The 7 Men Who Changed Football Forever — Transcript

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1. 0:00Footballers are often rebellious. They
2. 0:02wear flashy clothes. [music] They're
3. 0:03rude to referees. And they express
4. 0:05themselves on the pitch in a way that
5. 0:06pushes the rulebook to the very edge.
6. 0:08But one footballer wanted to alter how
7. 0:10football worked forever. Meet Jean Mark
8. 0:12Bosman and the game-changing rule he
9. 0:14created. See, in 1995, Bosman was fed up
10. 0:18with one particular aspect of football,
11. 0:20something that frustrated him so much he
12. 0:22even took UEFA to court for it. But he's
13. 0:24not alone. There's been countless
14. 0:26examples of footballers bending the
15. 0:27rules on and off the pitch for the
16. 0:29betterment of the game. From players who
17. 0:31created new positions to those who
18. 0:33battled against adversity to pave the
19. 0:34way for generations to [music] come,
20. 0:36we've highlighted the seven that we
21. 0:37believe are the most important for a
22. 0:39multitude of different reasons with some
23. 0:41of them having major impacts on the
24. 0:43modern day's game without their name
25. 0:44even being mentioned.
26. 0:51I want to begin with the players whose
27. 0:52impact is more obvious in the modern
28. 0:54game before moving to players who you
29. 0:55might not even know exist. So starting
30. 0:57with arguably the most influential
31. 1:00impactful player of all time, Cristiano
32. 1:02Ronaldo. And whether you believe he's
33. 1:04the greatest or not is actually
34. 1:05irrespective. The effects of his career
35. 1:07will live on forever. If we look at the
36. 1:09graph of some of the greatest goal
37. 1:10scorers we've ever seen, it really puts
38. 1:12it all into perspective. The likes of
39. 1:14Drogba, R9, Enri, all grace [music] this
40. 1:16elite group with over 400 career goals
41. 1:19each. But comfortably ahead of them is
42. 1:21Ronaldo. Well, Ronaldo before his 30th
43. 1:24birthday. But one striker who does beat
44. 1:26young Ronaldo is old Ronaldo with 491
45. 1:30goals scored after his 30th birthday.
46. 1:32His combined total is 954, miles ahead
47. 1:35of all these iconic strikers. He has
48. 1:37them trumped twice. And he's not exactly
49. 1:39slowing down either. If we look at his
50. 1:41goals throughout the years for Portugal,
51. 1:43he somehow seems to score more the older
52. 1:45he gets. In fact, a recent Weep study
53. 1:47investigated what Ronaldo was really
54. 1:49doing differently to be able to be such
55. 1:51an elite athlete at his big age. He
56. 1:53sleeps for around 7 hours and 15 minutes
57. 1:55a day, has a strict diet and a resting
58. 1:57heart rate of just 44 beats per minute.
59. 1:59And all this gives him a biological age
60. 2:01of 28.9, 11 years younger than his
61. 2:04actual age at the time. But the thing
62. 2:06that really makes the man for MadiRaa
63. 2:07stand out, especially towards the end of
64. 2:09his career, is the [music] impact he's
65. 2:10had on other people, footballers,
66. 2:12coaches, fans. His influence on the game
67. 2:14in terms of mentality is what makes him
68. 2:17more than just a great footballer. His
69. 2:18work ethic, discipline, obsession puts
70. 2:21him in a category with Kobe Bryant,
71. 2:23someone that has given everything in
72. 2:24their life to a sport to the point where
73. 2:26they've almost become synonymous with
74. 2:28it. Growing up, I heard countless
75. 2:29stories about how he worked [music]
76. 2:30harder than anyone else and his
77. 2:32self-belief was unbreakable. When
78. 2:34Adabayor joined Real Madrid in 2011, he
79. 2:36wanted to be the first to train it,
80. 2:38which started at 10:30. So, he arrived
81. 2:40at 9:00 a.m. to show his commitment. But
82. 2:42somebody was already there. Ronaldo was
83. 2:44in the pool swimming, and Adabayor found
84. 2:46out later that he'd been there since
85. 2:477:30. This kind of work in the shadows
86. 2:50in order to be the best is such an
87. 2:52inspiration to anyone trying to improve
88. 2:54in anything in life. And these effects
89. 2:56are felt for generations to come, even
90. 2:58shaping how new players and coaches
91. 2:59approach the game with such a focus on
92. 3:01hard work, training, and recovery as
93. 3:03well as talent. Cristiano has
94. 3:05undoubtedly changed how people look at
95. 3:07football off the pitch. But one player
96. 3:09revolutionized football on the pitch.
