Joe Tones

🚨Federico Valverde on his relationship with José Mourinho: 🗣️ Federico Valverde: “I don’t believe José is an ordinary manager. I see him as a different breed of coach. When he walks into the dressing room, you can feel his presence even when he isn’t speaking. He doesn’t need to shout or demand attention. Somehow, everybody knows when he’s around. “He has this incredible ability to make you think about football differently. Sometimes, he doesn’t even need a long tactical explanation. He can say one sentence, and you’ll spend the next few days thinking about what he meant. “I remember one training session very clearly. We were playing rondos, and it was my turn to go into the middle. Mister shouted from the sidelines. “He said, ‘Fede, don’t move before the ball. Wait for the timing. Fede, wait!’ “I shouted back, ‘Okay, Mister!’ “Then Vini started faking passes and making little movements to get me to commit. Normally, I would try to anticipate everything and win the ball as quickly as possible. But I remembered what José had just told me, so I stayed patient. “I waited, watched his movement and chose the right moment to press. After the session, I realized that was exactly what Mourinho wanted me to understand. Football isn’t always about being the fastest person to react. Sometimes, it’s about knowing when NOT to react. “But the most interesting part happened when we started practicing shooting. “I’m quite confident in my shooting ability. I consider myself one of the best shooters in this dressing room, so I wasn’t particularly worried when Mourinho decided to test me. “He walked towards the goal, placed a small marker in the top-right corner and called me over. “He said, ‘Fede, hit that spot.’ “I smiled because, honestly, I thought it was an easy target. I picked up the ball, took my position and hit it. “It went nowhere near the marker. “Mister looked at me and asked, ‘Do you want to go again?’ “I said, ‘Yes, Mister.’ “He simply replied, ‘Go.’ “I took another shot, and I missed again. “Then he called me over. He looked at me and asked, ‘Fede, do you know why you missed?’ “I told him, ‘Maybe I didn’t get the right contact with the ball.’ “He shook his head and said, ‘No. You missed because you were already celebrating before you kicked the ball.’ “[laughs] I didn’t understand what he meant at first. “He continued, ‘You saw the target and decided it was easy. You were so confident that you forgot to concentrate on the details. You didn’t study your position, you didn’t control your body properly, and you didn’t give the shot the attention it deserved. You thought your ability would do everything for you.’ “That hit me. “He picked up another ball and said, ‘Fede, talent gives you the opportunity to do something special. But concentration is what allows you to repeat it. Never become so comfortable with your ability that you stop respecting the details.’ “I took the third shot, and this time I hit the marker. “He looked at me, smiled and said, ‘You see? You’re not a bad shooter. You just needed to stop thinking you were one.’ “Everybody started laughing, including Vini. But I never forgot those words. “That’s José Mourinho. He can spend an entire training session teaching you something about football, then use one small moment to teach you something about life.” “People often talk about his trophies, his personality and the way he handles the media. But what I appreciate most is how he understands the human side of football. “He knows when a player needs encouragement, when he needs criticism and when he simply needs somebody to challenge his thinking. “Sometimes he’ll make a joke with you, and five minutes later he’ll give you a lesson you’ll remember for the rest of your career.

