Andre Agassi Quotes

If you're ranked number one in the world it's because you've earned it, and I think the only way to really get there is to have that ability and to have it nurtured in a very competitive environment at an early age.

From a pretty early age, my mother realized that I was a little bit more gifted and talented than my own age group. So, she moved me over to play with the boys' travel soccer team when I was about 11 years old.

Eleven years old is not an early age to set your sight on the Olympics for a gymnast, because we normally peak in high school. I first qualified for the Olympics team during my sophomore year in high school, when I was 15 years old.

I think the age of 27 to 28 is ideal for the Salvadoran player to play qualifiers. That's why we've brought players who are between 23 and 24. I think in three years, they'll be well-armed to play qualifiers.

For me, playing through all the youth teams at Borussia Dortmund was a really good experience because I was able to play against talented opponents at a relatively early age.

Of course that's Ajax development, giving young players a chance.

Teach players the game at an early age and stop treating them like cash cows for everyone to profit off of.

We care about how many players you develop rather than how many trophies you win.

Our strategy [at Chelsea] is to bring up our own players through the academy, which we have invested a lot in, and hope it gives results

It's possible at any time during a player's career to get into top physical shape or to try to win every game! But you can't teach skills to an old player. Youth coaches should keep in mind that individual skills need to be nurtured at an early age. Players who haven't mastered the fundamental skills become frustrated because the game gets too difficult for them as they move into higher levels.

It is not always easy for a young player to come through at the club level, because all the clubs are able to buy for 20 million or 30 million and it is hard for young English talent to come through and to get recognition and be able to be part of the squad or start playing.

Every place you can find an edge, you should - the free agent market, the undrafted market, the D-League, international players, Americans playing overseas, international players playing in America, the second round. You should be looking for all those opportunities, finding whatever edge you can.

Our philosophy is to give the young players a chance for the future because they are our future.

I'm not a competitive player at all, but I don't want competitive games to go away, because for some people that's why they play games, to compete.

We want to be strong and we want to be in a position to maximise the potential of the players in every game because it's a long season with 46 league games.

I was about five or six when I went to the little foundation camps. I got into the academy when I was nine, and I've gone through every age group since and into the first team.

In any national team, the young players who have quality and the right mentality will stand out. And that's how it should be.

Our under-19s, under-20s, under-17s teams are all getting into Euro finals, World Cup finals, winning bronze medals. We're winning bronze medals; it's about that final step now. We've got to punish teams. In every game - youth games, senior games - just to push the game further.

The NXT environment is so competitive.

You always want all good players at your team.

We don't have the money of the Manchester clubs or Chelsea. Arsenal builds its team through training, through recruiting players who can become something. Arsenal has less money than some other clubs, so we have to fight with other values.

Football will always be about the results because if you are winning and taking good results you are not asking me about the young players.

If I can be a role model, or if I can maybe make another manager play a young player coming through rather than buy a player, that's incredible.

In the U.S. system, too often the best player on an under-17 team will be treated like a 'star' - not having to work for the ball, being the focus of the offense at all times, etc. - at a time when they should be having to fight tooth and nail for their spot.

I remember how I, too, was part of the Azlan Shah tournament for the first time in 2005. After that, I went to the Junior World Cup. I remember how much I benefited from the exposure.