Quotes About Players

I grew without having a thing about the Ballon d'Or. When I was young, Ballon d'Or was also given to the European players. I didn't grow with this ambition. I think it's a personal trophy and football is a team game.

There is a magical feeling when the Champions League music sounds at the beginning of each game, it is the biggest club competition and is the trophy that every player wants to have.

The trouble for today's footballers is they have too many distractions. We used to get our old players coming to watch training with football magazines in their hands. Now, more often than not, they are checking the share prices.

True success for me is allowing players to be better than I was. That is what I went into coaching for and I've not lost sight of that.

I truly believe that players who tell you they don't feel the pressure of international cricket, of being away from home for months at a time, are lying to everyone and themselves.

I've always really respected Mark Richt. I think he's a great man, first of all, and I think he's a great coach and a guy that truly cares about the players and always has.

As time passed on, got to hear some players who were straight up funky, not just jazz. Nat Adderley, for instance - he's a funky trumpet player, so he was my man.

Players don't trust most of the people around them.

One of the main things that stand out for me is the mentality of the best players. They really want to be in those big moments, have the responsibility, the trust in themselves and the self-belief.

As a manager I always trusted my players on Christmas Day. I did not see any point in dragging them into the training ground - a three-hour round-trip for some of them on icy roads - when they could relax with their families instead.

I've been trusted with the responsibility of developing my players. I take that very seriously. Do I care about them? Yes, immensely. If they are troubled, I'm like a parent.

I'm not the kind of coach who just goes out and buys players for the sake of it. I'm a coach who wants to - and can - improve players.

There's always room for improvement. We have a nucleus that's pretty good. You want players that will help.

Maybe somewhere down the line when I'm done playing, I'd want to style NBA players.

The best players want to play in the best competition.

Social media is dangerous for baseball players. Things can get taken out of context so fast. You can say something you don't want to say. It's dangerous.

Owners want to make their team a winner so they can get more fans in the stands, and that's why they go after the best ball-players and pay 'em what they're worth.

The team takes on the identity of its top payers... I don't want to take anything away from the Capitals offensively.

I don't know concretely if it's due to superstition, but any time a new rule is implemented into the NBA or a new piece of equipment or a new technology, there is always a transition and adjustment period by players and coaches and anyone involved with the game.

The thing about playing basketball in Houston was we had a great coach, great system, and we had guys that believed in me. Once you get that belief in you, it's easy to play basketball, so, we really never had so-called role players.

I go overseas, and all the soccer players come to me, like, 'Yeah bro, we always play 'Mo Bamba.'' It's crazy.

I'm a little skeptical of foreign coaches in our league and in U.S. Soccer just because of how different our league is and our players are than other players around the world.

Now, modern economies have a very effective mechanism for deciding if salaries are really too high: it's called the free market. That's how most people's salaries are set, after all, including those of major-league baseball players and European soccer players.

My background playing soccer gave me a natural advantage over many of the American-born players.