【TA】弗拉米尼：从捍卫阿森纳到“保护”地球

原标题：Mathieu Flamini: From protecting Arsenal defence (and pain of 2008)… to protecting the planet

https://theathletic.com/4360330/2023/04/12/arsenal-flamini-2008-planet/

由于全文太长，这里就直接贴原文了，说几个重点。

1.全文比较重点的一部分，弗拉米尼谈到了2008年阿森纳最终无缘英超冠军的痛苦回忆，他表示爱德华多重伤的惨剧改变了球队的轨迹。

2.他谈到了加盟阿森纳的原因，就是阿森纳和温格都很伟大，有很多法国人，加上在马赛发展不顺之类的。

3.嘉宾皮雷谈到了自己的后辈弗拉米尼，并高度赞扬了他的性格和个性。之后弗拉米尼也说自己经历了很多队友，罗西基-自己-法布雷加斯-赫莱布的组合场上场下都很美妙，场上技术含量和防守扫荡力都很出色，且非常平衡。

4.弗拉米尼谈到了现在的阿森纳，他坚信这支阿森纳有信念，能拿下关键的英超冠军。

5.弗拉米尼又开始回顾了，他谈到了温格，表示温格塑造了自己的个人个性，对他只有感激。

6.弗拉米尼谈论自己回到阿森纳二度效力的故事，他表示自己觉得在枪手还是有着未竟的事业，恰好当时自己和米兰没续约，温格联系自己，就回来了。

7.退役之后成了“弗总”的故事，致力于为环保事业做贡献。

文章原文

Mathieu Flamini sweeps into the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. He is here to talk about his life in elite sport and the biotech industry, and when Flamini talks — at full speed and with full conviction — you want to listen. The trouble is, the hotel lobby is packed with a cacophony of guests, staff and people here for a conference.

I already failed in my enquiry for a quieter spot. Flamini, however, flashes a look that never takes no for an answer. Off he goes and arranges access to a closed restaurant. He then convinces someone to bring coffee. Voila. The vignette is a reflection of how he lives his life. He is a force of nature intent on making things happen.

The vocational leap in Flamini’s story is astonishing. He patrolled midfield for Olympique de Marseille, Arsenal and AC Milan and was still a committed, active player in Serie A when an engineer told him about green chemistry. He immediately wanted to get involved. “I decided to build a company that would help end chemical pollution,” he says. He is now CEO of GF Biochemicals, an organisation driving for more sustainable products in our everyday lives.

“Everyone knows about consumer goods we use every day,” he explains. “Shampoo, shower gel, deodorant, detergent to clean the house, paint in our homes and on our things — all of those consumer goods are made of chemical ingredients. When you use shampoo, if you look at the back you see very complicated names of ingredients which are mixed together in order to make the shampoo. What people need to know is most of those ingredients, unfortunately, come from the oil industry, or what we call the petrochemical industry. What we have discovered over the past few years is that many of these ingredients are harmful to the planet and for people.

“For example, when you take a shower, your shower gel or shampoo is made from ingredients which are not biodegradable and those ingredients basically go to sewage and accumulate in the water and never decompose. Every day the cream you put on your face contains chemicals being absorbed by your skin, which is your body’s biggest organ. If you clean your house with toxic products — your kids are walking on the floor, you cut bread with a knife, whatever — there is a contamination of these harmful ingredients.

“We manufacture bio-based ingredients using agricultural waste and plant-based products for the consumer goods industry. The shampoo we use, the paints we use, the detergent we use to clean the house, are safer for people and more sustainable for the environment.”

The Flamini who scurried around the midfields of Europe — pointing, cajoling, encouraging, tackling, full-on — is approaching a subject as monumental as climate change with the same unquenchable passion.

“Some of my colleagues like to joke with me,” he says, “‘Finally, you have your first real job’.”

It all begins in the city of Marseille. Flamini was born and raised there, growing up near the seaside. His father loved the ocean and was a diver. Sometimes he took his son with him deep into the water. What does it feel like down there? “Peace. Freedom. An escape from the whole world,” Flamini says. “Diving with my father was a beautiful experience.” Even then he was aware of plastic and chemical pollution in the sea.Flamini in the Marseille youth team and (below) picking up an award (Credit: Mathieu Flamini)

But of course, his first love was on land. Football is an obsession in Marseille, and Flamini’s zest was noticed early on. His school was right next to the club’s youth development centre and he joined them at the age of five.

