The Real Treble Winning Physio

Rehab Retreats sat down with Davide Fevre for the Republik of Mancunia’s 2022/23 Charity Season Preview. The book is available on Kindle from Amazon UK, US, Canada, India, Australia, Germany and Mexico.

RR: What is your most memorable memory from your time at Utd?

DF: Getting Roy Keane back playing. Then his first goal in the Champions League away at Brondby, 6-0.

RR: Obviously there is an infamous backstory to that injury and you were pitch side for it. What happened from your point of view?

DF: I didn't hear what Haaland said to him as I was on the touch line and I just came on to take him off. Roy was obviously not happy with Alfie.

We were playing Everton on the Wednesday night and it was my first year at United so it was a big shout for me to say, look, he’s not gonna be fit. I can remember assessing him and making the decision. I thought, right, let me go speak to somebody. I knew Terry Crystal, the Leeds doctor from my Rugby days so I asked him for a second opinion as an ACL in those days, to such a big player was a huge call. He came in, looked and said I wouldn't disagree with you. So that was it.

RR: What was the most uncomfortable situation you were in while you're at United?

DF: When I first looked at the gym at the training ground.

It had just had a load of new kit put and as gyms did at that time, it was all about the look of it without much thought for function. During my first week the Gaffer was walking me around and asked what I thought of the new kit.

My answer was “It’s Shit”.

Gaffer: “What do you mean?

I said “Look at Mark Hughes. I've watched Hughesy, he just pushes players off. Everything you've put in that gym pulls things towards you”

Gaffer: “What do you want then?

DF: “500 quid for boxing bags, gloves and pads”

Everything gets installed,I go in the next morning and the car park guy tells me the Gaffer is fuming with the new kit. I go in and look at it and it all looks perfect: gloves are laid out, bags are up on the wall, all ready out for the first session. I couldn't see a problem so I go to see the Gaffer and asked what the problem was. He looked at me and said “Get in that efffing room and have a look”.

So I'm thinking it's the wrong colour. You know, Celtic green or City blue. But, no, it's all red and white, not a problem. So I go back to the Gaffer again.

This time he frog matches me down to the gym. I have a closer look and the company that sent out the kit,their company name was ‘Alex’ and it was written across all the punch bags and all the pads.

It was as if I had put the gaffers name on it. I thought, you know what? I could be out here and then he started laughing. He was great with it, but I'll be honest for that first minute I was absolutely thinking I'm out of a job here.

RR: Which player had the biggest impact on you during your time at United?

DF: There were a few. I had a great relationship with Gary Pallister. It wasn’t due to severity of injury, just he needed that reassurance every day. He'd had a spinal problem. He was playing at top level and he just needed that time with you. It wasn't necessarily always what you did with him. He was just managing him correctly, like how we are now big on load management as  he was a player in his early thirties but couldn't play three games in a week.

Roy was another, we are still close in terms of the time we spent together, you know, we, we sort of lived together for nine months.

So it, so in that situation, I think Roy would be the biggest impact.

RR: What was the biggest change in you during your time at Utd?

DF: Realising that what I’d learned in Rugby League was a massive impact on what I did in football, because Rugby League was actually head of where football was. I brought in things that I thought were pretty logical, like the gym story, and it actually made my job fairly easy. That's not trying to sound arrogant, but I learned so much from rugby.

With rehab skills, I brought in stuff like using tackle bag shields, all stuff I’d done in rugby league. The lads just wanted that cause they realised it was a collision support.

Cause at the grounding I'd had in, in the other sport. And I think probably now when I'm looking at people and I'm interviewing people for jobs and so. That does give me a little tick, but if somebody's worked in rugby, they've coped with the trauma of the pitch side stuff and they know how to deal with that type of athlete.

RR: What was the biggest change in the club while you were there?

DF: I think realising where physio was. Previously it was thought to be a sponge man that would come and do basic care of the injury. So, realising that we didn't have Strength and Conditioning or Fitness coaches. That became my job as well. So it was that recognition that the physio actually's gonna go out, do all the outdoor rehab and the inside stuff. That's where it was 20 odd years ago.

I think the club accepted that culture and when they realised that it didn't cost a lot of in terms of their financial output to improve it. They hadn't realised the importance of it but the Gaffer and the Chairman were very good that way.

RR: How did you feel when you got the United job?

DF: I didn't really want the job to start with; I wanted to go to Rugby League full time as that was my big, enjoyable thing. My idea was to go for the interview, not get offered at the job, but then to be able to go to the Wigan chairman and explain I've been offered some work at United.

At the interview I realised that 20 minutes in, I might have a chance at it. I still had the conversation with the chairman at Wigan and he was livid with me for actually looking for another job but Wigan was only a part-time job alongside my hospital work.

Going in, because of my work in Rugby League and some of the players I worked with there were friends with some of the United lads like Incey and Giggsy.  and I wasn't a football fan, it actually made the job again to support what you said before made my job easier.

