Louis van Gaal Quotes

The defenders in Italy are stronger, and that makes me better. Serie A is played in a different way to other leagues.

If you have a top winger, you are going to win a lot of games.

With Ronaldo, I think I've identified a few patterns; there are certain striking things. I will try to utilise this knowledge to my advantage.

Italian teams are difficult to beat even if they play away.

When a team plays you by pressing so high, if you do not take advantage, they grow in their field, with their atmosphere and the goals they are making.

I always threw the ball in, because then if I got the ball back, I was the only player unmarked.

Iceland won't change. No matter who they play, they're 4-4-2.

When you master all defensive and offensive aspects of the game and always enjoy the majority of possession, you're sitting in pole position to win.

Messi often has a crowd of opponents around him, but with Neymar on the pitch, too, at least two of those opposition players will have to be aware of him.

If I watch big games like the Champions League on TV then I'm definitely watching what different centre-backs are doing in certain situations.

Part of my job leading the line for Watford is to occupy centre-halves - by that I mean those battles with Huth, say, to try to win headers when the ball is played forward. But I also look to bring centre-halves out of position to the flanks and make space for my team-mates in the middle.

Not many know this, but in training sessions, I like to play in the center-back position sometimes. I think I'm good at that position, and my father used to be a central defender. Some people don't realize that if you play in that position, you can better understand how the defender thinks.

Scoring first changes everything. It makes everything easier for us.

To score three goals and not concede any is always interesting for a coach.

I have game-changing defensive abilities.

As a wing back, when you get the ball wide, you usually don't have any help out wide. You have to be pretty good on your own out there.

If you win the Premier League it means you have managed the difficult moments of the season better than anyone else.

When there's pressure on the ball, you can go man-to-man on your striker; you've got the advantage because the ball pressure means it'll be a difficult pass to play.

I think that Thomas Tuchel has the quality to train a Bayern.

Real Madrid go for everything right from the start of the season. They always fight for the three competitions.

It's a different playing style than at Monaco; there were two of us in midfield there, and here at Liverpool, there's three.

At the highest level, if you don't have a solid defensive base, you can't get by. In one match, yes. But over a whole competition? No.

Arsene Wenger is an ambitious manager, and he knows deep in his heart that he needs five world-class players to compete among the best in Europe.

The Spanish league is my favourite. The attacking mentality suits my style.

Scoring goals looks nicer and much more attractive than a last-ditch tackle for younger people.