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At Nantes I played both an attacking and defensive role, but in Spain I was persuaded to concentrate on the defensive side: closing players down, constantly chasing.

— Claude Makélélé

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More quotes by Claude Makélélé

I like that role, it makes me feel really useful in the team. I’d say my function within the team now is to cancel out danger, to prevent the counter-attack and to hassle the opposition.

It’s always difficult to win the Premier League and winning it for a second time in a row really demonstrates you are the best team.

I analysed games more closely. I would speak with Jose Mourinho before games about where I could move to get away from the middle and to open space for others.

We were competitors and we always wanted to learn. At half-time, we talked about the situation, we changed, we adapted to the qualities of our team-mates. That was the way we got good results.

For me, it’s not about trophies. It’s about putting my name in the history books. Time is the best trophy. I left something for young players to understand how to play in this position.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Claude Makélélé (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.