Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Quotes

People might think it's all about getting up for a game but it's often the opposite.

Every athlete acquires routines as a way to help control nerves.

I try and have a relaxed attitude and stay quite switched off until about an hour before kick-off.

There will be mental worries with the long jump before Rio, but I know I can get through it. It's just getting my confidence back. I know I have a big jump in me.

My routine prior to a big game is the same for any other match. Eat, sleep, chat with teammates during the day, and then, as the match draws near, I listen to my music on the trip to the stadium and zone in.

Before important games, I don't change my preparation.

I used to have this superstition where I had to eat steak every night before I played, and my nutritionist told me don't do that. So after I lost that one, the other ones fell off pretty quickly.

I don't get nervous before the match. I try to act the same and stay normal right before entrance. I don't want to do anything special, so I want to act normal before a match.

I knew we were in for a long season when we lined up for the national anthem on opening day and one of my players said, 'Every time I hear that song I have a bad game.'

When I get up in the morning, I look forward to the games and I'm just buzzing. At the end of the day, if you are nervous or scared before games, you are not going to perform. I just go out there and think, 'If I get a chance, I'm going to score' and that's it.

There's a DVD called 'The Secret.' It's like visualization and meditation, certain methods I use before games, visualizing the games before they happen.

You're trying to put yourself in that moment and trying to prepare yourself, to have a 'memory before the game. I don't know if you'd call it visualising or dreaming, but I've always done it, my whole life.

There's an adage that a lot of coaches have, that I completely disagree with, is if you make the Olympic team too early you become complacent.

I think when you compete every week, when you play under pressure daily, you find your rituals to be 100 percent focused on what you're doing.

I try to have the same mindset in my practices as I would for my fights.

All sportsmen have superstitions, or at least they have routines. You look at Rafa Nadal and the way he organises his water bottles. Me, I always put my left pad and left shoe on first.

I actually rid myself of superstitions, but I do a quick 20-minute meditation before games.

In the lead-up to competitions, I just watch box sets and DVDs and play 'Candy Crush.'

Psychology is a big part of sport that some people do not realise. But it is a skill you have to practice.

A really important technique for me is visualisation. Before a match I will sit down and think about all the different situations which might happen on the field - if the openers start well, if you end up going out earlier than expected, what the conditions might be like.

I have to pray before I play, and I gotta eat right before I go out there. For a while when I was younger, I would always eat chicken tenders and fries no matter what.

Everyone has a few little quirks in their preparation - I just tend to do the same sort of things as I did in previous competitions - but there's nothing too weird, sticking with lucky knickers or socks! For instance, I'll see my family the day before a fight but won't see them on the day.

I don't really believe in bogey teams. The results might just be a coincidence, but we need to make sure the same thing doesn't happen at Wembley.

I clear my mind; I don't think about the pressure before a fight. I focus on going in the cage and being successful while doing my job.

When I get onto the pitch, I block out everything around it, and I really focus on the pitch.