Malouda takes five

Football is all about taking the opportunities that get put in front of you. We caught up with French sensation Florent Malouda in Paris and pinged five questions at him to find out what makes him tick.

Q: You’ve got some serious power in your shooting boots. Talk us through the 30-yard scorcher you scored for the Europe All Stars against Man. Utd last year.

A: The crucial thing here is really tight control that allowed me to get my shot in quickly, and this doesn’t give the ‘keeper time to react. I gave the ball a bit of outswing so it goes away from the ‘keeper and pretty close to the post. It’s the spontaneity that surprises people, and the speed of the shot that makes it all happen. Training is really important – on the training ground I practice this type of shot a lot. The more you practice, the more precise you get over time – and the more instinctive it all becomes.

Q: You’ve made a career out of providing pinpoint delivery into the box. What’s the secret to the perfect cross, like this one against Club America?

A: It’s all about timing, and making sure that your ball arrives at just the right time for your teammate. Attackers love getting balls that buy them time, so the best attackers love playing with wide men who have an intuitive understanding with them, who can feed them the ball into space before the defender gets to them and give them the 1/100th of a second that they need to make their move – and hopefully score.

Q: What advice would you give a young player who wants to make it to the top?

A: The important thing for a young player who really wants to make it is to have the ability to overcome the difficulties they are going to face, and making sure they are at their best when it matters most. It’s all about practicing your moves and your skills again and again so that you can rely on them when it really counts – during the match.

Q: You have a knack for scoring early in the match. What’s the secret to starting the game so strongly?

A: It’s about being pumped, and really wanting to make your mark on the match and your opposition. It’s about being really focused, so you can take advantage of the slightest loss of concentration from the other team – it could be at the beginning of the game, or just before or just after half-time, and if you’re really focused you can sometimes take advantage…

Q: What do you work on most on the training ground?

A: Speed of movement is crucial to my game – in order to lose your defender and get him off your back, and to get your shot in under pressure. This is crucial, so I work a lot at being able to change direction at speed.