That way of thinking was already within me. It was easy for me to play his style of football. The way he thinks and looks at the game isn’t for everybody, but for me it was easy to connect with. I wanted to win.Īrsenal was a team with fantastic players, a settled system and, in Arsene Wenger, they had a manager with a philosophy I was looking for. It was an honour for me to captain Tottenham, but I knew I wanted more. And that was the kind of captain I became – very vocal and very strong in the games. And the only thing I could control in my sphere was being captain on the pitch. I wanted to get to the centre by the shortest distance possible. I wasn’t the kind of captain who organised parties or wanted to be at the centre of everything away from the pitch. I guess they saw my ability and how I conducted myself, and knew how serious I was about the game.Ī few years later I was made club captain, but even then I was mostly a captain playing-wise. "In Arsene Wenger, Arsenal had a manager with a philosophy I was looking for" But I looked at myself and said, well, I’m playing all the time and I understand I’m not the club captain. Guys I was probably taking the captaincy away from. I was still young – 21 or 22 – when Gerry Francis, who was the Spurs manager by then, called me into his office to ask if I wanted to be captain.Īs I walked out, I was thinking: I’m going to have to order guys around who are 10 years older than me. Really believed in me.Ī few years later, I got my first taste of being a leader. This time, it was “in you go” straight away. Previously, I’d had managers who’d seen talent in me but didn’t want to take the risk on a young kid. We won the tournament and I was looking forward to a few weeks’ holiday when my phone rang. It was Ossie Ardiles and Steve Perryman who really gave me an opportunity at Spurs, after they saw me play for England in the 1993 Under-18 European Championships. After that game, I wasn’t seen again for the rest of the season. But, for me, it wasn’t quite the start I was hoping for. It’s a beautiful time in a young player’s journey. I remember coming off afterwards with my chest all blocked up, full of whatever it gets filled with, and my throat so dry I had to drink a ton of water. I managed to score, though, so it was almost the perfect debut – apart from the fact we lost 2-1. It’s difficult as a youngster – you’re anxious and excited but, coming off the bench, you haven’t got the pace of the game. It was four years later that I made my senior debut for Tottenham, when Terry Venables brought me on for the last 20 minutes against Chelsea at White Hart Lane. By the age of 14, I was serious about my sport – and it felt like everything about that place married with my psyche. Some kids went there, and within a month they were homesick and wanted to leave. I remember being surrounded by an abundance of lovely gardens and instantly feeling that those things connected with me. It was the first time I’d really spent time in the country. "I’d had managers who’d seen talent in me but didn’t want to take the risk on a young kid" Cricket, hockey, gymnastics, table tennis – they all sent their best young athletes to train there. I was part-schooled at the FA’s School of Excellence at Lilleshall, where the desire and hunger that I naturally had could be nourished. It wasn’t so much about strength, but stealth and determination.Īlthough street football gave me that good grounding, getting away from London when I was 14 worked really well for me. So I learned to approach the game in a different way. Having my own children now, I know how big a difference those two or three years make when you’re young. Sometimes you're up against kids who are two or three years older than you. I grew up playing street football, where you’re not always playing against kids your own age. I was kind of shy as a kid, but the game helped to bring a lot out of me. When I did start playing, football became my outlet. I learned all that very quickly – even before I got into football. You might need a bit of luck too, but if it’s worth fighting for you have to go for it. You need a strong mentality, because you’ll get knockbacks. There are positives and negatives in every walk of life – you just have to find a way around the negatives to get to where you want to be. I’m just one of the lucky ones who managed to get out. Growing up in east London, I was one of those people. Wherever you go, you can find a gem who is fighting the system and just needs someone to help get them out.
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