Quotes About Soccer

Roy Hodgson destroyed me. He made me play in the centre of midfield.

I prefer to play in midfield, whether that is attacking midfield or defensive midfield.

I think that Sarri's formation and playing with a midfield three have been fundamental for me.

Over the long term, it is definitely my ambition to play in the midfield.

You cannot play the position Kroos plays in defensive midfield besides Luka Modric better than he does.

In the midfield, I'm not the most comfortable playing with my back to the goal, and in the midfield you find that ball a lot.

It is everyone's dream to play for England and we have got a lot of top players in that midfield and lot of competition. For me to break in there, I have got to keep the form up for club at the top level.

Arsenal wanted me to be a controller in the midfield, an Emmanuel Petit-type.

I remember my first time in the Champions League. I was 18, and it was Arsenal against Milan at The Emirates. The night before, I remember I put my music on my iPod. I was lying in bed, and I listened to the Champions League music. That was my Champions League debut, my first time. It was beautiful.

I am always grateful to my team-mates at Milan for what we achieved.

The Champions League without Milan is not the Champions League.

It gives me great pleasure to see my name linked with clubs like Manchester United and Milan.

Milan are always a team to be respected.

I grew up watching the great Milan teams with the Dutch players.

I would still be at Milan if it weren't for their financial problems.

There are teams I like a lot like Inter and AC Milan, so I'd think about going to the Italian league.

It is a great honour for me to be the Milan coach. It's a lot of pressure and responsibility too, but I like that.

I never felt I would be part of the international scene for 50 caps in my wildest dreams.

Ed. Note: really, really, REALLY not smart to do this in bar full of giant Liverpool fans

The subjects that have replaced politics among Chileans are money, which there is never enough of, and soccer, which is a kind of consolation. The lowliest illiterate knows the names of all the players throughout our history, and has his own opinion of each.

We are very self-centered: the rest of the universe exists only to consume our wines and produce soccer teams we can beat.

It is hard being a football loather, a football unfan. I sometimes feel as lonely as the sole survivor in the last reel of a Zombie film, as, one by one, old friends reveal themselves, with their glassy stares and outstretched arms, to have succumbed to the lure.

Sticking to a routine helps you get in the zone for the match. I always put my left shinpad on before my right. When I go out onto the pitch, I take three hops on my left leg - but I don't know why I started. I must have seen Messi do it or something.

I've always been used to playing 60 games - one every three days - and I've played on artificial turf. There is artificial turf in Europe as well in some places. There is heat as well. And if it's hot for me at 110 degrees Fahrenheit, it's hot for the others as well.