97. 3:11This is a touch map of our next player
98. 3:12in the 2014 World Cup game between
99. 3:14Germany and Algeria. You might be
100. 3:16thinking, Hummels, maybe Cruz, but this
101. 3:19was actually Germany's keeper, Manuel
102. 3:22Neuer. And this heat map might look
103. 3:23normal in 2025, but trust me, 11 years
104. 3:26ago, Nei was changing the way that
105. 3:28goalkeepers played football. Back then,
106. 3:30out of the box play from a keeper was
107. 3:31almost unheard of, but Yo Kim Love
108. 3:33wanted to play Neua as a fifth defender.
109. 3:35[music] He was one of the first in his
110. 3:37position to truly be comfortable with
111. 3:38the ball at his feet. And the idea was
112. 3:40for him to clean up loose balls and
113. 3:41overhit [music] passes to take some of
114. 3:43the pressure off the center backs and
115. 3:44keep them more positionally structured.
116. 3:46Love had high praises for Neuer, saying
117. 3:47[music] that he was just as technical as
118. 3:49midfielders in the squad. And under Pep
119. 3:51at Bayern, he had an insane pass
120. 3:52completion rate of 88%. Without Noi's
121. 3:55bravery and talent, we wouldn't see the
122. 3:56involvement keepers have in the modern
123. 3:58day game. Goalkeepers have so much more
124. 4:00freedom to sit higher and be involved in
125. 4:02the play. And it credits Neuer as a true
126. 4:04archetype of the game. Oh, and he wasn't
127. 4:06a bad shots stopper either. Most clean
128. 4:08sheets in Bundesliga history, [music]
129. 4:09most minutes per goal conceded, and
130. 4:11highest clean sheet percentage. The
131. 4:13fundamentals were already mastered, but
132. 4:15the German took goalkeeping [music] to a
133. 4:16whole another level. Noi is still
134. 4:18playing today, going under the radar
135. 4:20with one of the most decorated careers
136. 4:21of all [music] time and on top of his
137. 4:23World Cup, Champions Leagues, and
138. 4:24Bundesligers we have him to thank for
139. 4:26the sweeper keeper role. But whilst it's
140. 4:28one thing changing how a position is
141. 4:29played, it's a whole another thing to
142. 4:31create one from scratch. And that's
143. 4:32exactly what a 5'7 Frenchman did for
144. 4:35Chelsea. After his move from Madrid to
145. 4:37London in the summer of 2003, Claude
146. 4:39Malele was employed under Jose Mourinho
147. 4:41as a deep lying [music] central
148. 4:42midfielder. The original idea was to
149. 4:44counter the traditional 442 formation by
150. 4:47creating [music] a triangle in midfield
151. 4:48to outnumber the opposing two center
152. 4:50mids. But this little experiment
153. 4:52actually led to a whole new position in
154. 4:54football. Nowadays, it's one of the most
155. 4:56important roles in a football team. But
156. 4:58back then, Malle was sacrificing any
157. 5:00shot at personal glory, doing all the
158. 5:02dirty work covering the back line
159. 5:03[music] and anchoring the team's
160. 5:05midfield. He rarely got forward, scoring
161. 5:07just two goals for Chelsea in [music]
162. 5:08his entire career, but the impact on the
163. 5:10team was immense. Chelsea only conceded
164. 5:1215 goals all season, fewer than any team
165. 5:15in Premier League history. And Malele
166. 5:17was named player of the season by
167. 5:18Mourinho and thus [music] the Malele
168. 5:20role was born. He ended up leaving
169. 5:22Chelsea with a ridiculous 71% win rate,
170. 5:24but [music] his legacy lasted much
171. 5:26longer than his stint in London. He
172. 5:27stated himself, "I didn't do anything
173. 5:29[music] radically different. I'm simply
