Quotes About Football

I don't think I could ever describe myself as unlucky because people would look at me, playing football for a living, and say: 'Are you winding me up?'

I feel relief after the transfer window is closed. I got tired of reading and listening every day about me leaving or staying at Liverpool. Everyone wrote 'Dejan is here, Dejan is there,' and they knew nothing!

I can still remember how my mother would shout my name out of the window because I was playing football late at night and had school to attend the next day.

There's a window in my life which is football. I try to remember that it's not going to be there forever. That's why staying humble is important; knowing who I am and the message I'm sending out. I always try to be a person first, before I'm No. 55 on the football field.

I was never too much into school. I liked lunchtimes and breaks, but nah, I hated sitting at a desk. I was always looking out of the window, looking at my watch, thinking about when I could play football.

One of your best tools is being able to catch the football. But I think you can throw all that out the window when the ball is in the air.

My paternal grandmother, Nanny Hadley, lived in a block of flats in London; you could see the corner post of the Arsenal football ground from her front window. We were all supporters of Arsenal because of that.

When cars honk and hoot and drunks squeeze out of car windows and scream, you can be sure that football is in the air.

For a 20-year-old kid to be taking on Liverpool Football Club over a contract. To the pit of my stomach that just winds me up, it angers me.

Players who are not from the U.K. have to get used to the winds. I have to adapt my style as a result as well. Often, you are forced to keep things simple.

I remember vividly as a 15-year-old, in 1964, seeing Derry play Glentoran in the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park in Belfast. Glentoran were one of the two big Belfast teams, along with Linfield. Any rural team playing them was up against the odds.

Liverpool without European football is like a banquet without wine.

For the record, I've never taken a bung in my life. I might have enjoyed a meal or a bottle of wine on an agent or two but that is it. I was earning £1.5m a year, so I didn't need a little bit extra from an agent. It would have been madness.

In England, football is a religion. In France, football is not a religion. It's wine and food.

There were high school coaches such as Charles Boston that took me under his wing and taught me the fundamentals of football. And when I went to college there was Robert Hill who took me there and he showed me what hard work and determination would do if you put forth the effort and you take a little time.

Striker is my favourite position, but once I get on the pitch, whether it's out on the wing or in the middle, I just want to enjoy my football and try and produce as good a performance as possible.

Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world, and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United - on the left wing! My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji's best role.

I'm a centre forward, and that is my preferred position. But I'll play on the wing or in midfield, wherever the manager wants me to play.

For United, I'm more likely to be left wing of a four-man midfield with only two centre-mids, so it's a bit more difficult for me to maybe make those runs to get in and score those goals when I've got to think about my defensive duties as well.

He took me under his wing when I first came to the Rams and taught me everything - his technique in the pass rush, how to play off blockers, and how to make the big play.

I prefer to play up front, but if the coach puts me on the wing, then that means it is better for the team, and for me, that is the most important thing.

I used to play against a high school football team that always used to run the single wing. And eventually, other teams figured out that they ran the single wing. And so they prepared for it. The Democrats are stuck running the single wing.

You need two or three players who can do that - play behind the striker, on the right wing, the left wing... striker, maybe. If we have those, it's good for the team.

I was not getting much time on the pitch and was in need of this time to improve and play my best football. Wenger was not prepared to give it to me. Also my position on the wing was not what I was expecting and I wasn't happy with it.