Quotes from Marco van Basten

When you accept the captaincy, you accept the responsibilities that come with it.

I saw Cruyff at 36 and the way he played was interesting because he was so quick to understand situations. Football can still be very nice at that age because even though you are not as strong or as quick, you can still see things that others see two seconds later.

I can train players and talk about football. But losing as a manager was so painful, I couldn't live with it.

They are not the same - Xavi is more the man of passing and Iniesta can dribble more - but they have great vision, they are important to the defence and the attack.

I like that about the English people. They are sharp.

When I became the assistant, I was intelligent and helpful. I had patience. As the head coach I was completely the opposite. I made a good decision to get out.

The video ref should focus on the key things, situations ahead of goals, penalties and red cards.

As a player, you play and you have much more influence. As a manager, you talk about the game all week with every player and all of a sudden when it starts, your influence is so small and it was very difficult for me to accept that.

We must keep looking for ways to improve the game.

It was great that Cruyff believed in me so much when I was taken on at Ajax. As a coach, Cruyff also had a clear vision, which enabled him to create a better team.

Arsenal are a really big club.

Messi is unique. Inimitable and unrepeatable. Like him, one every fifty years. As a child, he fell into the pot of the football genius.

It is a contact sport. Being tough is also part of the game.

If your ankle is damaged and you get another heavy tackle on it the pain is always with you.

The friendlies are an opportunity to look at different players and tactics.

Premier League clubs have a lot of money, that's why they're strong and have a lot of good players.

Modern football is like handball. You see 11 players defending on the edge of their own area.

English football is very strong physically, but Spanish football is more technical.

Barca play a really clever type of football, close together with everyone at a high level technically.

Chelsea have become a big club and have massive financial resources.

Football should be tense, fair and attractive.

The defenders, they get all psyched up to play against me. I know it means a lot to them if they can keep me from scoring.

There's a big difference between being a footballer and being a coach.

I don't like friendly matches.