Ray Lewis Quotes

The old adage that you shouldn't change a winning team doesn't apply in modern international football because managers have to study the opposition and pick players who exploit their weaknesses.

I know one of my best qualities is to read the game for my players, is to read the opponent, is to identify every detail about the opponent.

You play a team for the second time, you definitely have some familiarity. I think it's beneficial for your players that they have some tape to look at of the opponent and can focus on the individual matchups that they have some current history to draw from.

In Italy, the coaches are very attentive to the details. They really study things, and that is a big difference here. They look at your movement, your positioning. They study you and work out how to stop you.

We make adjustments and changes before and sometimes also during the games in order adapt to the opposition. The manager will, for example, tell the striker to make different runs or position the central midfielders slightly differently in relation to each other.

What I liked of Mourinho is his work ethic and the way he organizes his team against the opponent. He knows the strength and weakness of the opponent, and he will give the details for what he wants. And for me, that was impressive.

I consider that part of my job as a pro: to know who you're up against and how the attacking players play, what kind of characteristics they have, their qualities, how they move, their preferred foot.

I used to have a log on every corner in the league, what their strengths and weaknesses are.

The way you adapt and play against different teams and different styles is going to be important.

Our players know that we try to come in each week and put ourselves in the best position to have a chance to win, and sometimes that means some people playing more than others; sometimes it means using different personnel groupings in different weeks.

During the regular season, you don't have the sort of time you do in the playoffs to prepare for people, so you've got to go to your strengths.

Scouting is important. You just want to know whom you are playing against and how to play them well within the team's defense.

I don't know why I performed well against Arsenal, but probably we prepared well, and it could be their football style as well.

To be a great NFL player, you have to know what your opponent is doing, not just opposite your position but what they're doing all over the field. All the contingencies.

Pep is a super coach! He is excellent. He is the best at analysing an opponent and the concept of a game. I don't know what impact he had on German football, but he left a mark on all of us at Bayern because of how he analysed and educated the players in each position and the way he taught us to play.

When you're playing a good team, not too many point guards want to go one on one. When you're playing a not-so-good team, teams that are fighting to make the playoffs, guys are going to want to try and get their own. It's just a different read of each team.

The last player you want the ball to go to is the best player on the planet.

We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You'll get it back in no time.

All the backs in the history of this game are the same when there isn't any hole to run through.

I think that to stop an offense, you must go to the heart of that offense. If it is a particular move, a screen, the break, an outstanding scorer, whatever it is that they like to do and rely on, you have to work in your plans on taking that completely or as much as possible away from them.

Knowing your opponent is a crucial part of emulating and defeating that opponent. But scouting is only the first step. Too many leaders spend countless hours studying an opponent's every move in the search for an edge. The Great Teams understand not only how to scout but also how to exploit the weaknesses of a competitor. These teams analyze every perspective and option and position themselves to take full advantage of any knowledge gained about an opponent.

I played Zidane throughout my career, and for many players you reach a point where you learn lessons on how to handle them. But from the first match I played against him to the last, Zidane would find different ways to beat me.

I want everybody to feel he has a chance to get into a game when he comes to the ballpark. I play guys when I want to so they'll be ready when I have to. I don't consider myself a motivator of players. I think it's an insult to a ballplayer to have to be motivated.

It is hard to ignore that is reality. But, at the same time, it still comes down to sound baseball decisions, farm systems and then execution on the field by the players. There are a lot of components to that (other) than just saying it is the highest salary.

I don't know. I always sort of liked playing [Georgia] that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended.