Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The ties that I have here were too strong to break.
It's normal that people expect more from the French team.
Every single position has a massive part to play on a team.
I love Arsenal. I really love this club. They've brought me a lot.
I would never play in England in another shirt other than Arsenal's.
I'm passionate about the job. I'm really excited. I'm really determined.
I spent nine years at Arsenal, which makes the club really special for me.
I don't look further than next year because in our world, anything can happen.
We know that if someone is in a better position than you to score, you have to give him the ball.
When you are 14, 15, 16, you can train every day in France, and sometimes you can train twice a day.
I think football reflects our society. Our society changes. The evolution of society dictates the evolution of the game.
My commitment, and my desire to win the ball or make a tackle, that will never change. But you grow up. I'm not 20 any more.
I think England has to change the way they are teaching football because football is changing, and the method isn't changing as much.
I didn't know anything about England or anything about Arsenal, but I knew a lot about Arsene and his reputation, so I went straight away.
I am always flattered to hear my name linked with different football clubs. That is good for your ego, but at the same time, I am happy here.
I think when you move to a country like the U.S., you need to understand the culture, to understand how people see the game, and adapt yourself.
Arsene Wenger is an ambitious manager, and he knows deep in his heart that he needs five world-class players to compete among the best in Europe.
If I am the best, I am capable of saying it, but if I find the others better, I am also capable of shutting up. And staying on the bench. Full stop.
It's important not to lose focus; so many things can happen. People try to build this fire between the clubs. The heat is going to get more and more.
You have to choose the right club with the right people. That can have an impact when things aren't going the right way - especially when you lose 7-0!
You have some people who recognise the players or coaching staff, but there are a lot who don't have a clue, who look at us and ask, 'What sport are you doing?'
I had to prove everything because I was coming from Milan, and nobody knew me. I was a young talent who hadn't done anything, so I had it all to prove and all to do.
We need a club where there is a structure in place, with the necessary support a young coach needs. With a beginner, you need to be patient; there may be ups and downs.
When I spent time in the academy, exchanging ideas with young players, being on the field, the way they were looking at me - I loved it. And I felt really comfortable at it.
You need somebody to open your eyes, to tell you there's things that you can do, and I had that person in Brian Marwood. I think if I'm where I am today, it's because of him.
Arsene always gives freedom to his players. To have that freedom is good, but if you can give them the freedom and respect the tactical aspect of the game, it will be even better.
When we talk about Arsene Wenger, I like the fact that he focuses 80 percent about the style of play he wants for his team and not taking so much consideration into the other team.
A winning mentality does not come in one day. I'm sure that every single player at Arsenal wants to win, but it is coming to the moment when you need to play really bad games and win 1-0.
Capello put me behind Demetrio Albertini, so I had the right position. I had to follow him like a shadow. It was to learn the basics, but at the same time, it was also a great vote of confidence.
I understand that when people try to wind me up, it's because I'm playing well. Whenever I had trouble, it was because I reacted to something. Now I'm much more focused on the game and on doing my job.
I think what African football needs is better organization, better structure, and I think, after that, we'll help the players to be more professional when they're coming to play for their national team.
I enjoyed playing for the national team, the French national team, because I think France gave me a lot and gave my family a lot, so to wear the French national team shirt was really good, and I wore it with pride.
It had never been a decision to choose between the French national team or the Senegalese national team because I was growing up in France and playing in the French youth national team, so it was something really normal.
When, in 2005, there was an offer from Juventus, I was in the Bahamas. When I came back, Arsene said to me, 'There is an offer from Juve. What do you want to do?' I understood that he was saying, 'If you want to leave, leave.'
You train far more in France than in England. Here, we still see football as a game. Football is a job. There is still the mentality where training is at 11, you come in at 10:30, and when it is finished, you leave straight away.
What I liked of Mourinho is his work ethic and the way he organizes his team against the opponent. He knows the strength and weakness of the opponent, and he will give the details for what he wants. And for me, that was impressive.
It's not easy when you lose Flamini, Hleb, Senderos, Gilberto, and Lehmann. When you lose all these players - and Flamini, for me, was the best player last year - it's really difficult to compete against Chelsea, Man United, or Liverpool.
When I told Arsene Wenger I was leaving, he said to me, 'I have £25m to spend on a few players.' My answer was, 'Obviously, Mr. Wenger, you are not shopping in Harrods. That will only buy you one good player.' Now I have been proved right.
When United play at home, they get some advantage that other teams don't get. I think when you go to United, Madrid, Barcelona, or Milan, when the referees referee these kind of games, it's always difficult to go against these kind of teams.
I think players maybe now want to look more pretty than anything else. What I feel disappointed about when I watch games is too many players think of themselves. Still good players, maybe better than we were, but looking too much at themselves.
I'm a good listener, and I take into consideration everything people tell me, but at the same time, I believe my eyes as well as the experience I had as a player. So players who underperform? There has to be a reason why... my job is for them to perform.
I wasn't ready to manage straight away. You have a few players who stopped and managed a first team straight away and were successful, and then there are the other ones who take different pathways. And I think what was important for me was to understand what I really wanted to do.
Thierry is the best striker in the world. By far he's the best in the world. Thierry doesn't just score goals. Even when he's not having a good day he can make an important pass. He is a strong character. If things go wrong, he bounces straight back. His effect on the club is very big.
If you look at Arsenal today, I really enjoy watching them play - they play some really good football - but that is not enough to win football matches or to win competitions. But in our time, we were winning, and we had the strength to not play well but somehow manage to win the game 1-0.
It was complicated at Madrid. I was suspicious. The lack of recognition for Makelele over there scared me. I was scared it would happen to me. But I should have gone there. Today, I don't regret the career that I have had, but if I could have changed one thing, it would be that: to go to Madrid.
I love London. I feel at ease there; I can push my trolley in the supermarket without being bothered. If I want to go to a club, a cinema, or have a walk, I am free - free to live my life as I wish. I have talked about it with some players, and I am convinced that we are in one of the best countries.
In my time at Arsenal, we had a really good balance. We had players who were fast, players who were really strong physically, and players who were really creative. When you look at the generation of Arsenal at the moment, they may be playing better football than we used to, but they win less than we used to - so, where's the balance?
I sincerely think that firing Roger Lemerre was the easiest solution. There had to be a guilty party, and it was him. He was the ideal prey. He had his share of responsibility like everybody else, like the French FA who organised friendly matches at the other end of the world, but the actors - the players - have the greatest share of it.