Trevor Brooking Profile

A true legend of the game, Brooking won 47 England caps, playing in the 1980 European Championships in Italy and the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain. A West Ham man through and through, Trevor stayed with the Hammers throughout his playing career, and was later Director and briefly caretaker manager of the club before joining The FA in December 2003 as Director of Football Development. In his current role Trevor takes overall responsibility for the development of English football at all levels of the game.

Watch the Video - 27 December 2004  
Trevor's Year Part 2 - 2004

Best individual performance: There’s been some great ones, but at international level the one which is quite recent which caught my eye was Xavi of Spain.

His performance against England for me was a master-class in midfield play. Just his movement, his link up play, if the ball was on between defenders he could hurt you .

I’m not a great one for statistics but he had about 98 possessions and he kept it 92 out of the 98 which is some level of quality possession and accuracy. The fact is they weren’t just back passes and square ones, they were ones that hurt England.

Zola was one of my favourite players over the last decade and he wasn’t exactly big and nor is Xavi. That’s why when people say they’re looking for tall athletic individuals as a must that’s nonsense for me.

You need that quality - ability, technique and also mentally when to give the ball. Again Xavi was excellent on his selection of which pass. You usually have three or four alternatives when you’re in possession and you’re first priority should be the one that is going to hurt the opposition the most.

You shouldn’t actually be worrying about can I control this, you should be thinking about what to do when I get this under control and actually getting it under control shouldn’t be a concern.

But that needs practise, it doesn’t just happen. We need to enthuse and excite youngsters to want to go out and practise.

Best team performance: As I picked out Xavi at international level I’ll go for club level. Arsenal had a fantastic season last year with that record going into this season.

The one that sticks in my mind is the one where they fought back against Liverpool. Against a side like Liverpool they could have wobbled. But Henry got a hat-trick - he’s got that acceleration and ability to go past people.

Arsenal this year had to be the pick, although I think Chelsea will be putting them under pressure this time next year

Log on to TheFA.com over the festive period for more end of year reviews.

Date Article
20 December       Terry Venables
21 December The Barber
22 December Tord Grip - Part I
23 December Tord Grip - Part II
24 December Brent Hills and Tord Grip - Part III
25 December Sven-Goran Eriksson - Part I
26 December Trevor Brooking - Part I
27 December Trevor Brooking - Part II
28 December Trevor Brooking - Part III
29 December Sammy Lee
30 December Graeme Dell and Matt Upson
31 December Sven-Goran Eriksson - Part II
01 January  Sven-Goran Eriksson - Part III
02 January  Brendon Batson
03 January  Nigel Worthington and Lyndon Lynch
04 January  Marcus Bignot
05 January  Dave Jones
06 January  Bobby Robson and Martin Hunter
07 January  Mark Schwarzer and Zesh Rehman