“I was extremely energetic,” he recalls. “I remember my parents coming to pick me up from school and every day I jumped on a bike to go to the playground and said ‘Catch me’. Football was a way of expressing myself and getting this energy out, otherwise I probably would’ve been out of control.”

When he reached his late teens, he had a choice between football and education. He combined a law degree with representing Marseille in the first team. The university was lenient and allowed him to miss a substantial amount of classes. “But I still had to go to 25 per cent of them, and when I asked Marseille if I could move some of the training to go to the classes they asked me to make my choice. Actually, it was simple,” he says, laughing.

He was the only one from his year group to make it as a pro. “It’s rare that someone starts from the age of five and goes all the way to the first team,” he says. “When OM play, people who can’t afford to buy food go to see the game. It is one of the pillars of the city of Marseille. I grew up in that culture, with that feeling, and being able to play for Marseille is a pride I carried with me every single day of my teenage life.”

There was some surprise, then, that he moved on at a young age, rejecting Marseille’s contract offer and instead joining Arsenal at the age of 20. The French club were not pleased. Flamini felt it was something he had to do.

“I was playing defensive midfield and they bought another player from Bordeaux and I didn’t feel like a priority there,” he says. “When I met with Arsene (Wenger), he made me feel like I was one of his priorities. It was time for me to leave. On one side I was pushed out and, on the other side, I had the pull of the opportunity presented by Arsene. Arsenal at the time was very French with a lot of players there in the national team. It was a big club on the European scene.”Flamini, right, with Robert Pires and Thierry Henry in 2004 (Photo: Adrian Dennis via Getty Images)

His fellow Frenchman and former Arsenal team-mate Robert Pires remembers Flamini as being “very smart” and tells The Athletic: “In the locker room, he would speak up to say, especially, what was wrong on the field. He likes to talk with everyone. He is a good team-mate, Mat. As they say: you can go to war with him. And it was quite visible that he was already thinking about his future.”

At Arsenal, Flamini discovered something that chimes with one of his key principles: surround yourself with good people. Find your clan. It is what he calls his “wolf pack” and his was a young, skilful midfield quartet formed with Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky. “We were super close, both on and off the pitch. This was our wolf pack. We took care of each other, we looked after each other, we protected each other in a midfield which was very technical but also very offensive. My job was to play further back and make sure everybody was protected.”

Flamini talks with rapid intensity. The only time he pauses is to reflect on the time that team relished a title charge, only to fall painfully. In some ways, 2007-08 was not unlike the situation Arsenal are in now: a young team riding the crest of a wave. They were top of the league with 10 games to go. It hit the rocks when Eduardo, their prolific scorer, had his leg badly broken in a game at Birmingham City.

“It was a very emotional year,” Flamini recalls. “We were a young team in every way. We were all very close to each other and we grew up together as men, as human beings. We had a very strong lead that year in the Premier League, and in the Champions League won memorably (2-0) at (AC) Milan and then went to Liverpool.

“I remember it like it was yesterday. I got injured in Liverpool. I twisted my ankle, and we lost the game right at the end because of a bit of naivety. Inexperience cost us in the Champions League and in the Premier League. I remember this game in Birmingham; the terrible injury of Eduardo shocked all of us. I don’t believe in excuses: it is our fault we lost out that year, but it was a very emotional time which had an impact on us.”

He is keenly watching the current team in their quest at the top of the table. “I strongly believe they can do it,” he says. “Looking at how focused the team is, how strongly they are approaching every game, it gives me the confidence that they have the quality and mentality to make it happen.

“We still have eight games ahead and focusing game by game is very important. They have managed to bring everybody in around the team — the fans, ex-players, everyone — and the support is total. Everyone is together in this journey and if they can do it, they will make us all so proud and happy.”

Flamini left Arsenal for Milan on a Bosman (free transfer). He was headstrong enough to do things for his benefit, but there was a sentimental reason behind his desire to go to Serie A. His father is from just outside Rome and the Italian heartbeat of the family is strong.

“I always wanted to play in Italy,” he says. “When I had the opportunity to go there, I thought I would grow as a player and as a human being. I would go to Italy where we have roots, so it was a way of discovering myself to go back to my origins.

