Glenn Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles

'When we started we were on £6 per week!'

Ossie, who was the best player you ever faced?                    
It had to be one of the Brazillians, the likes of Zico. They were absolutely incredible.

Talking of the Samba Boys, what do you think of the current Brazil squad? Can they replicate the world beating 1970 team?                                                                               
Oh, they have a lot of wonderful players, but if you compare them with 1970… you have to be careful. But, in principal, they are going to be a real force, yes.

Turning our attention to your own national side, that little Leo Messi fella is all right, isn’t he? In your eyes is he hands down the world's best player?                                                                               
Yes, definitely. Ronaldo is a wonderful, wonderful player, some people don’t like him for whatever reason but he is incredible. It’s amazing to be for a player to even be in his category, but I think Messi is better.

How do you think Messi compares to Maradona?
The same level. I feel the only question now is not whether Messi is the best player in the world - but whether or not one day, he will be better than Diego.

One school of thought argues he has to win Argentina the World Cup to be considered better, do you agree?
If he does that, he will be. It’s as simple as that. But even if he does not… he is very special.

Moving on to your own playing days – you’re a legend amongst Tottenham fans for the 10 years you spent at the club in the late 70s and 80s - what was your finest period in a Spurs shirt?       
1981/82 was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. We were playing at the top of our game. Glenn, Garth Crooks… and everybody else, that was the best team ever.

Do you still catch a lot of Premier League football today? Who are your favourite team to watch?
Apart from Tottenham? Man United. I like Man United. I like to see Giggs, I like to see Scholes, the old boys – they are wonderful.

We’re having a chat with Glenn Hoddle later, obviously you both enjoyed a fantastic period playing together in the 80s – is he up there with the best players you ever shared a field with?
Glenn was an incredible, incredible player. The only player I saw play with more skill than him was Maradona. I mean that. He was brilliant.

Cheers Ossie!

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Your old team-mate Ossie tells us that Zico was the best he ever played against, who was your most difficult opponent?
Maradona. Diego was the best I played against, without a shadow of a doubt. In fact, I was lucky enough to play both against and alongside him. For Ossie’s testimonial we played together and of course faced each other at a later date.

Ah yes, the '86 World Cup quarter final - the less said about that the better. Now, we know Maradona speaks highly of you as well but do you think he’s hands down the best that’s lived? Or does Messi have a chance at eclipsing him?
I think Messi is an absolutely wonderful player I really do, and it’s difficult to compare players from different eras because the game’s changed so much. What you have to remember though is Diego, though he was a single minded player, he virtually won that World Cup for Argentina single-handedly. At the time, their national team wasn’t THAT good. It doesn’t have the quality that Messi plays in today. Not degrading Messi by any means, I love watching him and he’s definitely the best in the world, but ‘Best Ever’ I think is Maradona.

The side Spurs have now is a world apart from the sort of players available under your tenure. Are you envious of the kind of quality Harry Redknapp has at his disposal? 
Well, it’s not just Tottenham, but I look at Chelsea now as well, compared to how they were when I managed them. The pair of them are totally unrecognisable, how they’re managed now, the players, the wages – it’s great to see them getting success. They’ve both got incredibly talented sets of players that any manager would love.

Who was the one player you wanted in your managerial career you didn’t get? Realistically of course…
Eto'o, genuinely. Sammy Eto'o, he was the one that got away. We were looking at him when he was a youngster – at 21 years old.  We were really close in the summer of 2002, but for whatever reason he decided against coming to us. Then to see what he did over the next 5 years at Barca then Inter, I mean… [Sighs in resigned manner]

What was the best stadium you ever played in?
It probably had one of the worst pitches, but my personal favourite was the Aztec Stadium in Mexico. With a 110,000-odd capacity, it was absolutely stunning. As I say, not the best pitch but it really was some stadium.

We have a debate going on at Maxim as to your best ever career goal: the chip at Watford, the volley against Man United or a the solo effort against Oxford? Your personal favourite?
[Laughs] Well, most players know their favourite goal – usually because everyone tells them! And I do get a lot of people coming at me saying, ‘Nah it was the Oxford one’ – I mean, fortunately, I was the scorer of some special goals. I wasn’t the greatest goalscorer in the world, but luckily I was the scorer of great goals. But for me it had to be the volley against United.

We’ll be sure to tell our resident Man U fan that. Now with all mental wage demands that pervade today’s game, we have to ask, what sort of bunce were you taking home when you first started out?
I started as an apprentice at Spurs, so I was on… [muses for a second] about £6-a-week I think. So, yeah, times sure have changed.

Lastly, if you were rubbish at football what would we have seen Glenn Hoddle become? We know you have a fondness for the music scene…
I was asked that when I was an apprentice and I cheekily said I’d be a sports teacher, but I don’t think I’d have passed the exams if I’m honest. I’m not going to say what Peter Crouch said when asked the same question… ‘a Virgin!’

We doubt that too. Cheers fellas.

Thanks to Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles and the good people at Planet Hollywood.