Its now a common feature of sports broadcasting; the shattered, out of breath, emotionally drained sports star responding to a, normally unsuccessful, former player with a microphone seconds after finishing their match. There are so many things wrong with them that the vast majority fail to live in the memory for even a second after their end and yet TV companies insist on their continued use.
Most of the time sport stars are too defensive to make genuinely insightful points, too tired to think clearly and too boring to say anything interesting, so the interviews appear almost pre-written. However, just occasionally, the right set of circumstances combine to produce something brilliant.
The very best interviews are always with the losers, just as their bitterness mixes with their misery it creates a potent cocktail for an interviewer willing to press the right buttons. Two fine examples were produced by the famously brittle Kevin Keegan as his two most important managerial roles imploded in front of his eyes. Firstly in 1996, after months of goading from the then plain old Alex Ferguson, he snapped on Sky Sports, yelling that he'd "Love it!" if his Newcastle beat Manchester United.
Ferguson had intimated that teams tried harder against his team because they were less popular. Keegan couldn't cope with the threat of Ferguson robbing his potential title victory of its lustre and a hard fought victory over Leeds pushed Keegan over the edge. The interview has gone down in football folklore, and created both Keegan and Ferguson's respective reputations. One the cool, arch manipulator, the other a passionate wild man, out of control and out of his depth.
So it was with some glee that a humble interviewer went to see Keegan following his England side's miserable defeat to Germany in the last international played at the old Wembley stadium in 2000. Keegan created another classic moment, drenched in rain, wearing a bedraggled track suit, he was the picture of misery declaring he wasn't "big enough" for this level. His tactical naivety had been brutally exposed as an outmoded and outplayed England had collapsed to its lowest point since failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. It remains a defining image of the fall of English managing.
But the very best post match interviews come when no one is expecting them. Roger Federer is famed for his total control during tennis matches, from a slightly fiery youth to the model of mature calm he dominated tennis with little more than a smile in anger. His dominance was unquestioned until the rise of Rafa Nadal, at first they were equal but in 2008 the power swung to Nadal as he obliterated Federer in straight sets in the French open before taking Federer's Wimbledon crown. By the start of 2009 and the Australian Open it looked like Federer was the lesser man.
After Federer lost again in the final to a dominant Nadal he was on the verge of tears when an interviewer tried the bland question "what are your thoughts on this man?" indicating Nadal. The ice man from Switzerland burst into floods of tears and managed between weeps "Oh God, he's killing me." This was one of the world's greatest sportsmen made into a broken man by the power and energy of his only challenger. But it when the greats reach breaking point they bounce back.
Nadal faltered in the French Open that year, losing to Robin Soderling, so Federer took full advantage. Winning the French for the first time in his career, completing the full set, followed by another Wimbledon title that beat Pete Sampras' record for most Major victories. He had become the greatest tennis player in history by any measure and the memories of his horrible day in Melbourne were banished.
It was the sheer unexpectedness of his breakdown and the honesty of his emotions that made the interview unmissable but it shows the inherent fallacy at the heart of these interviews. The interviewer's skills has little to do with the outcome because the emotion and exhaustion of the moment dominate the interviewee, not the questions. Hence the reason why its the weak link in every sport's coverage who get dispatched to pitchside with a mike and some mobile advertising hoardings.
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