated over Europe and landed with particular resonance at Makelele’s feet. ”The player we were lacking.” Does Perez at last realise what he lost when he sold Makelele? The unflappable Frenchman nods as he considers the question. His stare is direct, his tone of voice cool and even. ”I think so. Even though he doesn’t say it outright, I know he knows.” Bullseye.
Although Perez is a man not easily crossed, Makelele is smart and sufficiently sure of himself to stand up, unflinchingly, for what he believes in. That is the way he plays and the way he is. In relaxed mood at his club’s new training complex in the Surrey countryside, Makelele looks every inch a man who is, as the French say, comfortable in his skin. Real’s loss has unquestionably been Chelsea’s significant gain.
Regular Chelsea watchers have noted that he looks a different player in this, his second season at Stamford Bridge. More motivated, more determined? The notion makes Makelele hoot with laughter and slap his thigh. There is no scale when it comes to motivation and determination in his football. The idea that Jose Mourinho has pressed buttons that Claudio Ranieri could not find cuts no ice.
Makelele’s explanation is simple: it took him some time to get going last year as his pre-season work was hampered while he was in limbo between Madrid and Chelsea. This time around, he has hit the right notes from day one. ”Success in football is not given to you,” he tuts. ”Success in football is working every day. What we reap is what we sow.”
Makelele was born in Kinshasa the year before Muhammad Ali famously rumbled in the jungle. Although his family left for the Paris suburbs when he was three, his Zairean roots remain a strong touchstone for the Makelele spirit.
”Every year I return to Africa, where my parents have a little business and a holiday home. I love the ambience. It’s a force of energy.”
Energy has always been a central part of his football. He was fortunate to have the opportunity as a youngster to channel it at Nantes, famed for its highly technical and tactical football school. ”At the time we had the number-one team in France, with an exceptional academy, great results, and everything was on the up,” Makelele recalls.
”We won the league in 1995 and the following year reached the semifinals of the Champions League. For a young team from a small club like Nantes to play a semifinal against Juventus was incredible. We lost 4-3, it was a beautiful adventure, and it made me even more ambitious. I saw myself going to a big club and winning big trophies.”
But he would have to overcome a substantial hiccup first. Makelele had outgrown Nantes by the time he was 24 and with the World Cup in France a year away, it was time to push on.
Although clubs in Spain and Italy expressed an interest, he decided to stay in his adopted homeland.
”I felt I was too young to go abroad, and also with the World Cup coming I didn’t want to jeopardise anything.” That is precisely what he did by joining a shambolic Olympique Marseille. He, and they, had a rotten season. ”The pressure was enormous and the team was hardly superb,” he reflects. ”It was a season of sufferance.”
Makelele missed the World Cup victory, as a reborn Emmanuel Petit and a youthful Patrick Vieira seized their chance to grab the midfield spots alongside Didier Deschamps. Was Marseille a mistake, then?
”No, I don’t think so. If you take the long-term view, it served me well. It helped me that I left the club with a lot of anger because I knew my qualities and playing in that team was not for me. I moved to Celta Vigo and came back stronger in Spain. It wasn’t me who made the mistake.
”After Marseille, I came to appreciate football again in Vigo. I arrived at a club I didn’t know anything about so it was a bit of an adventure. And I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. There were some very good players — Valery Karpin, Alexandr Mostovoi, Michel Salgado, who went to Madrid with me. In Vigo I regained the taste for playing football.”
It was an experience that had both positive and negative repercussions: Real Madrid noticed him, France forgot him.
Breaking into an international scene that gave the impression of being a loved-up in-crowd (and a successful one at that) was a tall order.
”It’s difficult to introduce a player into a close-knit group because it makes the group more fragile,” he muses. Makelele missed the boat to an extent, being on the periphery when France were at their all-conquering best, and only establishing himself as a regular when the burden of expectation became overpowering and results dropped.
He chose to retire from les Bleus early. In time, people will be surprised to recall how a player who scaled such heights, winning top honours with Real Madrid (and, in all probability, with Chelsea, too), earned only 33 caps.
”Yeah, it’s a shame,” Makelele says. ”But in a way it’s a good thing France forgot about me, as it means that everything I achieved in my career I did by myself. I didn’t need the help of the French team. That gives me great personal satisfaction. I am sitting here at Chelsea and I only owe that to myself.” France need him now, but he has quit internationals.