That helped me massive because as soon as you won Giggsy and Incey over, the rest followed.

Interview with Kleberson - World Cup Winner, Ex-Footballer and NYFC Coach

José Kléberson Pereira, played 32 times for Brazil and won the World Cup in 2002. He played for United between 2003 and 2005 making 30 appearances across an injury hit spell at a time when the club was in a transition period and battling with the Abramovich backed Chelsea and Wenger’s best Arsenal team. We caught up with him over zoom from Philadelphia where he is the Head Coach of Philadelphia Union’s Academy and Assistant Coach of Philadelphia Union II.

RR: How did you find out about United's interest in you?

KJP: It's funny, I was in France with the Brazil National Team and after the game Ronaldinho and his brother were talking about how United want Ronaldinho to go there and then they say Kleberson, there is a chance that Ronaldinho will go to Manchester United and there an opportunity for you join also because they want you.

I say, wow, Man United? The team from England? I start to say the names of the players there and Ronaldinho said yeah, we can go together and I say oh my gosh. Then I start to get more information through my agent. Obviously I follow United as a team, but I was just a kid at that time, I never imagined to have the opportunity to play for United.

RR: Do you think that it came too soon for you?

KJP: I don't think it was too soon but things happened really quickly. The World Cup, 23 years old, then the move to United at 24. When I decided to leave Brazil I wanted to play in a big team. I wouldn’t say it’s too soon for me, I just feel like if I had the opportunity to play in another team in Europe, like in Portugal or Spain, it would’ve been a little bit different when I got to United.

RR: Were you expecting Ronaldinho to come with you as well?

KJP: Oh yeah. I expected that. I really talked with him and the other guys a lot about that. He told me like, we’re going together to Man United and then he goes off to Barcelona.

RR: Who were you most looking forward to playing with at United?

KJP: Ruud van Nistelrooy. That’s one player that I was really excited to play with. An incredible player, a goal machine. Every time I would watch highlights of United he would be there scoring goals, assisting and I was curious to play with him.

Of course when I got to United I met many great players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, but Ruud was the one I was so very excited to play with.

RR: Which player surprised you most at United?

KJP: Ryan Giggs. The quality and technique. I knew he was a good player but I never imagined just how good. He was one player who really could make things happen., It didn’t matter how you passed the ball to him, or where you wanted the ball, he could do it. He was such a classy player. Movement, with the ball, without the ball, his skill, his passing ability, cool in front of goal. Even more so because he wasn’t exceptionally tall or strong but he knew how to use himself to every situation.

RR: Who helped you most off the pitch at United?

KJP: Quinton Fortune, both on and off the field. He speaks Spanish which helped because my English wasn’t good enough when I got to United. Diego Forlan also helped a lot. They helped me to understand how United play and the history of the club, Quinton was great in terms of advice, fun, and even a little bit Brazilian in his attitude.

RR: What did you find hardest about adapting to United and English football?

KJP: At that time the Premier League was different to now. When I got there United were in transition. They had lost Veron, Beckham and they were bringing in young new players like Cristiano, Darren Fletcher, Djemba-Djemba, myself. In the group they had strong players with a winning mentality and top personalities like Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

I had a lot of difficulty in adapting. I compare it to Cristiano, in that we arrived at the same time. People say that he made an instant impact in the games but he didn’t suffer with any injuries at the beginning and he had come from playing for Sporting. He came in for Beckham without much positional competition. He could start more games. The injuries that I got really stunted my adaptation and I was competing with Scholes and Keane for a starting spot when I was fit.  These were top players and I wasn’t even close to them and with a completely different style.

RR: Which player had the biggest impact on you as a player?

KJP: Roy Keane. When you play with Roy he is always behind you, encouraging you, pushing you to play faster, make better decisions, be stronger in defending. Of course when mistakes happen he’s the first one to scream at you to be better. He was all about intensity, finding the right pass and not making mistakes. I knew if I made mistakes I would be hearing some nice words from him, ha ha.

RR: Were you ever tempted to speak back to Roy or people like him?

KJP: No, not really. In my career I always had guys like him around with that personality and drive but my English wasn’t great so I couldn’t really understand much of what he was saying, especially when he was angry. When he went easy and gave instructions it was a lot easier to follow. It is all part of a career. I just tried to do my job and work hard to do my best for the team.

RR: How was your relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson?

KJP: Great. Wow, Sir Alex. He's as amazing coach and a great manager. He understood how difficult things were for me at that time. He probably had a lot of expectations of me, because I was young and the things I did in the World Cup but you know sometimes in football you go somewhere and things go well and other times they don’t. He tried to help me a lot, give me opportunities but I found it difficult to adjust to the style, especially that first season as it wasn’t a great one for us. The Arsenal team at that time was top and then there was that game against Porto. A ridiculous game where we had bad luck. If we had won that we would’ve probably won the Champions League.

