Joe Root Quotes

I learned a lot from Arsene Wenger, especially his tactical systems and how to plan things game to game, week to week and month to month.

But the enemy has the move, and he is about to open his full game. And pawns are as likely to see as much of it as any. Sharpen your blade!

It's a conscious effort for me to be aggressive and take what the defense gives you.

Defenders must be careful yet decisive when taking action.

You can't just limit yourself to underneath routes and let the defense kind of sit on those things.

The differences between the top teams in Euro 2000 are so minimal that I think you have to be very clever in defence and stop your opponents getting opportunities.

I am extremely lucky - I met Antonio Conte. I had so many coaches to compare him to, and he is the one that surprised me the most.

I love when people try to be physical with me. They think that's the way to try to guard me and to get physical with me. I use that to my advantage.

Louis van Gaal is a good coach. We have a lot of team meetings, and he analyses much - other teams, our own players at training, a lot. Everywhere he has been, he was successful.

My experience in decision-making has shown that patterns are tough to break. In the military, we study an opponent, looking for gaps, flaws, or weaknesses that can be exploited. Successful leaders at all levels in all disciplines conduct this kind of analysis.

You can look at every game, some where I've been a defensive player and others where I've had an impact.

If a guy is shooting a shot in the corner 70 percent of the missed shots usually come off that other side and 30 percent hits off the front rim so just playing the percentages and kind of studying your teammates' shots throughout the course of the game.

A coach these days is more of a manager than a coach. At this level, you shouldn't really need a coach. You need someone to organise, to come up with gameplans and tactics, rather than someone who is going to do much actual coaching.

I don't worry about infield shifts at all - you play where you're gonna play. I'm just gonna pitch my game.

You never stop learning in football management and I certainly believe the invaluable experience from my time as Villa manager will prove hugely beneficial in the next stage of my managerial career.

Wins are big boosts for your confidence, but sometimes you don't notice little things. When you lose a game, it means that the opponent has had a plan, and it's worked - now we need to see our capacity for response.

Using the ‘military decision-making process’ is extremely valuable when making policy decisions.

The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

Defensive strategy never has produced ultimate victory.

If you are armed with knowledge, if you are aware that certain dynamics are at play then you have options. You can play defense, you can ignore certain person and take the consequences perhaps with a game plan in mind and it goes on, you've increased your options.

Alekhine's real genius is in the preparation and construction of a position, long before combinations or mating attacks come into consideration at all.

By all means examine the games of the great chess players, but don't swallow them whole. Their games are valuable not for their separate moves, but for their vision of chess, their way of thinking.

Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him

A master looks at every move he would like to make, especially the impossible ones

Never completely encircle your enemy. Leave him some escape, for he will fight even more desperately if trapped.