Florent Malouda is a left winger who plays for English side Chelsea and the French national team. Malouda grew up playing street football in his native French Guiana. At age sixteen he was swept up to play professional football in France and eventually arrived at Olympique Lyon. At Lyon he attracted international attention and following his first season there he made his debut playing for France. With Lyon he won four consecutive league titles. He was in the French team to be runners-up in the 2006 FIFA World Championship.

Real Madrid had experienced Malouda first-hand, when he delivered a Man of the Match performance against them in the Champions League. The Spanish club was one of several trying to lure him away from Lyon but it was Chelsea who got his signature in July 2007. He has well established himself with the English club and has extended his contract until 2013. After having won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 2008-09 they went on to win the league & cup double the following season.

Carlos Tévez is a striker who plays for English side Manchester City and the Argentinian national team.
Tévez joined they youth squad at Boca Juniors as a 13 year old. He made his senior debut at 17 and played 3 seasons for the club, winning both the Argentinian league and the Copa Libertadores in 2003. In January 2005 he joined Brazilian side Corinthians and won a Brazilian league title with them, before heading to England. In August 2006, after the World Cup, Tévez and fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano refused to stay on with Corinthians and both signed for West Ham United. After one season with The Hammers, with Tévez named the club’s Player of the Year, he moved on to Manchester United. At Man Utd he played two seasons, winning two Premier League titles, one League Cup and the 2008 UEFA Champions League. Tévez still felt unsettled and at the end of the 2008-09 season he publicly stated that he did not wish to continue playing for the club. In July 2009 he signed a 5 year contract with rivals Manchester City.
At Man City Tévez has been one of their most significant players and the club’s top scorer. Ahead of the 2010-11 season he was also made captain. Again after another World Cup, in South Africa during the summer of 2010, Tévez returned to club football dissatisfied and wanting away. He is expected to leave Manchester City in the January 2011 transfer window, despite his contract running until 2014.

A lot has happened since The Evening Standard wrote the headline “Arsene who?” after Wenger’s appointment as Arsenal manager in 1996 – 15 years ago next week. Before that Arsene Wenger had worked his way up through French football, making a name for himself at AS Monaco. He led them to a Ligue 1 title and a French cup title, three times runners-up in Ligue 1 and lost the 1992 UEFA Cup Winners Cup finale (to Werder Bremen). Bayern München wanted to take Wenger to Germany but Monaco refused to let the club talk to him. When the Bayern position was filled Monaco released Wenger from his contract anyway. Wenger moved on to a successful 18-month stint with the Japanese team Nagoya Grampus Eight, with whom he won the Emperor’s Cup. He also took the club from the bottom three to runners-up position in the league.

Arsene Wenger was appointed new Arsenal manager on 30 September 1996. The club finished third in the Premier League in Wenger’s first season in charge. In the following 1997/98 season Arsenal won both the Premier League and the FA Cup, a feat they had only before achieved in 1971. The next three seasons Arsenal finished as runners-up in the Premier League, in 2000/01 that also included runners-up in the FA Cup. Then in 2001/02 Wenger again took Arsenal to winning the double, something only Manchester United have also achieved in England. The following season they defended the FA Cup title but were back as runners-up in the league. In 2003/04 Arsenal again won the league, which is so far their last. In 2004/05 they won their last FA Cup and had their last runners-up finish in the league. In 2005/06 Arsenal lost the UEFA Champions League final to Barcelona and they also lost the English League Cup finals in both 2006/07 and 2010/11. In other words this season takes it to seven years since Arsenal last won a title.
Last season’s shock loss to Birmingham in the League Cup final and Arsenal’s poor start to this season has put added pressure on Wenger to deliver. It hasn’t helped his case that two of his biggest stars, Fabregas and Nasri, both recently left the club to chase glory elsewhere. Many Arsenal fans have been disgruntled with Wenger’s recent lack of activity in the transfer market. For now he still has the full backing of Arsenal’s board but for how long? Arsene Wenger himself is convinced that he can turn the fortunes around for Arsenal again. Wenger’s achievements at Arsenal should mean he is afforded time to prove it.

Marcos Antônio Senna da Silva is a central midfielder who plays for Spanish side Villarreal. Although originally from Brazil he was granted Spanish citizenship in 2006. He went on to earn 27 caps for Spain between 2006-2010. That included the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Spain’s winning Euro 2008 campaign.
Senna signed for Villarreal in 2002, from Brazilian club São Caetano, that year’s runners-up in Copa Libertadores. He has with Villarreal reached the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and they were runners-up in the 2007-08 Spanish La Liga. Villarreal have enjoyed an excellent start to the 2010-11 season, with Senna as one of their key players. He is also the team captain.

Alessandro Del Piero is a striker who plays for Italian side Juventus and previously also the Italian national team. Del Piero arrived at Juventus in 1993, aged 18, from Calcio Padova. Since then he has become an icon with Juventus, having both the record of games played and goals scored for the club.
Del Piero has been faithful to the club and stayed on and captained them when Juventus were demoted to Serie B after Italian football’s match-fixing scandal in 2006. Several other high-profiled players chose to leave the club when that happened. On a more positive note that year Del Piero won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy. Del Piero scored in their 2-0 semi-final win against Germany. He has also won seven Serie A titles with Juventus. It has been announced that the 2011-12 season will be his last with the club.