Niko Kovac Quotes

Of course I want to play every game, but only 11 can start.

In baseball, you're always moving people around.

If you are not playing a player, any player, for two, three, four games, then you don't have to give a reason for that. But if it gets to eight or nine games, then you have to explain the situation. What's going on?

I don't play them a lot of minutes. I have great starters. I have All-Stars, world champions.

If you get a guy that can play a couple positions, it helps you out a real lot.

We can't worry about who we don't have. We have to go into these games with the guys we have.

The coach's job is to get the best players and get them to play together.

A manager's job is simple. For one hundred sixty-two games you try not to screw up all that smart stuff your organization did last December.

A manager wins games in the winter when he picks his team.

This whole science thing of working out if players are a little bit tired just gives you an excuse to leave them out.

What else does a manager do but push buttons? He doesn't hit, he doesn't run, he doesn't throw, and he doesn't catch the ball. A manager has twenty-five players, or twenty-five buttons, and he selects which one he'll use, or push, that day. The manager who presses the right buttons most often is the one who wins the most games.

I do not decide who plays.

It's up to the coach to decide who is in the best shape to play each match.

Having 18 or 20 class players is a luxurious problem, and it doesn't mean that you have to play them all.

It's a must to continue getting positive results and to give playing time to as many players as possible. This way we also administrate our energy levels.

I've got to think through all of those things - competition for places, players who need match minutes, and keeping the unity of the squad.

Every footballer wants to be in a starting position on the pitch.

They say that when it comes to the depth chart, it can change any day and that we dictate how the depth chart goes. If one person has a great day, he might be going with the 'ones.' If a person slips up a little bit, he might be going with the 'twos' and 'threes.'

Managers now don't just use 11 players; they have to care about all the squad of 25 or more players.

Many, many years ago, when you named alternates, and they wouldn't travel with you - I think you're dealing with a small roster. Now you travel with these alternates, which you can replace at any time, obviously, if it's a medical situation, so you have it in your back pocket.

It is never a problem to have good players on the bench.

The season lasts a long time, and we need not only a high-level squad but also a big squad.

Us coaches love to have as many players available as possible.

The coach can only choose 11 players to start. It is a difficult decision.

All 15 guys on every team want to play all 48 minutes. It's just kind of the way that every season goes.