🚨Luis Enrique on Harry Kane winning the Ballon d’Or. 🎙️ Reporter: Luis, what was your reaction to Harry Kane being announced as this year’s Ballon d’Or winner? 🗣️ Luis Enrique: “Honestly, I didn’t watch the ceremony. We were playing a match, and my priority was my team. After our game, I checked my phone to see who had won, and I saw that Harry Kane had received the award. “I was surprised. Very surprised. “And I’ll be honest with you, I don’t believe he deserved to win it. “I have said this before, and I will say it again: if we’re talking about the players who truly deserve this recognition, then I believe a Paris Saint-Germain player should have won it. Fabian Ruiz, Ousmane Dembélé or Vitinha. Those are the names I expected to see at the top. “Harry Kane did not win the Champions League. Paris Saint-Germain won it. “He wasn’t the Champions League’s top scorer either. Kylian Mbappé finished ahead of him. “He didn’t win the World Cup. Fabian Ruiz was part of the team that lifted that trophy. And Mbappé was the leading scorer at the tournament. “So I want somebody to explain the criteria to me. What exactly are we rewarding? Individual performances? Team achievements? Goals? Trophies? Consistency throughout the season? “Because when you look at those achievements, I struggle to understand how Harry Kane came out ahead of the players I’ve mentioned. “You cannot tell us that the Champions League is the biggest competition in club football, celebrate the team that wins it, celebrate the players who decide it, and then hand the biggest individual award to someone who didn’t even win that competition.” “Let me be clear: Harry Kane is an excellent footballer. I have enormous respect for him. He’s a fantastic striker, he scores goals, he works for his team and he has had an outstanding career. “But respecting a player doesn’t mean you have to agree that he deserves every individual award. “Vitinha was exceptional. Fabian Ruiz was exceptional. Ousmane Dembélé had a season that deserves to be remembered. These players contributed to a team that achieved something extraordinary, and I believe their performances should have carried more weight. “What concerns me is the message this sends to other footballers. You spend an entire season competing at the highest level, winning the biggest trophies and delivering in the most important matches, only to see the individual recognition go somewhere else. “Of course, the Ballon d’Or is decided by voters, and everybody has their own opinion. But that doesn’t mean we cannot question the outcome. “An award as prestigious as the Ballon d’Or must have a clear standard. Otherwise, players will start wondering whether what they achieve on the pitch actually matters.” “I don’t want to take anything away from Harry Kane. Congratulations to him. He has won the award, and nobody can take that moment away from him. “But if you ask me whether I agree with the decision, my answer is no. “Footballers should be rewarded for what they actually achieve, not simply for the popularity of their name or the story surrounding their season. “And when I look at the players who delivered for Paris Saint-Germain, I see footballers who had every reason to believe they could win this award. “That’s why I’m questioning the decision. Not because Harry Kane is a bad player, but because I believe there were stronger candidates. “If we can no longer agree on what makes a player worthy of the Ballon d’Or, then perhaps the bigger question is not who won it. It’s what exactly the award is supposed to represent.”

🚨Cristiano Ronaldo on the most underrated moment of his career: 🗣️ Cristiano Ronaldo: “People remember the goals, the celebrations and the trophies, but there are moments in my career that mean much more to me than people realise. “I remember my second return to Manchester United and that night against Tottenham. I had heard the questions. People were asking whether I could still perform at the highest level, whether I could still decide big games and whether the best days of Cristiano Ronaldo were already behind him. “I remember walking into Old Trafford that evening and looking around. I knew what that stadium meant to me. I knew what the supporters expected, and I knew I had something to prove. “Then the game started, and I scored that wonderful goal. The feeling was incredible. But I didn’t stop there. I scored again, and then completed my hat-trick. Three goals against Tottenham, at Old Trafford, in front of supporters who had welcomed me home. “I remember looking at the crowd and thinking, ‘This is why I came back. This is why I never stopped believing.’ “That night wasn’t just about scoring three goals. It was about reminding people that you should never write off somebody who still has the hunger to fight.” “But there is another moment I will never forget: the Euro 2016 final against France. “I had dreamed of winning something with Portugal for so many years. Then, in the final, I got injured and eventually had to leave the pitch. I remember crying because I thought my opportunity to help my country win that trophy had disappeared. “But I refused to stop contributing. I went to the touchline, stood beside Fernando Santos and started encouraging my teammates. I was shouting instructions, motivating them and asking them to keep fighting. “When Éder scored, I completely lost control. I was jumping, screaming and celebrating like a little boy. And when the final whistle came, I couldn’t explain what I was feeling. “I couldn’t win that final with my feet, but I helped my country win it with my heart. That night, I understood that sometimes being a leader means finding a way to contribute even when you cannot play.” “I remember looking at my teammates lifting that trophy, and I felt an emotion I had never experienced before. It was bigger than football. It was for Portugal, for our families and for every person who had believed in us. “I wanted to be on that pitch until the very last second, but perhaps that night taught me something more important: your responsibility to your team doesn’t end when you leave the field. “People often think courage means playing through pain or taking responsibility when everything is going well. But sometimes courage is accepting that you cannot control a situation and still refusing to give up. “At Manchester United, I had to be brave enough to return to a place where expectations were enormous and prove myself all over again. With Portugal, I had to be brave enough to watch from the sidelines and still believe we could win. “Those moments taught me something I will carry for the rest of my life. “A footballer isn’t only remembered for the goals he scores when everything is going well. Sometimes, you’re remembered for what you do when life takes the ball away from your feet.”