Kevin De Bruyne Quotes

I think I'm quite a clever player and that I realise there are times when I can be offensive but others when I must be more compact and work for the team, because that is what matters.

I like to control the ball and analyse the game.

It is up to me to adapt and to continue to surprise with my positioning, the timing of my runs, the trajectories, when I call for the ball.

Not everything is seen that happens on the pitch - the teammate in a good position, where it might get dangerous, how a situation develops.

Guardiola likes footballers who can pass the ball, who have eyes for the best position and the right runs.

The way I play, it's very much more a mental game than a physical game. I'm looking for space and where are players leaving space. Defensively, where are we at numerical disadvantages? Do I shift more to the left because they have more players on their right side? It's about reading the game before the game happens.

I let the game come to me. I just try to read plays. I don't like taking bad shots. I want the best shot for the team.

Football's always been cerebral. The most important thing is thinking fast.

My characteristics are to control the game, stay in the middle and organise the team, but I can adapt as well.

A finisher doesn't always mean you have to take the game deep and then bash to finish. It is all about understanding situations and then adjusting your game with the aim that you have to get the job done.

My best asset to my game is my IQ. I play the game thinking the game first.

I understand now the different games and the different approaches that you need to take at different times, with different styles of play.

A keeper has to adjust his game to the team. If the team moves further up, he has to do the same. It's nothing I've invented.

To play as an anchor man you have to be extremely disciplined and a lot of the time you're attracted to the ball but can't go there because if you don't get there or it breaks down there is a hole.

This is football, so you need to be clever to understand the moment and win games.

As a player, you are more concerned with the moments when you have possession of the ball or are about to receive the ball. You are watching your team-mates and trying to decide what the possibilities are.

I've learnt to adapt on the pitch and, when I think back, also in front of goal.

Tactically, I know how to play on one side even though I remain convinced that I can play better through the middle.

I feel more comfortable where I play for Colombia because I like to be closer to the goal; that works better for me. I can score and pass from there. But as a player, I have to be prepared to play in any position.

When I watch kids play basketball, they don't know how to think the game. They know what it should look like, but they don't know why.

When you play against dirty players or very tough players, it's easy to escape because you know what they're going to do. But when the player is tough but intelligent, it's much more difficult.

Well, the first quality of being a good leader is you have to be able to follow. See, a good leader can't just be the leader all the time, I have to be able to follow.

It must take account of what it decrees for today in order that today may not paralyze tomorrow.

My job isn't to strike guys out; it's to get them out - sometimes by striking them out.

You cannot keep doing the same things. According to the situation, your role changes in one-day cricket, especially in a phase like the Powerplay. If I bowl four spells, four times I will be playing a different role.