Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
From what I saw in Spain and Germany most of the teams drop back and then they have all of the time to build up and have the movements. In the Premier League it is more physical and about set plays. It is more difficult.
For Man City, and the teams up the top or even the teams at the bottom, if you're getting into your stride at that time, the winter break can almost break it and when you come back you could be doing the opposite things.
After three years with Roma, I spent two seasons at Fiorentina. I could have stayed there for longer, but they only had ambitions to be in the middle of the table - not to win anything. Their ambition was to not go down.
Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn.
In July 2011, U.S. Soccer announced that they'd fired Bob Bradley and hired Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach. Jurgen had once been a world-class German striker; now he was regarded as a successful, if controversial, coach.
I don't sign autographs when I'm out for a meal or out with my kids. I think that's rude and disrespectful. I would never ask anyone for an autograph while they were eating dinner; that's what I was taught by my parents.
At 15, 16, you think you're going to be captain of England. But I realised it wasn't going to happen for me on a windy November night in Darlington, coming to my peak at the age of 23 but still playing for Mansfield Town.
Around the age of 14, I was very discouraged from a coach. It was my first youth club team while playing soccer. She told me at the time that I wasn't good enough to play on the team, that I would never get into the game.
Ian Callaghan is everything good that a man can be. No praise is too high for him. Words cannot do justice to the amount he has contributed to the game. Ian Callaghan will go down as one of the game's truly great players.
When people ask me what club I supported growing up, I didn't really watch club soccer. The only channels I got had World Cups and the Copa America, so I gravitated toward the Latin American, South American style of game.
In tactics and training, we do more with Conte. We work a lot of tactical positions, and we know exactly what we have to do on the pitch, where I have to go, and where the defenders have to go. We know exactly what to do.
I probably prefer Spanish football to the others. It's very technical, the way they play; they keep the ball well, and whenever Spurs have played against Spanish teams in the past, they've always made it difficult for us.
Fitness is a curve. You can be Lance Armstrong, or you can be really out of shape at the opposite end. People enter the curve wherever they are and then they can move up the curve, by better nutrition and better exercise.
If the club is doing good, the club is getting income, then the club can share it with the players. But when the situation is not going according to plan, you have to look at the financial bit and see what you can change.
You have got to get to know people, and moving down to Liverpool from the North East was a huge change for me. But, at the same time, you have just got to get on with it, and that is part and parcel of being a footballer.
I'm not particularly into people giving me credit. It's not something I think about. It's not important to me. The only thing that's important is if I'm doing my job properly on the pitch for the team and for the manager.
As a child, we would all go to a tiny village near Burgos, and we'd have typical Spanish parties in the summer. There would be a band and grandparents dancing all night dressed up as American Indians and things like that.
If you want to be anonymous, you can go to Soho or Camden, and it's not a problem. There are a lot of Spanish people. If you go to Piccadilly or Oxford Circus, you hear lots of Spanish voices, but I'm not recognised much.
I have non-breaking news for you: FIFA does not care what you think. Over the years, FIFA has never seemed influenced by what is written or said in papers, articles, tweets, blogs, and on television about how it operates.
Penalty kicks are so much about confidence and your mentality going into them. If you go walk up to a kick and you're not sure where you're gonna place it, or you're feeling a little uneasy, that's when you often miss it.
If you've followed my career at all, you will know that I perform best in comfortable surroundings. Though other leagues may seem more enticing to other players, it's something I'm just not interested in doing personally.
The way I look at myself, the biggest achievement in my eyes - forget winning trophies or scoring in World Cups - is that I'm still at a top club playing at a really high standard having been almost two different players.
It would have been easy to stay at Barca, appear in the team photo, keep winning titles and earning money. I had a good life, but I felt I should leave. My life was comfortable off the pitch, but I wanted to keep playing.
We had a strong back-to-school season and discretionary spending on low-priced items has trended higher. These are good indications for Halloween, which typically sets the tone for the rest of the holiday shopping season.
If Jurgen Klinsmann thinks that the best way for his team to be successful is if his young players go to Europe, there is nobody in the world who can argue with that. That is his opinion, whether you agree with it or not.
The practice is enlightenment. Some people find this idea not to their liking. They want to get enlightenment in a flash. This way they become attached to something that doesn't exist. Enlightenment isn't a thing you get.
