'He annoyed me!' - Sir Alex Ferguson on Gianfranco Zola

Sir Alex Ferguson speaks about his admiration for Gianfranco Zola.

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[markdonovan]

Everybody loved Gianfranco Zola. He was a wonderful player with sublime skills.

[GoGetYourShinebox]

Zola doesn’t get talked about enough. Had magic feet

[jagenv]

As an arsenal fan got to say he was definitely admired by myself and most neturals. A true Chelsea and Premiership legend

[MeroiD]

Above all, Zola had heart. What a credit to the game of football.

Bottomless box of tricks, oozed talent and always played with a smile on his face, come rain or come shine. Even more importantly, he was a true gentleman first and foremost. Roman took over and promised him the moon but Franco had already given his word that he'd be joining his native Cagliari to help them fight for promotion to Serie A. Of course, he helped them achieve it.

[MrThegenral]

Zola’s acting in There’s something about Mary was amazing

[attackpatterndelta]

I remember seeing Zola playing for Chelsea away at Villa. The guy had star dust in his boots. He was just an incredible player to watch.

[richarddunne]

I loved those players like Bergkamp and Zola, that used to play just behind the no 9 when most teams played 4-4-2. A bit like Firmino they can get overlooked because they don't show up in the golden boot race, but anybody who watches them play knows their value.

[fredrik]

When I was 14 my father took me to England on a football holiday, to see the Premier League live and in person. We saw 4 matches, all of them dreadful. But a Gianfranco Zola half volley missed my face by about an inch at Stamford Bridge. He gave me a smile and a quick raise of his eyebrows as if to say “close call kid!”. It was pretty awesome.

[BSMAG]

People never talk about this, but there's an interview with Zola where he remarks on the 98/99 season as the one that got away. Chelsea had a brilliant record against the 'bigger' teams that season but dropped points in matches they should have won and finished third, only 4 points behind the mighty treble winners. Just a little history lesson for those that thought Chelsea weren't already on the ascendency before Roman.

EDIT: people seem to think that I’m trying to imply Chelsea would have gone on to win multiple league and European titles regardless of the Roman investment, which isn’t the case.

From Glen Hoddle to Ranieri, Chelsea were regularly winning cups and getting into the top 4, being the outsiders in a title race on occasion too. I think they would have struggled to build on that (being more competitive in the league) without a bit of an additional cash injection (not necessarily to the extent of the investment that came), but they had been establishing themselves as one of the better sides in England.

FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, League cup in 1998, UEFA Super Cup in 1998 (against then-CL winners Real Madrid) and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup also in 1998...

In terms of level/performance, think more like spurs over the last 10 years but with a few trophies to show for it

[musaali]

One of the least spoken about player in the premier league era. I had the privilege to watch him play live.

[blue_red_screen]

This manager spoiled the man utd fans so much with trophies. Still I find it remarkable how weak man utd are now

[unnknown]

Zola one of the best to grace the premiership

[JohnRock]

This is edited, hes actually talking about maguire

[robmccutcheon]

Most of all for an italian he never dived and he was a very humble man the best foreign player in the prem ever for me. Legend

[frizzyred]

Aye Zola was great. He was another one that played well into his 30s and was quality.

[dabigguy]

Craig Bellamy said when zola was west ham manager, that he had to have a word with him to stop joining in training, because he was still the best player there, and it was destroying the defenders confidence having the manager turn them on a sixpence.

[bzilla-di]

When the Premier League used to be the retirement home for Italian players, Zola and Vialli did raise Chelsea out of the ashes in their old age though.

[matthewaxe]

Zola was one of my favourite players growing up, never forget him nutmegging Schmeichel

[thejamesonthestreet]

Incredible how stacked Italy was on AM position when player like Zola barely had a chance. At best, he's Italy's 3rd choice behind Alex Del Piero and Francesco Totti. Still, player like him wouldn't be out of place in football nowadays.

[hereforthecomments]

The best goal I seen him score was the backheel vs Norwich in the fa Cup from a corner