Assou-Ekotto and his signing frustrated by his hairstyle: “They were stupid”

389 games in the elite and more than two hundred with Tottenham Hotspur. For Premier League fans of the past decade, Benoit Assou-Ekotto will be a memory of that Tottenham that shone with two leaders known to Spanish fans Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.

Born in Arras, France, and international for Cameroon, Assou-Ekotto left football in 2018 after ending his career at Metz. One that he did, mainly, for money. That honesty, he assures, cost him criticism even though it is a thought shared in the vast majority of locker rooms.

In an extensive interview in The Athletic, the Cameroonian winger reviews the highlights of his career as well as his relationships, coincidentally, with several Real Madrid figures such as Bale, Luka Modric, Van der Vaart and Juande Ramos. ORn signing frustrated by his hair or his conception of professionalism are other issues that the now amateur player touches on, who is once again enjoying football.

Bale: “He didn’t talk much, but we understood each other without talking too much. If I didn’t cross well he was going to take my left-back job!”

Juande Ramos asked him not to be so aggressive in training for fear of injury: “That man (Ramos) was not made for England.”

Van der Vaart: “When he arrived at Tottenham, he didn’t know who he was. Is he from Real Madrid? He didn’t greet everyone and I greeted him. Later, I asked a teammate who he was before taking our team photo. We had a fight once in the locker room for the fouls. He had an expectation about it and, after that, we were closer. On Sunday we fought and days later he assisted me to score against Everton.”

Modric: “Luka was one of the best. When he arrived we played against Norwich in pre-season. One of his players came from behind and took him and the ball ahead. Luka fell and I thought, ‘Oh, la, la, this It’s going to be difficult.’ I thought maybe he wasn’t ready for the Premier. Months later I said I thought, ok, yeah, this guy is ready.

Signing that fell for his hairstyle: “I would have had another career if I hadn’t been so honest. More boring, definitely. Even by the hair. I spoke with an Italian club, stupid, who told me: “We like you, but for us it is difficult to explain why we signed a player with your hairstyle”. I would have liked it to have happened with my career without having an extravagant hairstyle. That’s why I went to England. The mentality is different. Many people complain about England, so come and live in France and you will understand me”

Qualifier against Milan: “We went to Dubai before to play football and enjoy. It was fantastic. The coach told us ‘Enjoy, but don’t get caught by the press. You come to party, you train and you go to sleep.” The whole team went to party. Then we came back and eliminated Milan. The Champions League was fantastic for us because we experienced it like normal matches. We liked each other and fought for each other. others”

Redknapp: “I knew we were men. He let us do what we wanted, but we had to be good for the game. You can go to the restaurant on Friday but remember there is a game on Saturday. That’s why we fought so hard, because it gave us responsibility. It’s better to be worse tactically, but being a good manager. I found myself bad with problems in mind and he let me stay two days training inside. The least I could do was give him back the whole weekend.”

Villas Boas: “I was young and I was learning. The problem is that when you win the Europa League and you get to Tottenham you still think that your ideas are the best. But I wasn’t the only one who didn’t enjoy it. Nobody understood an exercise of his with three goals. I didn’t I play against three teams and against three goals if you don’t explain it to us. I didn’t want to listen to anyone. I told him “After what I’m going to say, you’re never going to like me, but look, Jose Mourinho played Eto’o from side” and I think that’s where everything was”

Tottenham: “When I left, I never enjoyed football again. I retired and thought ‘I loved the Premier League’.”

Play for money: “Were the other players on board? Sure, 200 percent. Listen, when your agent calls you and offers you a club the first thing you ask is how much they pay. It’s business. It’s good for business to say ‘I love this club.’ and then “oh, I’m gone. I don’t like that.” I guess it didn’t help me to be so honest. If they don’t want to be honest, that’s their problem. The players didn’t say anything to me about these statements, but some coaches did. Everyone is for the money, players, owner… The same in 50 years is understood”

Play for fun and its present: “Now I play for free. I like it when it’s amateur. Sometimes I didn’t even know what was going on. For example, West Ham and Villa dress similarly and I thought, ‘Well, it’s our turn against Aston Villa’ and I realized it was the West Ham. Now I’m trying to live easy and be a super dad. Commentator? It’s more about ego than football. Do you know Levy? If so tell him I’d be back. I’m not asking for much, £1000 a week it’s perfect”