174. 5:31a more complete footballer." But fast
175. 5:33forward a few decades and we've seen
176. 5:34carbon copies of Malele holding down the
177. 5:37Chelsea [music] midfield. Firstly,
178. 5:38Kante, now Kaisedo, and they're both
179. 5:40regarded as two of the best players in
180. 5:42recent league history. [music] Now, this
181. 5:43role has become more vital than ever,
182. 5:45and is evident in fantasy football. CDMs
183. 5:47have never been more valuable in
184. 5:49fantasy. But with the new changes,
185. 5:50[music] you have players like Rice,
186. 5:51Enzo, Kaisedo, Bruno Garay, Jaca, and
187. 5:54Paulina. All in and around the top 30
188. 5:56point scorers. It just shows how far the
189. 5:58position has come and the extra
190. 6:00recognition has made people really
191. 6:01realize how important they are. But even
192. 6:03in his retirement, Malele is still
193. 6:05extremely humble, stating that people
194. 6:07talk about the Malele position, but I am
195. 6:09old and it's time that everyone started
196. 6:11calling it the Kante position. And Golo
197. 6:13deserves that. It just shows that the
198. 6:14kind of person he was was exactly
199. 6:15[music] the same on and off the pitch.
200. 6:17Completely selfless, someone willing to
201. 6:19sacrifice any personal gain in order for
202. 6:21the team to win. But while the birth of
203. 6:23a new position takes years of
204. 6:25adjustments and innovation, sometimes
205. 6:27the footballing timeline can be changed
206. 6:28in a singular moment. When Antinimp
207. 6:30Pananka stepped up to take the deciding
208. 6:32penalty against Germany in the 1976
209. 6:35Euros [music] final, I'm sure you know
210. 6:36what happened. But on top of the Czech
211. 6:38Republic making history by winning their
212. 6:40first and only major competition, an
213. 6:42iconic moment was born. [music] The
214. 6:43Penanka penalty technique named after
215. 6:45himself is a crafty way to catch a
216. 6:47keeper off guard with a chip down the
217. 6:49middle in a high pressure situation.
218. 6:51It's been used in some of the most tense
219. 6:52moments in footballing history like when
220. 6:54Zidane executed the perfect penanka
221. 6:56against Italy in the World Cup final
222. 6:58before getting sent off and losing or
223. 7:00when Perlo humiliated Johar in England
224. 7:02in the Euros. Even a couple of years
225. 7:04ago, Benzema scored a pananker at that
226. 7:06Eti had on his way to a legendary
227. 7:07Champions League and Balandor season.
228. 7:09Not only this, but Pankenka's [music]
229. 7:11paved the way for a world of new skills
230. 7:13and techniques being named after
231. 7:14players. The McGilli spin, Özil bounce,
232. 7:17the charisma travella, the fact that
233. 7:19lesserknown players can etch their names
234. 7:20in history with an expression of skill
235. 7:22and flare is yet another thing that
236. 7:23makes football so [music] special. It's
237. 7:25hard to imagine that any of these
238. 7:27changes could have happened without
239. 7:28courage. Ronaldo needed courage to back
240. 7:30up his training on the pitch. Neua
241. 7:32needed courage to play with the ball at
242. 7:33his feet and [music] Pena undoubtedly
243. 7:35needed it to opt for a chip penalty to
244. 7:37decide the fate of the Euros. But
245. 7:38there's one man who took courage to a
246. 7:40new level and with a single act of
247. 7:42extraordinary bravery changed football
248. 7:44for generations to come. In front of a
249. 7:46100,000 fans in 1978, Viv Anderson
250. 7:49walked out on Wembley as the first black
251. 7:51footballer to ever play for England.
