"I’m not saying he couldn’t play, because he was a World Cup winner; he must have had plenty of talent. But when I watched him train, I never saw it. The positioning, the defending… none of it was good enough."
He was not the only one to come to that conclusion during Roque Junior's torrid, error-strewn spell at Leeds United in 2003. The Brazilian arrived on a season-long loan in September but was sent packing four months later after a string of inept displays under Peter Reid.
For The Athletic, I tell the inside story of Roque Junior's ill-fated dalliance with English football, with input from former coaches, team-mates, and the man himself.