RR: What was your favourite memory of your time at United?

KJP: This is easy. 22.11.2003. The date of my first goal for United. It was also the day my son was born. I had just come back from injury and I was feeling good, I came back stronger, more power, better understanding of the style and team. When I scored I ran to the corner and did the famous Bebeto celebration, you know, rocking the baby.

When I got into the family room after the game everyone was giving me strange looks. My wife wasn’t supposed to be there because it was so close to the due date, but she came without telling me and had gone into labour and was sat in the corner of the room. We got in a car to the hospital so quickly!

RR: What was your favourite memory of your time with Brazil?

KJP: Another easy one. The World Cup Final 2002. That game is a really special game for me because everything was going well for the team and me. Scolari looked at me before the game and told me I was going to be the best player on the pitch and that nobody would be marking me. He doesn’t tell Ronaldo, you’ll score two goals, he doesn’t tell Rivaldo you will be the best player on the pitch or Marcos that he will be the best keeper. I stepped onto the field with so much freedom and confidence and I played like a dream. Almost every touch was perfect, I hit the post, I closed the space around opponents and also made an assist. Playing in that team with those players, for me was amazing. Sometimes I look back and I can’t believe it. Imagine playing and winning the World Cup with people like Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, wow. It was such a special group, we had Kaka on the bench as he was so young. Ronaldo was so good for us, his mentality, interactions, technique, ideas and the respect he gave and got. I never saw someone as respected as him, nobody ever says anything bad about him, everyone loves him.

RR: What was your favourite stadium to play in?

KJP: Old Trafford! It's amazing. I didn’t cry as a young man but I wanted to when I first went there and I was close to Bobby Charlton and I shook his hand and he gave me some advice and I really felt I was going to cry. Imagine Bobby Charlton with his history being sat down near to you. The history of the place and the way the fans arrive early to make the atmosphere. I never had the feeling I had at Old Trafford in another stadium.

This interview was conducted for the Republic of Mancunia’s Season Preview 2022, with all proceeds going to charity. If you would like to support, the book is available on Kindle from Amazon UK, US, Canada, India, Australia, Germany and Mexico.

Zlatan - Viewing Injury as an Opportunity

There are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. While some people appear to be having success with the latter, this sentence rings true on the whole. I’d also add injury to this list.

Injuries happen, despite the best efforts of everyone from health and safety regulations to high-quality performance professionals seeking to create robust and resilient individuals. Often injury strikes at the worst time and coming into a World Cup year we can be certain that some world-class stars won’t be at this summer’s jamboree in Russia.

The physical deficiencies presented by an injury are often obvious and easy to detect. Abilities such as movement quality, stability, strength, balance, and response to load are the bread and butter of monitoring the response to a rehabilitation program but the tricky aspects of program design lie in those associated factors that aren’t immediately visible or tangible such as confidence, fear, and anxiety. If we could see a physical manifestation of these, they would be taken much more seriously and probably considered as integral as the aforementioned physical elements.

The speculation regarding Zlatan’s demise and end of career proved to be spectacularly refuted last weekend. It was only Rob Elliot’s reflexes that prevented it from being another great Old Trafford moment for the Giant Swede as he returned to action a full two months ahead of the predicted schedule of the most optimistic estimates. Throw into the mix his age, volume and level of football played and his return looks all the more incredible.

It was easy to categorise the initial post-surgery reports from Freddie Fu about the quality of Zlatan’s general conditioning as more hyperbole seeking to inflate the Lion brand and image Zlatan has admitted to actively cultivating and that he presents to the media. He has made a mockery of any doubts about his physical condition with this weekend’s return.

So how has he done it? Is he a supernatural being? He is, of course, an outstanding athlete and obviously takes great care and acts as a model professional in his preparation, but he’s probably not supernatural. Please don’t tell him I said that.

The world-class medical support he received from the staff at United and his personal support network played a huge part, but my personal opinion is that two additional significant factors that aided his rehab:

First, being accompanied by Marcus Rojo, who isn’t the shy and retiring type, probably helped him and provided support and camaraderie, as it’s much easier to go through a long rehab alongside a teammate and you help each other at various points. Despite the injuries being classified as the same, no two ACL ruptures are the same, just like no two players are. There would’ve been times in the rehab when one was slow to process and the other appeared to be flying and vice versa. This factor cannot be underestimated.

Another factor would have been Zlatan’s approach and mindset. He is such a strong, stubborn and single-minded individual that he simply took this large, significant and previously career-threatening injury in his stride and regarded it as another obstacle to overcome, much like those he encountered throughout his childhood. In addition to this attitude, I think he approached the injury as an opportunity and took the extra time on his hands to work on other aspects of his physical condition as well as refresh and readjust. This was the first major injury he has sustained and he has played over 670 competitive club games plus 127 international appearances at all age groups.

Here is to the medical staff and the two players for such success in the rehab process, and let’s look forward to a good 2018, free of any recurrences.