In Howler’s 12th issue, we relive the glory days of the Hard Man. Roy Keane is on the cover, and joining him inside are some of our favorite defensive midfielders through the ages, from Obdulio Varela to Patrick Vieira.

Also in this issue:

• The Pro/Rel Manifesto by Peter Wilt
• The strange tale of Cyril the Swan, Swansea City’s outlaw mascot
• Novelists Karl Ove Knausgaard and Fredrik Ekelund on Brazil’s loss to Germany
• How soccer somehow became less beautiful when its ugliest player disappeared
• Zoologist Desmond Morris on the meaning behind the colors on soccer kits
• How the defensive midfielder became the USMNT’s most important position
• Bayer Leverkusen has the cure for #modernfootball
• China’s mission to become a world soccer powerhouse
• Live from Havana: USA vs. Cuba
• Team Indonesia at the Homeless World Cup
• Gigi Peronace, precursor to the modern super agent
• Behind the scenes with the women of the NWSL
• How to flop like Jurgen Klinsmann
• In memoriam: Associação Chapecoense de Futebol 
• A lot more