Compared with the likes of Deschamps and Vieira, Makelele was a late developer at the highest level. The early years were modest. It took him nine years to develop steadily at Nantes, Marseille and Vigo before he was catapulted into the most famous club side in the world.
Is there a better feeling for a professional footballer than hearing the words: ”Real Madrid want you”? Makelele chortles. Perhaps not the most glamorous player in the Bernabeu’s home dressing room, he became a pivotal player greatly appreciated by his peers. He played the role Eric Cantona famously called ”water carrier” to perfection, and he was perfectly happy.
”Every player had his responsibility on the pitch — the wingers, the creators, the ball winners. That was our strength,” he reflects. ”We knew each other by heart, and there was a perfect balance. We knew when the moment was there, like telepathy. On top of that we had a team with geniuses on the pitch. We were practically unbeatable.”
Was it difficult to feel part of the team when others clearly commanded higher status and salary?
”Not for me. In general you can’t ask for the same salary as another player because his career is his career and yours is yours. In my eyes, everyone has the opportunity to get what they deserve. My complaint was that I didn’t feel I was getting what I deserved. It was nothing to do with any comparison to anyone else.”
His complaint came about when Perez sought him out to discuss his contract.
”I took the president’s verbal agreement, we shook hands, and I believed everything was arranged. That was my stupid mistake,” Makelele reflects.
”When you shake somebody’s hand you should realise that it means nothing if they later deny shaking your hand. That was the reason I was disappointed. To look into my eyes and tell me there are no problems, and then to let me down and renege on a deal, well, I didn’t understand that. When I expressed my desire to leave, people didn’t understand why. But it was because of a lack of respect that I asked Real to let me go.”
Roman Abramovich was waiting stage left, and £1,9-million of the Russian’s fortune secured his transfer in August 2003. Everyone now recognises how a Makelele-sized hole took a large chunk out of Real’s team and neither David Beckham nor Guti, and now Gravesen (who is more of a creative midfielder than a defensive screen), can stylistically fill the hole left by the little big guy in midfield.
Makelele has never been under the impression that pure ability is everything in football. This theme comes across in his appraisal of his all-time favourite player, Pele.
”I loved him not only for his skill as a player but for his awesome charisma. Just having him on the pitch must have given you the impression of having a lion out there. I reckon that’s why people were scared of him, because he possessed such aura.”
Makelele is only 1,68m, but his physique is so well developed his muscles threaten the seams of his ragged jeans and black sweater. That is what enables him to dominate against opponents who appear bigger — but not necessarily stronger. With Frank Lampard on one side of him and either Tiago or Alexei Smertin on the other, Chelsea’s midfield is a formidable force.
”We have great solidarity and you can see that on the pitch. When one tackles another supports him, and that is what makes us move forward. The system suits us very well because we have a strong defensive base, and on top of that we can score at any moment.” He is, however, less likely to score. He has a career ratio of 0,01 goals per game.
”At Madrid I scored once!” he interrupts. ”It was a great goal, one that qualified us for the European Cup. I hope to manage at least one goal for Chelsea. But it’s OK. I know what my work is.”
Makelele, naturally, is happy with the season so far, although he refuses to make assumptions about silverware.
”We have a lot of chances to win trophies, but it’s too early to speak of it because there are so many games ahead. The month of February sees the return of Champions League and international matches so it will be tougher to stay concentrated.
”A big points advantage is very dangerous because you can feel too comfortable. We have to keep reminding ourselves Arsenal and Man United can come back at us at any moment. We’ve got to think about increasing the gap.”
As for the Champions League, he is assured of a warm reception at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
”It should be a very good game. It’s the kind of the game that would have been better as a semi or final, maybe it has come too early,” says Makelele. ”It’s going to be a fight between two completely diverse styles of football, but both are very direct and very attacking. I think there will be goals and it could be a crucial result for the competition. Once you get rid of one of these teams, the other will feel they have a clear path to the trophy.”
He is serious about winning. So much so he that will go to extremes, such as the unsavoury incident where his theatrics were responsible for a Monaco player being unfairly sent off in last season’s Champions League semifinal.
He demonstrates a more agreeable example of his winner’s mentality when asked who would win should Madrid and Chelsea meet. He pauses, grins and replies: ”The one that I play for!” — Â