“People at Arsenal said, ‘But why did you leave?’. I joined a team with three Ballon d’Or winners: (Andriy) Shevchenko, Kaka, Ronaldinho; I played with people like (Paolo) Maldini, (Clarence) Seedorf, (Andrea) Pirlo, (Filippo) Inzaghi. The manager was Carlo Ancelotti, one of the most titled managers. When I moved to Arsenal I met incredible players like (Dennis) Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, (Patrick) Vieira, (Thierry) Henry, with Arsene Wenger. But moving to Milan offered another opportunity for learning. Myself and (Alexandre) Pato were among the youngest in Milan. Most of them were 30-plus and football legends.

“Walking into the dressing room was exciting. I was struck by their humility. I remember arriving and Paolo was sitting next to me. He gave me his number and said ‘If you need anything, you call me’. The humility and kindness of those champions struck me the most. To be a football legend and also be so humble, so open, and act with such simplicity taught me a lot. It was a learning experience every day.”Flamini with Ronaldinho while playing for Milan in 2008 (Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)

He noticed many of the older players were entrepreneurs thinking of scenarios outside of football. Kakha Kaladze went into politics. Seedorf was business-driven. “It put something in my mind,” Flamini says.

After five years in Milan, during which he won the Scudetto in 2010-11, he got in touch with Wenger. The Arsenal manager tended to keep an open door to former players who needed fitness for one reason or another. Flamini hoped to sharpen up with a view to finding a new club.

Wenger was not usually keen to re-sign former players but occasionally made an exception. Flamini credits Wenger as a major influence on his life. “Obviously he is someone who has shaped my way of thinking and my way of being. He was for me a bit of a father figure.”

Flamini’s return to Arsenal was made official in 2013. “I like to say it was unfinished business,” he says. “It was the right time. It was great for both of us. It was great for me to go back and join a team I love very much. It was also the right thing for Arsene to bring some experience and some passion into midfield.” He was part of the squad that won two FA Cups in 2014 and 2015 and was a cult figure among fans for his tendency to excel against Tottenham Hotspur.

Meanwhile, GF Biochemicals was growing.

Flamini cares deeply about climate change, spreading the message, and getting on with it as soon as humanly possible. “When you see Greta Thunberg bringing a generation of kids onto the streets, I feel I have this responsibility towards the next generation. We created the problem. We have to be part of the solution.

“What are we going to say to our kids? I meet people every day who are trying to be part of the solution, part of the ecosystem of people bringing innovation to try to make the future a better place. I’m excited about that; to be part of those people I call believers.”

Flamini is also incredibly driven. Not many footballers have become a CEO in a completely new sphere.

“What I miss the most from football is not actually playing, it’s more the dressing room. The camaraderie. That connection. It’s total dedication to the team. I always enjoyed sacrificing for the team. Ultimately, you spend more time with your team-mates than your family. What I miss most is the wolf pack.

“So in a way, you try to re-create it in your new life. Here my challenge is different — changing an industry. Every day I have some fights, problems to resolve. It’s a different challenge but it’s the same mindset and the same dedication. It’s also a lot of pressure. So I’ve transferred all this energy from one fight to another. I’m trying to recreate the wolf pack within this ecosystem.

“I’m very lucky to be part of this movement of people trying to drive change and create more sustainability. They’re brilliant people — creative and scientific — making a difference in the plastic industry or protecting the Amazon. They are my wolf pack. When I see one of them, it’s super exciting.”

But he has not totally left football behind. He is wondering about how to harness the power of football and its influence to help to push for more change. “Football is the No 1 sport, it is driving so much attention, the hot issues of this world should also be on the agenda of the governing bodies,” he says.

Then there is the idea of one day bringing his expertise as a business leader to football. “It’s a world that I belong to. If there is the right opportunity at the right time and the right discussion, if I meet people who share the same vision and mindset and desire to use football for a purpose, I would love to.”

Some Arsenal supporters at certain times have asked him to buy the club. He retains affection for OM, Arsenal and AC Milan. “Obviously those clubs have a special place in my heart,” he says. “I never forget where I come from. In life, you never know but it’s all about the right opportunity. I’m a real believer in the right time, right place, right people.

“We’ll see what the future is made of. I’m a believer. If you want something very much, the universe usually brings it to you. Let’s see what the universe will bring.”