For me, Paul Scholes has been the best midfield player in the Premier League. By a mile. He has the lot. He scores and creates goals, he can pass the ball, he can head it, and rounds all this off with a competitive streak.
You just want to play. You don't think about the money, how many followers you've got on Instagram. You just want to make it. You don't understand the demands, how intense it is at times - the scrutiny you're going to get.
Pressure is working down the pit. Pressure is having no work at all. Pressure is trying to escape relegation on 50 shillings a week. Pressure is not the European Cup or the Championship or the Cup Final. That's the reward.
I didn't get started until late. I didn't get started until I was 20. I turned 21 in my first MLS season, in March. It's always been a race against time, really, for me. It's kind of my mentality, to make up for lost time.
Jose Mourinho and I get along well. I've lots of respect for him. He gives me a lot of confidence. After a bad game, he dares to say, 'We have played with 10 today,' but that's it. At moments like that, he leaves me alone.
I don't have any problem with tackles or duels, but I react when I notice that someone is only trying to kick me out of the game. But I never have the intention to hurt anyone. Everything is forgotten again a minute later.
At the start of the season, there are 16 teams in the top division looking behind them, making sure they avoid relegation. The fear starts in the boardroom, comes down to managers and through to players. The fans sense it.
I'm not saying you have to be married to be a good footballer. I'm just saying it felt strange to come to a club where there are only three members of the first-team squad that are married. You need responsibility in life.
This is why cup finals are so special because on the day anyone can beat anyone. That's what it's all about and that's why for me the FA Cup and the Carling Cup are the best cups in the world. That's the beauty of the cup.
When you are very young and come through at a club, like I did at Sunderland, I suppose people do not expect as much and have not really heard much about you. Whereas, when you sign for a club, the expectations are higher.
I wanted to finish at the top of the game and on my own terms. I thought it was the perfect time at the World Cup and to go out at Chelsea. Chelsea and England were immense in how they have supported me in that transition.
That's what goalkeeping is all about. It's really having nothing to do at times, and then having to make sure you are concentrating and ready to make the save when called upon. Going in 1-0 down would have been a travesty.
I'm honored to join a very distinguished group of footballers to appear on the cover of 'FIFA.' Most of all, I am humbled that the fans have chosen me, and I will strive to make them proud with my performance on the pitch.
I've learned my tricks watching videos on the Internet with friends. I'm always trying to copy what I've seen at home, what I learned from my friends. But you have to repeat it again and again to get it right on the field.
There is no reason to change this system. I don't think we'll abandon it. For us the most important thing is to be compact in the back. That's the kind of game we have to play here and it will be very difficult to beat us.
If I played badly as a kid, my dad would tell me, and my mum would say, 'You were brilliant today'. It's nice to have both: when I need a bit of confidence, I'll see her, and if I need to hear it straight, I'll see my dad.
My fellow players are sometimes occupying the spaces I want to play in. That forces me to adjust my runs, based on the position of my fellow players. Unfortunately, they're often playing in my zones. I think that's a shame
I know English football people say you have to look out for young players, that maybe they can play 15 or 20 games but not more. They are afraid. I am not afraid to put young players in. I am not afraid but maybe they are.
I had my footballing heroes such as Bryan Robson and Diego Maradona but my dad was a rugby league star, and he was my real hero. But the relationship with my mum was rocky and we saw things that would affect any youngster.
Arsenal do not have money to spend, so they are gambling on young players. Arsenal are obliged to sell their best players and bet on youth - but what counts is having a team, great players, and a solid squad to win titles.
Zidane transmits a very clear idea to the players. He doesn't need to give a 20 minute motivational talk, he doesn't need it. With his presence alone, he achieves what he wants - his personality is synonymous with success.
All I'm after is a few square metres to be myself. A space where I can continue to profess my creed: take the ball, give it to a team-mate, my team-mate scores. It's called an assist, and it's my way of spreading happiness.
I've always said my shoulders are broad, and I can take on that extra responsibility. I love it. I want it. I prefer to take it on myself to help the other guys, who can then go out and play with their heads clear and calm.
I am fortunate to have only worn one shirt in my career. It is something that is fundamental to me. It is something I have always wanted: to be one of these few who wear only one shirt - a fan and a player of the same team.