Tag Archives: Chelsea

When one utters the phrase ‘the Makelele role’ one thinks of the most unglamorous role on a football pitch. It’s one of destoyer, interceptor, unheralded dictator of the team’s play and momentum. One then thinks of the diminutive Claude Makelele, who’s surname will forever be associatied with the defensive midfield position, having defined it over the best part of a decade after he came to prominence in France. It is quite pertinent that Makelele means ‘steele’ in Lingala, a language spoken in Zaire, the country of Claude’s birth.

Career in France:

Makelele was born in Zaire, as it was known then, and moved to France aged four. He is the son of a former footballer. Claude, unsurprisingly, worked very hard as youth at Brest, before moving to Nantes, a well established if middling Ligue 1 team at that time, in December 1991 when he was 18. By the beginning of the 92/93 season he was established in Nantes’ first team, and went on to make 169 appearances for the club over a five year period until 1997, scoring 9 goals in the process. During his time with Nantes he helped the team to a Ligue 1 title in 1995 and a Champions League semi-final in the following season. In 1997 he was signed by the French mega power that is Marseille, but only stayed for one season.

Career in Spain:

Makelele joined Celta Vigo in 1998, and it was here where his game began to change and he became an ‘anchor man’ or defensive midfielder if you will. Vigo were quite prominent in La Liga at this time, and Makelele played alongside the likes of Salgado, Valery Karpin, Mostovoi and Haim Revivo. He spent two seasons with Los Celestes, his time there ending in controversial circumstances, when he refused to train while Celta negotiated with Real Madrid over a fee for the player. This is, perhaps, the only time Makelele has courted controversy himself. He eventually joined Real for €14m in 2000 and went on to spend three very successful seasons with Los Merengues, winning everything but the Copa del Rey with Madrid. Makelele was ‘unloved’ at the end of his time at Real, having seen Del Bosque sacked and players joining who were, perhaps rightfully but that is a debate for another time, earning much more than Claude. He was encouraged by team-mates, including Zizou, to ask for a pay rise, which was flatly refused by Perez who famously said after his departure to Chelsea:

We will not miss Makélelé. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn’t a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres. Younger players will arrive who will cause Makélelé to be forgotten

His team-mates at the team were shocked at his departure, many believing he was a key player for Real during the previous trophy laden years. Zidane remarked ‘Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?’ upon Makelele’s departure to Chelsea in 2003. Fernando Hierro wrote fondly of Makelele in his autobiography, while also criticising Perez:

I think Claude has this kind of gift – he’s been the best player in the team for years but people just don’t notice him, don’t notice what he does. But you ask anyone at Real Madrid during the years we were talking about and they will tell you he was the best player at Real. We all knew, the players all knew he was the most important. The loss of Makélelé was the beginning of the end for Los Galacticos… You can see that it was also the beginning of a new dawn for Chelsea. He was the base, the key and I think he is the same to Chelsea now.

I think the above sums Makelele to a tee. Unnoticed, unheralded but always missed once he leaves.

Chelsea:

Makelele was one of the first signings once Chelsea were flooded with Roman’s riches, and was also one of the most successful. He was signed for £16.8m by Claudio Ranieri, Chelsea’s manager at the time, to become the ‘battery’ for Chelsea’s new era. He became a key player during the reign of the self-anointed Special One, in what was the most trophy laden period in Chelsea’s history. He won everything the English game had to offer, and was instrumental as Chelsea came, literally, within inches of winning the Champions League in 2008. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best defensive midfielder to grace the Premier League and one of the best of his generation. He left Chelsea on a free transfer at the end of the 07/08 season.

Return to France:

Makelele returned to France following his release by Chelsea, and signed for PSG, where he played for three seasons until his retirement in 2011. Whilst with PSG he helped the team win the French Cup. He was captain during his time at PSG.

International career:

Despite winning his first French cap in 1995, Makelele is perhaps unfortunate to not have more to show for his time with France than the 71 caps he won. He was not a member of the World Cup and Euro Championship winning squads as the Petit-Vieira axis was to the fore at the time, with Didier Deschamps getting playing time too, thus it was deemed another defensive-minded player was not required. We cannot question this due to the success but it is sometimes used a stick with which to beat Claude, wrongly so in my opinion. Makelele tried several times to retire from the game at international level, only to be persuaded to rejoin the ranks or forcefully called up against his wishes by the obstinate Raymond Domenech, after which Mourinho, his coach at the time, said Domenech was treating Makelele ‘like a slave’. Claude being Claude, he just got on with things. He is perhaps unlucky that the FFF deemed that Domenech was the man to bring success to the national team during his most prominent years at international level.

During the early months of this summer the football world has seen Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes, Fabio Cannavaro and Makelele, amongst others, call time on their footballing careers. Unsurprisingly it is Makelele’s departure which has caused the least furore, despite Scholes being of a similar mould when it comes to the limelight. But Makelele will be remembered by those who know football and those who like to use chalkboards and put a player in the Makelele role. It’s not unknown for players to define a team but it’s rare that a player can define a role and it is only deserving that Claude is remembered for this, deserving and very fitting too.

Claude Makelele: The Ultimate ‘DM’.

[A quick note, I hope to evolve my 'style' over time, this being my first piece. I've used various sources for info, inc. wiki. I'm hoping other pieces will be more opinionative than this one.]