Gael Clichy couldn’t believe his eyes. “I could see four or five players playing with both feet, like Santi Cazorla. I’m like, ‘That’s not normal’.” Clichy, who won the title with and and is now assistant coach with Under-21s, shakes his head. “We have one player with France Under-21s — Cherki, who plays for Lyon. That’s only the second player that I know who plays like this during all my career. So there’s Cherki, there’s Cazorla… and maybe Dembele, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain now.
“It’s like learning to swim or ride a bike: it’s easy when we’re kids, because we assimilate everything easily and we have good coordination, but it’s much harder if you start after the age of 20.” Advertisement Some professional footballers try to play catch-up on their own time — and out of sight, too. As bizarre as this sounds, , where they focus on improving their weaker foot without fear of anyone seeing their mistakes.