Claude Makelele, whose photo is presented in the article, is a former French professional footballer of Zairian descent, now a member of the coaching staff at the Swansea City English club.
During his playing career, he played for many clubs, including Nantes, Marseille, Celta Vigo, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Between 1995 and 2008 was a regular player in the French national team. He played as a central midfielder.
Soccer Player Achievements
Claude Makelele during his career has achieved unprecedented heights - he became the champion of the French, Spanish, English championships. He is the winner of the Champions League as part of Real Madrid in 2002, as well as the owner of the UEFA Super Cup. In total, from 1994 to 2010 he won 14 trophies in the above European clubs-grandees.
Among personal achievements and awards, it can be noted that in 2005, the French footballer Claude Makelele joined the symbolic national team, and in 2006 he was recognized as the player of the year for the internal voting of the London Chelsea football players. Makelele is considered one of the best central midfielders in the world in the history of football. Currently, a talented football player Ngolo Kante, who plays in Chelsea, is being put on his level. The player of the new era is really very similar in characteristics to the legendary Makelele, but he is still very far from his fame and authority.
Play style
Being one of the best players in his position, Claude Makelele made a real revolution in football, demonstrating with an example what a real midfielder is. The Frenchman's most notable career was at London's Chelsea. In the English Premier League, everyone knew that Makelele is a fighting and hardworking player who phenomenally destroys the opponent’s attacks and dictates the pace of his team, acting as a deep playmaker. Being in the position of a central midfielder, he performed several roles on the field at once: the defensive, central and attacking midfielder.
To say that this is a box-to-box player means to say nothing. And when the Frenchman connected to the attacks, he instantly switched to the role of “sub-attacker”. In an attack, he could give an assist from any position or independently print the opponent’s goal with the strongest accurate blow. The midfielder was the best on the field who could most accurately calculate the opponent’s game. He excelled opponents in everything. This is a player known for his acceleration, positional selection, tactical discipline, football intelligence and endless energy. Despite his 170 centimeters of growth, Claude played well on the “second floor”.
He was a cut above those who were taller than him
Claude Makelele is a player with incredible physical strength (with his modest parameters), who is able to compete with more dimensional and tall rivals. Experts noted that Makelele's physical balance is explained by the fact that he has a low center of gravity, and this allows better control of the ball in tight spaces. In addition to defensive abilities, Makelele was a stubborn, consistent, and conscious midfielder with a strong football mentality.
Coaching
Between 2011 and 2014 He worked as an assistant coach at the Paris Saint-Germain Club. May 24, 2014 became the head coach of the French Bastia. After six months of work, he was fired (November 3) due to a defeat from Guingamp with a score of 1: 0.
In January 2016, Claude Makelele was appointed CTO at Monaco. Currently, the Frenchman works as an assistant to the head coach of Swansea City Clement Paul, with whom they collaborated in PSG in the 2012/2013 season.