Javier Hernandez Quotes

In these days of modern tennis a player is as strong as his weakest stroke.

In club football you have your players and staff with you all the time, preparing for two games a week, you know them inside out, you have a discipline over them.

In the academies, people develop differently, and going into that No 10 role helped me because central midfield was always packed with big, strong boys.

It's always difficult not playing games and that match fitness and sharpness is something you always lack when you don't get that opportunity.

I consider that part of my job as a pro: to know who you're up against and how the attacking players play, what kind of characteristics they have, their qualities, how they move, their preferred foot.

You need to be 100% focused all match long against Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Maybe one of my strengths was to bring the energy to the team, and then defensively, I contributed a lot compared to other players, which is quite essential for the big matches; you know, against big clubs, you need to be very cautious with opponents that attack.

I have played plenty of matches where I thought I had left everything on the field and given a game my all, but what I have come to realise since I retired and began coaching - 90 minutes on the field do not compare to life as a manager.

So I think, for me, playing matches - actually being in real matches - is the best way to get myself playing the best tennis.

The same way you train yourself to be physically gifted player - whether you do weights, or running to get in shape or swimming - the mental side is the same way. You've got to train yourself to be ready for whatever.

I like to take a little bit from every midfielder I have played against, whether it's physically, technically, tactically, just to try to improve my game.

The way you adapt and play against different teams and different styles is going to be important.

In Italy it is far more difficult than in Spain, where teams are not that attentive in defence.

Only players can understand what it's like, travelling and playing every three days, it gets on top of you.

I think there's always mental and physical aspects of football.

I'm not the strongest, I'm not the fastest, I can't jump the highest, so for me, it's doing it in other ways: changing paces, using your body to get open, knowing your defender. A lot goes into it. You have to study the game.

My Italian adventure was positive because I improved a lot in tactical terms, most of all defensively, which is something I hadn't worked on quite so much.

At the beginning of the season, you're still getting your fitness levels up, and those first few games are quite tough.

You train hard. But when you don't play every week the pressure is even more when you are called up. It's not difficult for me though.

It's such a long season, and there's so many games, so many trips, you've got to build habits and be consistent with what you do.

There are no easy games in the Premier League.

You know you're going to have 162 games. You're going to have six months to play this game and playing every day is going to be a grind.

As a batter you are generally playing a mental game most of the time and having too long to prepare can work against you - you can almost fry yourself out before a Test match or feel slightly fatigued two games in because you have spent too long preparing.

I understand what it feels like to be tired in a game because I was tired in practice, and I understand what my body can go through and how I can push my body mentally and physically, and that's something I really relate to.

During the season, I usually work out two or three times a week. I'll do a full-body workout after games. I plan it out the day of.