World Soccer Presents

World Soccer Presents is a bi-monthly souvenir bookazine collection from the team at Word Soccer magazine. Each issue provides expert analysis and insight into the world’s most popular sport, focusing on a specific theme, including, the world’s most important players, club, rivalries and tournaments.

From the editor

World Soccer Presents

The voice of the Premier League • SEPTEMBER 1992: Ahead of the start of the inaugural Premier League season, the man whose voice would become synonymous with the competition, commentator Martin Tyler, looked to the future of football and television

George GRAHAM Q&A • JANUARY 1993: In 1992, football was drastically changed by the introduction of the back-pass rule. Arsenal boss George Graham, then seeking to become the Premier League’s first title-winning manager, spoke to World Soccer about how the game was changing in the early 1990s…

United in their title quest • SEPTEMBER 1992: Manchester United have just passed the 25-year anniversary of their last league title. Pressure is beginning to mount on Alex Ferguson, now more than six years into the job and seemingly no closer to that elusive title. Ahead of the inaugural Premier League campaign, World Soccer discussed Old Trafford’s desperation for championship glory…

Iconic Team: Man Utd 1998-99 • Alex Ferguson’s side became the first English club ever to win the treble, with a team built around a remarkable generation of academy talent

Alex FERGUSON Q&A • JULY 1999: After affirming his reputation as one of the greatest managers of all time by lifting the coveted Champions League crown, Sir Alex Ferguson sat down with UEFA’s technical director to discuss his approach to management

Anatomy of a failed DEPARTURE • Once the treble had been won, Alex Ferguson became unsettled, with his Manchester United future becoming increasingly doubtful for the following three years, before he eventually committed his future to the club. This is how World Soccer reported it, every step of the way

Ups and downs at Highbury • NOVEMBER 1996: For a club in crisis, Arsenal are doing remarkably well. Chaos off the pitch is in sharp contrast to the serenity on it, with the Gunners ending October on top of the Premier League table. Attempting to get to grips with the complex situation was new manager Arsene Wenger, who had been roundly written off by large sections of the English press

Iconic Team: Arsenal 2003-04 • The “Invincibles” side remains the only Premier League team to go an entire season unbeaten – one of Arsene Wenger’s greatest-ever legacies

GLANVILLE ON… Ten years of Arsene Wenger • NOVEMBER 2006: As Arsene Wenger celebrated a decade in charge of Arsenal, World Soccer columnist Brian Glanville gave his assessment of the French manager’s tenure at Highbury

The ego has landed • SEPTEMBER 2004: Just a few months on from his famous celebratory slide along the Old Trafford touchline, en route to guiding Porto to the Champions League trophy, Jose Mourinho was back in England as Chelsea manager. His arrival added extra spice to the new season’s battle for the Premier League title

Jose MOURINHO Q&A • DECEMBER 2004: In his first major interview since taking over at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho spoke to World Soccer about his new job and his managerial style

Iconic Team: Chelsea 2004-06 • In 2004-05, Jose Mourinho helped Chelsea secure their first top-flight league title in 50 years, then followed it up with another one a year later

The new king of the Kop • JUNE 2005: The Champions League final is approaching. Liverpool, against all the odds, will take on Milan in Istanbul, in new manager Rafa Benitez’s first season in charge. Despite a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, the Spaniard was becoming an increasingly popular figure...