The former England manager discusses how Arsène Wenger inspired him to coach, his ‘stubbornness’ as a gifted player and the frightening cardiac arrest that nearly cost him his life in 2018
“I had courage,” Glenn Hoddle says during a long conversation about life and death, football and identity, heartache and glory, playing and coaching. It is also a conversation about Hoddle himself and where he fits among diverse football figures from Danny Blanchflower, Brian Clough and Johan Cruyff to Arsène Wenger, Daniel Levy and Antonio Conte.
Hoddle was a gifted footballer who played in a way that belonged to Europe rather than England, 30 years before the game in this country caught up with his vision and creativity. He stuck to his playmaking principles and, as a tactically astute coach and manager of England, developed off the field until he was brought down by his own words. Then, in October 2018, Hoddle almost died when he suffered a cardiac arrest, and that experience has made him even more reflective.
