Every month, our team deliver the biggest names, the finest features and the most respected columnists in football. FourFourTwo is the only magazine that truly reflects football in all its extremes. Spectacular, dramatic, hilarious, opinionated, authoritative, intelligent, quirky - from the grass roots up, if it's in the game, it's in FourFourTwo.
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MANUEL PELLEGRINI • “I knew Guardiola was coming when I was Manchester City boss – the club had already told me they wanted Pep when I arrived”
HIGHS & LOWS
MEANWHILE IN… • ...Germany, the annual team photo is back – after a year of social distancing, it had become an alien concept
GAMES THAT CHANGED MY LIFE MICHAEL ESSIEN
THE SOCCER MOSES • MLS has a new cult hero, who’s taken support to Biblical levels
ASK A SILLY QUESTION KAREN ‘PEAKY’ CARNEY • The 144-cap former England star chats brilliant Brummies, unfulfilled aims... and fighting wolves
THE ULTIMATE QUIZ • One-goal wonders, big spenders and fallen flops are all included in this issue’s selection of tricky teasers...
BOBBY GILLESPIE • The Primal Scream frontman on trousering Wembley turf, King Kenny’s magic, stray wine bottles – and the time Oasis forced him to play centre-back
NOT SO FAST, BADER… • After breaking the world caps record, Kuwait’s skipper has a new rival
BARI • The Italians signed David Platt for a British record fee – now they’re in Serie C
REQUIRED READING
STERN JOHN • The former Birmingham striker set records with Trinidad & Tobago – but now he’s in charge of the world’s worst team
THE VIEW FROM THE STANDS
STAR LETTER
WIN!
YOU DON’T KNOW JACK • Jack Grealish became a national icon this summer, despite starting only once for England at Euro 2020 – such is the appeal of Manchester City’s £100 million man. Yet reaching cult status hasn’t been straightforward for Britain’s costliest player, who has battled family tragedy, derby day carnage and a near-death experience
IN THE GENES
MILESTONE MEN • These five Brits all broke new ground – but only two of them have gone on to win a league title...
DRIBBLE ME THIS.. WHO’S THE GREA TEST OF THEM ALL? • Jack Grealish has carved out a reputation for winning free-kicks on command, but even his dazzling footwork doesn’t get him onto this rundown of all-time Premier League dribble kings. Not yet, anyway...
THE DEATH OF LA LIGA • Lionel Messi’s future was merely one of Barcelona’s major problems amid financial chaos this year, while Real Madrid’s frugality has made them a fading force in Europe. Are Spain’s struggles just a short-term crisis, or something much more troubling? FFT gets digging...
THE CHAAAAAAAM PIIIIIOOOOOOONS! WHAT TO WATCH IN 2021-22 • After Chelsea’s unexpected success, the Champions League returns – with a few not-so-minor adjustments. Star signings and a major rivalry reignited make for another juicy campaign
“WE’RE SCHEISSE AND WE KNOW WE ARE” • Germany’s second division could be far more exciting than its top flight this season, with a pile of hungover fallen giants slogging it out for promotion. The unthinkable has become reality for Schalke and Hamburg in 2021, so FFT headed to Gelsenkirchen to discover their stories of woe
KINKY BOOTS • Georgi Kinkladze was a light in the darkness of Manchester City’s late ’90s misery, ensuring a special place in Maine Road history. More than 25 years on, it’s all still love – not least from the man himself, who takes FFT back through a wild life of Maradona, Madchester and Vinnie Jones menacing
GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND
TOO GOOD TO GO DOWN? • Just like Kinkladze, these class acts...