The 50 best Premier League players! Plus, Pochettino, Petit and Parma in the ’90s

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First a message from our editor, James Andrew:

Back in July, with the season set to kick off, I wrote in FourFourTwo that I hoped you would all enjoy 2022-23.

Of course, the beauty of football means that won’t have been possible for everyone, and if you did suffer heartache this year, remember that the next bit of success will feel even sweeter. And for those of you still partying, enjoy it!

With awards season in full flow, we get in on the act and celebrate the players who have made this Premier League campaign one of the most enthralling – our list of the top 50 players this term features a plethora of familiar faces, and a few new ones too.

This issue hits the shelves on the eve of the EFL play-off finals, so with that in mind we turn the clock back to 1998 and revisit the greatest final ever – Charlton 4-4 Sunderland – with Alan Curbishley, Peter Reid, Niall Quinn and hat-trick hero Clive Mendonca.

Elsewhere, Portugal boss Roberto Martinez tackles your questions on his eclectic career stretching from Wigan to the World Cup, we look back on the rise of Parma in the 1990s and speak to serial winner Emmanuel Petit about his glorious playing career and fascinating life experiences off the pitch.

Have a great summer because the new campaign will be here before you know it.

Enjoy the mag.

PS. We released a trailer for our revamped YouTube channel this month and would love it if you could take a look.

Premier League Top 50

The 2022-23 season has brought drama at the top and bottom of the league – FFT rank the stars who have shone brightest, and we exclusively interview three Brazilians who made the list

Mauricio Pochettino: time to get to work

Mauricio Pochettino’s time at PSG was largely joyless, after an equally sad end to his Tottenham era. Now the Argentine wants to smile again and remind everyone of the talents that transformed Spurs and Southampton

Exclusive Emmanuel Petit interview

“If god took my brother, it was because he wanted me to do something in football”

The Marseille match-fixing scandal turned Emmanuel Petit into a zombie, but the midfielder hit back to become a champion with Arsenal and France, driven by a desire to honour the sibling he lost as a teenager. We spoke to him about his amazing life and career

Parma in the 90s

A little-known Italian club became one of Europe’s leading lights in the 1990s, boasting a squad packed with cult heroes and future legends. Three decades after Parma lifted their first continental trophy, FFT learns from those involved just how they did it

Brian McDermott: Between The Lines

“Once I picked up a drink, I couldn’t stop. I was feeling cloudy, anxious and depressed, and I thought. ‘I’ve got to say it out loud’. It was the best thing I ever did.”

Despite a lifetime feeling plagued by doubt, Brian McDermott reached the very top as a manager – but, as he tells FFT, one day he woke and made a cry for help that saved his life

The British Invasion

The USA are favourites to win their third Women’s World Cup in a row this summer, but England are continuing to close the gap off the field as well as on it. At the beginning of the 2023 season, two-thirds of coaches in America’s NWSL women’s league were actually born in Blighty…

Charlton 4-4 Sunderland

Charlton met Sunderland at Wembley in 1998, eyeing up the Premier League. Cue: mayhem. Now, 25 years later, FFT speaks to the protagonists, from Quinny and Curbs to the man who slayed his heroes…

Around The Grounds

Our dedicated section for all things EFL, non-league and Scotland sees us in Devon talking promotion with Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher who explains why he’s had to be patient to get into The Championship. Hypnotist Peter Gilmour’s services can double a football club’s points return (or did he just hypnotise us to write that?) we spoke to the game’s latest marginal gainer. Matty Fairnie from Hibs podcast Longbangers popped by to chat Mixu, Mowbray and 114-year hoodoos at Hibs for our ‘Best and Worst’ feature. Finally, the teenagers in charge at seventh tier Walton & Hersham explain to us how they’ve harnessed the power of TikTok to propel their club into the National League.

Roberto Martinez answers YOUR questions

“I came from a culture of Spanish omelette – Wigan was a little bit different, although I was pretty open to eating any type of pie…

From Wigan to the World Cup, football educations don’t get more unique than Roberto Martinez’. The Spaniard took time in between managing Portugal to answer YOUR questions. Pies, Ronaldo, vinyl, Dave Whelan’s leg and those dance moves at Jason Derulo – nothing was off the table.

The Mixer

Long term readers will hopefully appreciate the triumphant return of FFT staple ‘The Mixer’. A round up of the best football kit, fashion, art, design, books and tech. Bellingham’s new boots, the return of legendary terrace staple ‘Patrick’ and a Mario Ballotelli jumper all feature.
If you’ve seen something you want to put in The Mixer, DM our Deputy Editor Matt Ketchell

Up Front

Playing off the last defender, it’s the big-man-little-man partnership of football and funnies…

Our favourite shot of the Napoli celebrations is in there, plus Gary McAllister talks us through the games that changed his life (yes, Uri Gellar gets a mention). Our world famous quiz questions need answering, columnist Jules Breach talks Three Lions and Red Devils, while Reverend and the Makers chief Jon McClure has a must-read anecdote about dinner dates with Carvalhal.

Meanwhile on the, err, Meanwhile page there’s a Mr Blobby kit and chainsaw chaos in the African Champions League to read about

The Players’ Lounge

Lounge guests this month are Thomas Hitzlsperger, who recalls his ‘banter’ baptism of fire as a teenage signing for Villa, Barry Venison discusses the ‘sledgehammer’ Graeme Souness took to Liverpool in the 90s, Glenn Murray tells us about Dougie Freedman’s nice beds and Aron Winter has a wonderful Gazza anecdote that features Mr. Bean

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