252. 7:53Being a non-white footballer in the
253. 7:541970s, Anderson was subject to
254. 7:56horrendous racial abuse during his
255. 7:58[music] career. And before some games,
256. 7:59he wanted to pull out of playing due to
257. 8:01the sheer hatred he'd face in [music]
258. 8:02the warm-ups. But he stood strong and
259. 8:04stepping onto Wembley as the first black
260. 8:06player to ever do [music] so has paved
261. 8:08the way for generations to come. BBC
262. 8:10editor Rasheed Speed said, "Not only did
263. 8:12he help open the door for other black
264. 8:13players [music] to be considered for
265. 8:14England, but for myself and many other
266. 8:16families of British Caribbean descent.
267. 8:18[music] He helped legitimize our place
268. 8:20within a wider society. Anderson was a
269. 8:22trailblazer for changing [music]
270. 8:23England's view on race, not just on the
271. 8:25football pitch, but in day-to-day life
272. 8:27in this country. And if it [music]
273. 8:28weren't for Anderson in 1978, we might
274. 8:30not have the amazing multicultural
275. 8:32Premier League that [music] we do today
276. 8:33with players from all different
277. 8:34countries and cultures. In fact, since
278. 8:37the creation of the Premier League, the
279. 8:38proportion of black, Asian, and minority
280. 8:40[music] ethnic players has doubled from
281. 8:421992 to 2018. In 2022, 43% of players
282. 8:46were black. [music] And looking at the
283. 8:48English national team, five out of 11 of
284. 8:50our starters in the recent Euros were
285. 8:51non-white players. But even with all the
286. 8:53legends named already, one player may
287. 8:55have just changed the game more than
288. 8:57anyone, and it's got nothing to do with
289. 8:58how he played, who he was, or what he
290. 9:01looked like. Jean Mark Bosman was a
291. 9:03Belgian attacking midfielder who scored
292. 9:04a whopping five career goals and never
293. 9:08played in the top five league either.
294. 9:09His journey as a footballer was
295. 9:11underwhelming at best. So, what did he
296. 9:14do and why do we care? Well, in 1990,
297. 9:17Bosman was 25 and coming to the end of
298. 9:19his contract with Belgian side RFC Lege.
299. 9:22He wanted to leave after receiving a
300. 9:24better offer from the French side
301. 9:25Dunkerk. However, back in 1990, players
302. 9:28couldn't leave their club at the end of
303. 9:29their contract [music] without the club
304. 9:30either agreeing to let them go for free
305. 9:32or by receiving a transfer fee, and
306. 9:34Leesge demanded a fee, but Dunkkirk
307. 9:36refused to pay, resulting in Bosman
308. 9:38missing out on his desired move. His
309. 9:40contract ended and his new wages were
310. 9:42cut by 75%. And what followed was a half
311. 9:45decade long legal battle where Bosman
312. 9:47and his lawyers fought tirelessly
313. 9:48against the club, the Belgian FA and
314. 9:51UEFA, [music] claiming that players
315. 9:52deserve freedom of movement at the end
316. 9:54of their contracts. Bosman won the
317. 9:56brutal legal [music] case and the result
318. 9:57was that players whose contracts had run
319. 9:59out could leave on a free transfer with
320. 10:01complete choice over where they went. In
321. 10:03addition, it removed rulings on how many
322. 10:05foreign players clubs could have in
323. 10:06their squad, removing the cap of three
324. 10:08for European games. You [music] might be
325. 10:10thinking, "All this seems pretty
326. 10:11standard, but only 35 years ago, player
327. 10:14movement was incredibly restricted,
328. 10:15[music]
329. 10:16especially for the lesserknown lower
330. 10:17quality players who were treated like
331. 10:19pawns on a chessboard by the club. It's
332. 10:21hard to imagine a Real Madrid team where
333. 10:23the only three non-sp players were bale,
334. 10:25Benzema, and Ronaldo." Bosman's ruling
335. 10:27put the power back in [music] the
336. 10:28players hands, which was crucial in a
337. 10:30sport that was rapidly becoming all
338. 10:31about business. The post Bosman era saw
339. 10:34movement around Europe explode leading
340. 10:35to some [music] infamous free transfers
341. 10:37like Patrick Clver from Ajax to AC
342. 10:39Milan, Steve Mcman from Liverpool to
343. 10:41Madrid, and Soul Campbell from Tottenham
344. 10:44to Arsenal. I'm sure some Spurs fans
345. 10:45wish that Leage had let Bosman go in the
346. 10:47first [music] place. But thankfully for
347. 10:49us, they didn't. And thanks to Bosman's
348. 10:51frustration with his own situation, we
349. 10:53can watch Mbappe [music] tear it up for
350. 10:54Real Madrid rather than being miserable
351. 10:56at PSG, for example. Bosman once stated
352. 10:58in an interview, "I'm still waiting for
353. 11:00others to say thank you. Ronaldo,
354. 11:02Beckham, all of them. [music] But we
355. 11:04appreciate you, Bosman. However, I
356. 11:06believe there's one final player whose
357. 11:08impact on football is bigger than anyone
358. 11:09else's. Well, maybe not bigger, but
359. 11:12certainly more prevalent, [music] which
360. 11:13begs the question, who? And you might
361. 11:15have had your suspicions, but in my
362. 11:17opinion, it's Johan K. If we look back
363. 11:20through the video, he ticks a lot of the
364. 11:21boxes that have made our game changers
365. 11:23special. World-class player like
366. 11:24Ronaldo, check. Created or reinvented a
367. 11:27position like Neuer and Macle, check.
