Winning league titles in three different countries (and a Champions League to boot), Claude Makélélé is widely regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time. Selected once for the FIFPRO Men’s World 11 whilst playing for Chelsea.
Makélélé narrowly missed out on the greatest international trophy with his one true chance; Makélélé is not remembered for his failures, though. Join us as we discuss how this French national redefined the defensive midfield role in the Premier League and shaped it into what we see today.
Early Life and Career
Born on 18th February 1973 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Makélélé and his family moved to a Parisian suburb when he was four years old. From the move, Makélélé would later gain French citizenship and would choose to represent them internationally.
His father André-Joseph was also a football player and chose to represent DR Congo internationally; like many footballing love stories, it begins with family. Makélélé showed talent at a young age and in his teenage years signed for Sporting Melun-Dammarie at fifteen.
He spent a year with them before moving to Stade Brestois in Brittany, where he also spent a year with their training academy.
His hard work at Brest was noticed – but surprisingly not by Brest. Nantes had noticed the young talent at seventeen, and in December 1991 signed him at eighteen. Nantes nurtured the young Makélélé and by September 1992 – the start of the Ligue 1 season – he was playing first-team football.
As a winger. That’s correct, the infamous defensive midfielder began his professional career in France on the wing – in no small part thanks to his speed and acceleration;
standing at 5 foot 9 inches, his small stature provided him the agility to weave between the opposing defence and his on-the-ball abilities allowed him to complete the pass and occasionally score.
The following five years saw Makélélé develop his skills as a winger further. He was part of the 1994-95 squad that brought the Ligue 1 title to Nantes for the seventh time and first in a decade.
Thanks to their title win they automatically qualified for the Champions League group stages and Makélélé helped his team to the semi-finals, a round they lost to eventual winners Juventus; despite going down 2-0 Nantes clawed back three goals to level the scoreline on aggregate, losing 4-3 after Juventus scored again.
Their run stood as a testament to the collective spirit and drive Nantes held as a club, qualities that will shine through Makélélé’s career at large. He would spend one further season with the French outfit before transferring to French giants Olympique Marseille in 1997.
The Genesis Of The Makélélé Role
Spending only a season with the club, Makélélé arrived and it was business as usual; his performances bolstered Marseille to a fourth-place finish in the League and qualification for the 1998-99 UEFA Cup – a tournament he would only play a few games of.
Marseille would make it all the way to the finals, losing to Parma Calcio 3-0, but Makélélé was absent. As with many international players, Spain had noticed his play and were deeply interested in his talents, and before the end of the summer break, Celta Vigo had secured him for the following season.
At Celta Vigo Makélélé experienced a career-defining move, a conversion from the wings to the defensive midfield.
Having spent his career thus far in an attacking role, Makélélé was as aforementioned quick, agile and technically proficient. Despite his small stature, his physical strength was incredibly high, he would often challenge for balls he had no business winning and come out on top anyway.
Being 5ft 9, his low centre of gravity allowed him to essentially walk around an opposing challenge unscathed and feed the ball toward the box.
He was truly focused on the pitch, with great awareness and reading of the play. With qualities such as these, it was a wonder he’d spent so long on the wings, though perhaps he’d never have been the player he became without it.
Now one man in a defensive midfield pair, Makélélé and his partner would orchestrate their raids into the opposition’s half so that one would press with the team and the other would cover a potential counter-attack.
This modernised style of play promoted a positional discipline – he was seldom out of position, and would in fact ‘fill the void’ left by drifting teammates to mark opposing players.
Despite his newfound defensive calling Celta Vigo didn’t achieve great results over his two seasons at the outfit, Spanish giants Barcelona, Valencia, Real Madrid and Depor were top dogs and were difficult to overcome. Makélélé wanted more.
In 2000 he was recruited by Real Madrid and sought to move there, but Celta were reluctant to sell. Makélélé, a now-known commodity and star in his new position, should demand a larger transfer.
Celta refused their offer unless substantial improvement was made, but Makélélé retorted by refusing to train until the situation was resolved; Celta reluctantly sold for
€14 million and Makélélé became a galáctico.
From Congo To Galáctico
His time at Real is where he truly began to shine; as his role was essentially to feed passes to the attacking Galácticos and to counter opposition attacks his positional discipline paid dividends.
Zidane, Figo, and Raúl; all great players, but none tracked back when necessary. Makélélé, then, was a necessity.
Arguably the most important player on the Madrid pitch, Makélélé became the catalyst for their entire attack; as the deepest-lying midfielder, he was the glue that conjoined the two halves, receiving the ball from the defence and dictating the tempo of play for the attack through short, quick passing.
A Real Madrid that a year prior had finished fifth in the league had, since his arrival: won the 2001 Supercopa de España, won the title, qualified for the Champions League the following year, and won that too.
They were on a tear, and Makélélé was at the forefront, one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Except he wasn’t. Madrid icon Fernando Hierro describes him as such:
“I think Claude has this kind of gift – he’s been the best player in the team for years but people just don’t notice him, don’t notice what he does.
But you ask anyone at Real Madrid during the years we were talking about and they will tell you he was the best player at Real. We all knew the players all knew he was the most important. The loss of Makélélé was the beginning of the end for Los Galacticos.”
The unsung hero, Makélélé earned a fraction of the wages of big name galácticos. Having won another title, the Intercontinental Cup and the Super Cup, he asked for an improved contract with encouragement from said galácticos. He was flat-out denied.
He (understandably) asked for a transfer and that was that, he was heading to England. Claude Makélélé arrived in west London in 2003, donning the blue he was a Chelsea player, and he got even better.
And Thus The Football World Changes Forever
Despite success under Ranieri (second in the league and the semi-finals in Europe) he truly shone under José Mourinho.
Makélélé shifted his focus more defenseward, in large part due to a tactical shift; while Ranieri favoured the 4-4-2, Mourinho enjoyed success with the 4-3-3 at Porto and had brought it to the British Isles at the right time.
Makélélé became the anchor, playing behind two midfielders who were free to attack or hold at their leisure.
Against the typical 4-4-2, Makélélé sat between the midfield and attack, leaving either him or another player spare if either midfield began to mark one another; if a wide midfielder cut inside even the odds, their respective winger had space to develop an attack. This is a defensive playstyle.
It was genius, revolutionary. It worked so well that they named it after him. ‘The Makélélé Role’.
Though it was essentially just the deepest lying midfielder in a 4-3-3, Mourinho, Chelsea and Makélélé used it to dominate the league. Twenty-nine wins, eight draws, and one loss. Fifteen goals against them across the season.
Ninety-five points… Then just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, they won again. The league had a year to adapt and they still only lost five games, drew four and equaled their wins. Again, insane. Unfortunately, once his trick was understood, he was forced to play less game time.
Chelsea’s attacks were channelled through him, and once he was shut down and denied possession their whole tactic unravelled.
His final season Premier League season in 2007-08 was a resurgence of form, even forcing Michael Essien into right-back as he regained his former place. Chelsea reached the Champions League final and lost to rivals Manchester United on penalties.
A Swansong At A Struggling PSG
Makélélé, his dues paid, sought to end his career where he began, France; Chelsea released him on a free transfer and he signed for Paris Saint Germain. Back home and a legacy set, Makélélé played his final three seasons purely for the love of the game.
Paris achieved no results in this period and he announced that he would retire at the end of the season.
He clearly still had one last go in him though, as he retracted his statement and resigned for a season, seeking one last result. PSG won the Coupe de France and he retired happy. A fitting end to a legend of the game.
