Claude Makelele might be best known for having a football position named after him but he’s also revealed that his threat of hospital to Ronaldinho led to the Brazilian giving him the ball.
Exactly how good do you have to be for a role on the pitch to be renamed in your honour? Well the answer is to be as good as Claude Makelele was, first at Real Madrid and then at Chelsea.
It certainly was Chelsea’s game and the midfielder helped them win their first two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups, all under Jose Mourinho.
Most people like Makelele, mainly because of how good he was, but someone who might not have been his biggest fan would have been Ronaldinho.
Talking to RMC the 42 year old revealed that during a game he threatened to send the Brazilian to hospital, saying:
“At one point, Ronaldinho crossed the line.
“I went over to him and said: ‘Kiddo, I’d rather you show good manners in dribbling against me because with all of your PlayStation tricks… I’ll send you to the hospital.’
“What did Ronaldinho say? He gave me the ball and apologised.“
It’s well within the realms of belief to imagine a central midfielder getting fed up of Ronaldinho’s tricks and flicks, mainly because it was difficult to get near him.
It does seem less likely that the former Barcelona man would have just given the ball over so easily but you can imagine Makelele getting it back himself.
These days Chelsea fans are watching Jorginho play in the position closest to the Makelele Role and it doesn’t exactly please them, with Maurizio Sarri refusing to play N’Golo Kante in the normal Kante role.
Many have tried but no one has come close to the former Blues midfielder when it comes to that position on the pitch.
sportbible.com