368. 11:29had a skill named after him like Panena
369. 11:31check. [music] And don't get me wrong,
370. 11:32he changed the game as a player. But for
371. 11:34me, it was his managerial
372. 11:36[clears throat] career, especially his
373. 11:37time at Barcelona, that really changed
374. 11:39the way that we play football today. In
375. 11:411988, Cro took charge of a struggling
376. 11:44Barcelona team, a team which lacked
377. 11:46identity and a core club [music] value.
378. 11:48In 8 years, he took them from a crisis
379. 11:50to four consecutive La Liga titles and
380. 11:53two Champions leagues. But as impressive
381. 11:55as this was, this was the gold standard
382. 11:57of Barcelona. And even though he made
383. 11:59huge improvements, other managers have
384. 12:01done this with Barcelona before, but
385. 12:03it's not about what KF won, it's about
386. 12:05how he won. Upon his [music] arrival,
387. 12:07the Dutchman had some very strong values
388. 12:09about how he wanted his players to play.
389. 12:11This regime had an immediate [music]
390. 12:12impact as all but 10 of the inherited
391. 12:14Barcelona squad were shipped out pretty
392. 12:16quickly. [music] Their replacements
393. 12:17weren't exactly superstars either, with
394. 12:19the likes of Michael Ludrup, Ronald
395. 12:21Keeman, and Pep Guardiola standing out
396. 12:23the most. Other names in the squad you
397. 12:25might recognize were Stokov, Valverde,
398. 12:27and Romero. But this Barca squad wasn't
399. 12:29about famous Brazilian wingers and
400. 12:30generational talent. [music] In fact, we
401. 12:32see a pattern with these players that
402. 12:34more are respected for their coaching
403. 12:36than their playing careers. [music] And
404. 12:37to understand why Valverde and Pep, for
405. 12:39example, went on to be such successful
406. 12:41managers, we need to [music] look back
407. 12:42at what they learned under their
408. 12:44managers themselves. Cro wanted his team
409. 12:46to have high possession and aggressive
410. 12:48pressing off the ball. Tactics that are
411. 12:49still incredibly effective today. He was
412. 12:51adamant about supporting emerging talent
413. 12:53from Lamasia Academy. [music] Again,
414. 12:55values that are still prominent at the
415. 12:57moment. and he ensured that Barcelona as
416. 12:58a club from top to bottom in every age
417. 13:01[music] group played football the exact
418. 13:03same way. This helped players move
419. 13:04seamlessly through the ranks with
420. 13:06players from the under 11s being
421. 13:07competent with possession football all
422. 13:09the way up into the first team. The
423. 13:11whole club had the same ideology which
424. 13:12built an identity that [music] still
425. 13:14makes Barcelona the most romantic club
426. 13:16in football. One player who benefited
427. 13:18from this the most was Guardiola
428. 13:19himself, handpicked by Cro of the B
429. 13:21team. Once in the first team, Pep said
430. 13:23that he felt like a student in [music]
431. 13:25training and every session was a
432. 13:26tactical masterclass from Cro. Pep
433. 13:28stated that Cro not only created desire
434. 13:30and hunger, [music] but helped him
435. 13:31understand where the hunger came from
436. 13:33and how it could be channeled to make
437. 13:34him better as a player. His vision for
438. 13:36the game was like no one else's. Johan
439. 13:38Cro painted the chapel, Guardiola said,
440. 13:41and Barcelona coaches since merely
441. 13:43restore and improve it. It's hard to
442. 13:44understand exactly what Croy said or did
443. 13:46in these sessions, but it's clearly had
444. 13:48a profound effect on everyone who was
445. 13:50present.
