Mario Gomez Quotes

In international football you have 10 games a season, with players from different clubs. There's no time for proper coaching; they're just recovering from playing on the Saturday.

If you are not playing a player, any player, for two, three, four games, then you don't have to give a reason for that. But if it gets to eight or nine games, then you have to explain the situation. What's going on?

This whole science thing of working out if players are a little bit tired just gives you an excuse to leave them out.

It's up to the coach to decide who is in the best shape to play each match.

Having fresh players is important.

Players want to play a lot of rugby. We're walking contradictions at times in that we want to play a lot of rugby, but we don't want to play too much rugby, and we want to be available for all the big games, yet there are times when you have to sacrifice that because of game limits.

I have experience and have been in Europe many times, so I know squad rotation is necessary to make everyone in the side stronger.

My saddest decision in football was leaving Paul Gascoigne out of the 1998 World Cup finals. But he wasn't fit enough and once that decision is made, as a manager and a group of players, you forget about who isn't there and focus on the job.

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.

If a player fails to perform in four or five consecutive matches, he should be dropped irrespective of whether he is a senior or a junior player.

I know Roy Hodgson very well; he rarely changes tactically.

Of course I want to play every game, but only 11 can start.

The most important thing is that Spain have a good team no matter who plays. It is always nice to see your name spoken but the important thing is that the national team does well. But having good players for every position is important because there are always injuries, drops of form.

Naturally this is football, and in big teams it is not easy to play every game.

Historically, Jose Mourinho is not a manager who chops and changes his team and he's not big on rotation.

Managers now don't just use 11 players; they have to care about all the squad of 25 or more players.

You need to have a big squad; it's important when you're in the Champions League, with the amount of games we've got.

Rotation should be natural and changes should be made only when there are injuries and suspensions.

I like Higuain very much, but unfortunately, he isn't contributing the way he does in Europe. He's playing very well for Juve and is in the running for a lot of trophies, but if he needs a rest, then why not give Icardi a chance?

The coach is the one who eventually decides who makes the starting XI.

When you make your final list for the World Cup or European Championship you don't take the 23 best players, that is for sure.

The season lasts a long time, and we need not only a high-level squad but also a big squad.

Football never stops, and that's why you need a big squad.

It's not science; it's common sense: it's playing the right players in the right positions for the style of football you want to implement in a specific game.

I was not guaranteed a starting place at Everton. I had a lot of injuries. Darron Gibson and Marouane Fellaini were in form, so it was a push for me to get in that side.