Barcelona wanted to have me at the Nou Camp... but Mum put phone down on them ADAMA TRAORE
Johnson on route to the top EXCLUSIVE RUDDY’S KEEN TO KEEP CITY UNDERDOGS ON TIGHT LEASH
LEE JOHNSON hopes a victory over Wolves today will serve as a reminder that the best young English coaches can mix it with their foreign peers at the top end of our game.
Johnson’s Bristol City will reach their first FA Cup quarter-final for 45 years if they beat Nuno Espirito Santo’s men from Molineux.
He said: “The big question as a young coach is what are we doing if we see German Under-23 coaches beating managers at our top two levels to jobs which come free?
“We are now seeing German clubs take young English players like Jadon Sancho, which is interesting. These are players who have been coached by English coaches, yet we are bringing German coaches here.
Quality
“Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t got an issue with foreign coaches here, all I am asking is that there is a route both ways.
“I want to see more done to highlight the quality of young English coaches – there are so many who don’t get the opportunity.
“By the same token there is probably a route for young English managers to get to the Premier League by going out to come in – to go abroad and get noticed.
“One of my frustrations – not for myself because I’m at a brilliant club and I am still pushing, but for some of my friends – is that we should be getting these opportunities as well.
“I want to see our English Under-23 coaches, because they are high quality, being selected by foreign clubs.”
Neil Moxley
LIKE many of us receiving a phone call from an unknown number, Fatoumata Traore gave them short shrift.
Having just returned from holiday, she wasn’t in the mood.
But in the end, curiosity got the better of her. That was one of her best decisions.
Her son, Wolves’ flying winger, Adama Traore, takes up the story. He said: “We had been
to JOHN RUDDY is praying that his Wolves don’t get bitten by the underdogs today.
The Premier League side face Championship Bristol City at Ashton Gate in the fifth round of a competition that has already provided plenty of shocks.
Lee Johnson’s City have won nine consecutive games and will fancy their chances of an upset. And keeper Mali to see my family for the first time. My mum didn’t take her phone because people from work would have been calling her all the time.
“When we got back we noticed a lot of missed calls from the same number.
“It rang again. That same number. It was Barcelona. They were on the phone asking about me going training with them.
“My mum said, ‘You’re joking’ and put the phone down.
“They had to call back again and convince her it was true!”
Greats
What a good job she believed them in the end. Or else it would have robbed her son, then just eight-years-old, of a footballing education like no other.
Rubbing shoulders with Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta and Xavi on a daily basis. Not just greats of the modern era – but of any era.
Traore said: “It was amazing. Being with the likes of Neymar, Messi, Alexis Sanchez – but Xavi was the one. He was a very good captain.
“He used to speak about his life. He had
been in the Ruddy (left) admitted: “You look at the fixtures and there’s a couple of possible banana skins and we fall into that category.
“Bristol City are on a great run of form, unbeaten at home since November, so we’re under no same position as us, so he knew. He would help with advice on girlfriends and women too, because it’s a difficult life to lead.
“If you go to eat or go to some places – people don’t understand you need time with your wife, family or children and people will jump on you.
“People will say, ‘Please can I have a photo?’ or ‘I want a photo’. And you have to know how to treat them.
“Xavi used to spend a lot of time with us. We were at such a young age and we had money. He would say, ‘Don’t be stupid, these are the people you need to speak to’.
“He used to teach us about life off the pitch.
“Even now my Wolves’ teammates ask me about the likes of Messi and Neymar. They are confused and think these great players don’t work.
“They think they have talent, and that’s it – God giving them the gift.
“But that is not true. Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, they work all the time, and they work so hard after training.
“They’ll be the last one out there.
“They take care of a lot of things.
Their illusions that it’s going to be tough. We have to make sure we’re fully on it to ensure that we get through to the next round.
“Progression is the aim and then who knows where it takes us? We’re two games away from Wembley so diet, eating, sleeping. They’re totally dedicated, and that’s why they are there. You can’t be there 10 years in the top level by doing nothing. That’s impossible.
“They have one person... who they pay a lot of money to take care of them, who tells them to eat this, eat that.
“But there are some machines doing that now at Barcelona, they show you if you eat, or drink coffee, whether it is better for you to do it before the game or after the game. The machine tells you.”
After two different campaigns, with relegated Aston Villa – ‘We had five managers in one season’ – and Middlesbrough, Traore rejected the chance to further his career in Spain or in Germany.
Staying
Now he works after training, with manager Nuno Espirito Santo, heeding the lessons he learnt at the Nou Camp. He has not yet made the breakthrough totally in the league, and this FA Cup tie is an opportunity to shine. Traore, 23, added: “Last season my agent told me I had options to move away. I said, ‘No, I want to stay and prove to everyone in England how good I am’.
“Wolves is a good team. And I know Nuno from Spain. I know he can help me.
“We can achieve. I can’t say we will win the FA Cup. But I can tell you we’ll fight for it.”
the carrot is there and we have to make sure we grab it.
“Lee’s been there quite a few years and obviously as a player before that. He’s implemented his ideas and has been backed by the club. He’s brought in the players he feels play his style to the best of their ability and he’s done really well over the past couple of years.
“They were unfortunate to miss out on the play-offs last year, but they’re fighting again this year.”