Ronaldinho has been less than spectacular so far this season, but he was on great form in the interview on Thursday.
Getting the tone right with a player is crucial. ItâÂÂs professional to keep a distance. And thereâÂÂs nothing worse than hearing 50-year-old journalists calling players half their age âÂÂmateâÂÂ, but then if you interview the same players again and again you build up an understanding and trust as you would in any other occupation.
I first interviewed Ronaldinho when he arrived at Barca in 2003. I was granted a one on one with him at a golf club in northern Catalonia which Barca were using as a pre-season base. There were no other media present and he was relaxed as we sat on a terrace in the shadows of the lush Pyrenees.
It was impossible not to like him and subsequent meetings have done nothing to change my opinion of him. He considers himself a normal person who is decent at football. On each occasion heâÂÂs promised to speak in English âÂÂthe next time.â But he never does.
And why should he? He asked how things were with me and I told him that my girlfriend was from close to his home city of Porto Alegre in Brazil. He started laughing. ItâÂÂs like coming from Manchester and playing in Brazil, then getting interviewed by an Argentinian who tells you that his girlfriend is from Preston.
âÂÂHow did you meet her?â he asked. âÂÂHas she made you churrasco? (Meat roasted over charcoal on wooden skewers.) I thought of saying â âÂÂNo, but sheâÂÂs had fish and chips in Fleetwood. In December.â What I actually said was, âÂÂSheâÂÂs promised.âÂÂ
âÂÂHave you listened to pagode?â (a sub genre of Samba popular in southern Brazil that he loves). I should have said, âÂÂYes, and sheâÂÂs been to see The Charlatans and Arctic Monkeys in concert,â but I just said âÂÂYes. ItâÂÂs very good.âÂÂ
Ronaldinho was enjoying this conversation, as were his family, sitting close by.
âÂÂDoes she play football?â Ronaldinho continued, âÂÂIf you have a kid then he can play for Brazil!âÂÂ
âÂÂWeâÂÂll call him Andinho,â I replied.
âÂÂNovo Hamburgo is renown for having the best girls in Brazil,â he went on.
âÂÂIâÂÂve heard. No idea why she hooked up with a skinny big nosed Englishman.âÂÂ
âÂÂYouâÂÂve got to go there. The food and the music are special. Does she have any friends?!âÂÂ
We then started the interview, with him shaking his head in disbelief. I didnâÂÂt push my plan of getting him to play for Manchester La Fianna on Saturday in exchange for fixing him up.
It wasnâÂÂt that he was about to play in the match against Zaragoza where he scored a match-winning penalty, which pushed Barca within five points of Madrid; I just couldnâÂÂt see where IâÂÂd fit him into our new 4-2-3-1 system.
One of Manchester UnitedâÂÂs chief scouts was in Barcelona on Saturday night, doubtless delighted after watching United, inspired by Anderson, another son of Porto Alegre, blitz Arsenal 4-0. But United were not the only team to win 4-0 in the cup.
Manchester La Fianna recorded probably the most significant win in our 18- month history. And while Ronaldinho, as everyone knows, has a great life story, wait until you hear the one about our man of the matchâ¦
