Michael Ballack Quotes

I think Manchester United is a much bigger club than any manager in the world, and the manager who comes in should respect what Manchester United is.

I think some of the English players at Chelsea run the club, pretty much.

The kit man is the heartbeat of the football club, really. He knows the lads. He's usually local, a fan, and he's got his finger on the pulse of the dressing room.

I've seen 18 managers go at the clubs I've been playing for. It's a part of football, isn't it?

I love the Premier League, the quality of the players, the quality of the coaches. There are great challenges. But there are arms and legs flying off managers down there.

Wenger has been Arsenal's coach for 15 years but he hasn't won even a Carling Cup for six years. Benitez hasn't won a league title in six years but they continue to keep him as Liverpool's coach. This is not the Italian mentality. To stay here I must continue winning and do well.

All the fans know my love for Chelsea and I hope to be back here in the future in another role.

I am interested in how much and how quickly Klopp, the manager that I know, can change the team at Liverpool.

Big teams need a core of players who have their roots at their clubs, who grow with their clubs and who embody the culture. Representing it on the pitch and outside as well.

I hope I can help Chelsea win many trophies during my time at Stamford Bridge.

The best part of being with the Warriors has been the team camaraderie, the team meals, the team pranks, the bond we share.

We had a difficult last two years when I was in Dortmund. It was not easy, the relationship between fans and players.

I was not happy when we lost Morgan Schneiderlin, Nat Clyne and other players of that quality at Southampton.

I think Mark Hughes is the type of manager people want to play for.

Of course David Moyes is going to come under scrutiny because he's taken over from a legend in Sir Alex Ferguson and they've made their worst start to a season in 24 years. But we mustn't take away credit from what West Brom did. Few teams go to Old Trafford and dominate the ball and carve out chances the way they did.

I have always liked Chelsea a lot. I watch a lot of the Premier League, and it is a club where you can feel the warmth of the fans.

Guardiola, Zidane, who's doing a great work, Tite, also doing a great job in the national team, Simeone. These are managers I would like to work with some day.

Thinking back to how it fell apart for Mourinho at Chelsea, I do have some sympathy for him. At most clubs it is the manager who determines the long-term stability of the players but at Chelsea it seems very much the other way round.

When you wear the jersey of some clubs, you have this pressure every day. It's not the case in Tottenham.

It was important for me, when I left a club like Liverpool, to one, have a breather, but then my next job, I needed pressure. And there's a pressure at Celtic. It's a huge club; there's an expectancy to win every game.

Football today means players stay less now than ever before and you have to accept that. As a manager, a big part of your business is doing far too much business that you don't want to do really.

The big players historically hold a lot of influence at Chelsea and while I would never doubt their attempts to win matches for the club, their levels undoubtedly change depending on how they feel about a manager at the time. They're either having him or they're not, and once they're not it spells borrowed time for the guy in charge.

That's something that's so often overlooked in this game - the dynamics of the locker room.

Real Madrid is bigger than egos. The club is huge and the culture of the club was so big that we were able to sign huge players. It was then up to the players to adapt to the culture and not the other way around.

I had an amazing time at Chelsea. I can't pinpoint to a specific event, but the best moment was the honour of signing for Chelsea because I was proud to be at such a club.