446. 13:50>> [music]
447. 13:50>> It's that unbreakable influence he's had
448. 13:52on the most influential footballing
449. 13:54minds of our time which makes me believe
450. 13:56that he's had the biggest individual
451. 13:57[music] impact on this sport. He's like
452. 13:59the master splinter of football with his
453. 14:01disciples shaping and evolving the game
454. 14:02in [music] his memory. Pep claims that
455. 14:04his vision for football is 80%
456. 14:06influenced by K and that without him he
457. 14:08wouldn't be a fraction [music] of the
458. 14:09manager he is today. And this is
459. 14:11arguably the greatest manager of this
460. 14:13generation. [music] And without Pep, we
461. 14:15have no Mesa, no Arteta, no Alonzo. And
462. 14:18these are also managers that are
463. 14:19dominating in Europe themselves through
464. 14:21[music] the identity that KF created.
465. 14:23Lewis Enrique, recent quadruple winner
466. 14:25with PSG last season, said he will
467. 14:27continue copying and improving his style
468. 14:29of attacking football. And the sheer
469. 14:30amount of trophies that have been won
470. 14:32through his ideology is just insane.
471. 14:34Just through the Premier League tree,
472. 14:36there's been nearly [music] 60 trophies
473. 14:37as a result of Cro's teaching. This
474. 14:39diagram showcases just how beautiful the
475. 14:41influence of Cro really is. It's no
476. 14:43coincidence that his two main [music]
477. 14:45clubs, Ajax and Barcelona, have two of
478. 14:47the most productivemies in Europe. And
479. 14:49there's a massive butterfly effect
480. 14:50that's still unfolding today. Without
481. 14:52Cro, [music] Pep might not have managed
482. 14:54at Barcelona and helped create the
483. 14:55attacking monster that is Messi. Without
484. 14:57prioritizing the academy, we wouldn't
485. 14:59have seen Xavian Iniesta dominate world
486. 15:01football for the better part of a
487. 15:02decade. Jai then might not have managed
488. 15:04Barca himself. And while he didn't have
489. 15:06the [music] most successful stint, what
490. 15:08he did excel at was developing Pedri
491. 15:10Gabi and other Lamasia stars. [music]
492. 15:12Without that, Barcelona might not even
493. 15:13be where they are today. And who knows,
494. 15:15Linha Ma might have not even made his
495. 15:17senior debut [music] yet. Even Pep
496. 15:19trusting a keeper like Neuer at Bayern
497. 15:21to contribute to keeping the ball can be
498. 15:22traced back to Cro's possession tactics.
499. 15:24[music] No CR, maybe no sweeper keeper.
500. 15:26The bottom line of Johan C's ideology
501. 15:28was that he wanted to [music] entertain.
502. 15:30Under his statue at the camp new, it
503. 15:32reads go out and enjoy which humanizes
504. 15:35football in the most humbling [music]
505. 15:36way. Cro also lives on through his
506. 15:38foundation with over 200,000 children
507. 15:40benefiting worldwide with five
508. 15:42institutes, threemmies, and four
509. 15:44colleges. Whilst it's [music] not
510. 15:45obvious at first glance, his impact on
511. 15:47the game and who he was as a player and
512. 15:49a manager undoubtedly [music] makes him
513. 15:51one of, if not the most influential
514. 15:53footballing names of all time. I'd give
515. 15:55absolutely anything to be at just one of
516. 15:57those training sessions in the '90s
517. 15:59because something magical was happening.