Sam Allardyce Quotes

Iniesta is a true football genius, and we should all give thanks not only for what he has done but what he's continuing to do.

Paul Scholes is the best player I've ever played with. There's talent in every part of his game.

Messi is from another planet.

Pirlo is a cool customer who does things in his own time. On the pitch, he just looks so relaxed, no matter what is going on around him. He is one of those greats who looks like he could run a midfield with a glass of red wine in one hand.

Messi is not human with the ball.

If I had a Paul Scholes in my team, everything would be around him. At Manchester United, they saw it like that, but I think Paul Scholes is one of the best I've played against in this league, and seen anywhere.

To me, Paul Scholes was in a class of his own.

I am a big admirer of Paul Scholes, he is one of the best players of his generation.

I wouldn’t swap Paul Scholes for anybody. He is quite simply the most complete footballer I have ever played with. He is the best.

I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. In so many ways Scholes is my favourite.

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.

I think Paul Scholes is the best player in England. He's got the best skills, the best brain. No one can match him. There isn't a player of his mould anywhere in the world. Paul is irreplaceable.

Iniesta is easily Spain's most complete player. He has everything.

Paul Scholes is just fantastic. When you play alongside him, you realise what a special talent he is.

Paul Scholes. The best! Great player, person, friend!

For me, Scholesy's the best footballer England has produced in my time. The way he controlled games, passed the ball, saw things that other players didn't see; it was a pleasure to play with him and United were lucky to have him for so long.

I've never seen and nor do I think I will ever see someone with Messi's consistency.

I understand that it's always difficult for a national team to have a foreign manager. It's a nationalistic question that also flows into football.

Throughout their career, the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta have all been taught to a play a certain way. English players have been taught a different way, just like Brazil have been taught a different way.

I love the NFL. Everything that I really have is because of the NFL... but every idea that the NFL pitched is not a great idea.

Messi is 'The Matrix' - that image when everything slows down, and he can do what he wants.

'Elusive' is the word that immediately springs to mind when I think about Messi's style of play. You think you have an eye on him and then - blink - he has gone, only to reappear somewhere else in space, with the ball.

I don't think people understand how good LeBron is.

Scholesy is one of my favourite players of all time. He was a great professional who had everything and I used to love playing with him. You could give him the ball in any position, he would take one touch and you would know exactly what the next move would be. [ . . . ] He was magical, pure class.

Imagine listening to Beethoven with the prepossession that C is a good note and F a bad one; yet this is exactly the stand point from which all uninitiates contemplate the universe. Obviously, they miss the music.