N'Golo Kante Quotes

Football is open; it is not only keeping possession of the ball and making more passes.

I have to open the game from my position. It's really important to play with the ball.

When teams train now, it is about what they do with the ball and, if they lose it, how quickly they press to win it back.

We know it's impossible sometimes to have good defending against Cristiano Ronaldo but we want to keep the ball, with good possession, as then he can do nothing in attack.

I like to win the ball back for the team and I can contribute going forward.

I prefer getting a lot of the ball.

With Andy Cole up front they can score at any time. We'll be watching him very closely.

You pressure, you want possession, you want to attack. Some teams can't or don't pass the ball. What are you playing for? What's the point? That's not football. Combine, pass, play. That's football - for me, at least.

Not only the attackers, but the defenders - it's on the attackers to prepare themselves to break through the strong defense.

You have to take care of the ball to win football games.

Sometimes in midfield, it's nice because you do get a little bit more of the ball, and maybe out wide you rely on people to get you the ball.

If I have the ball in my hands, I'll make a play. If don't, I'll try to get in position to make a play. I think that's what it comes down to.

It is important to have tough and strong players to win back the ball and give consistency to a team.

I think I have that ability to win the ball back quickly when we lose it.

The players come out and want to be as fresh as they can, press, keep a team in their end, create chances, create set pieces, and really try and get the upper hand early.

I like to be in contact with the ball, have possession, to play.

When you are a striker, you need to give a lot of effort for the team, to keep the opponent under pressure, to press them, to win the ball fast - that's what I try to do to help the team. After that, I try to make some goals.

This is one of the challenges we have: knowing that playing without the ball is just as important as when you have the ball.

I like it when the team is in control of the match. I like very much the ball possession; I like to play in the other half.

Goal scorers are always sniffing things out, but once they realize 'hey, if I don't have the puck I can't score,' then you have to be a part of the solution so you can get it back so you can score.

I don't like to put much pressure on myself but yeah that is my sort of football: get the ball, run with it, use my pace, create opportunities, cross.

That's the intelligence of football: to see when to be compact, when to counter-attack, or, if you see that you're in the opposite half, you try and win the ball.

When we have the ball, we're all offensive players. When we lose the ball, we're all defensive players.

My teams have always been dominant about having the ball but having the ball to create opportunities. That's always been the clear way of my work.

The biggest pass for a defender is a pass forward.