Clarence Seedorf Quotes

You have to create a habit of finding the right positions and knowing where the ball's going to bounce to.

We used to do a lot of kick-catch work with Carlton, and it really taught us some great skills catching above our heads, off our chest. Those things I've carried throughout my career and I'm really thankful I got the opportunity to learn that.

I've spent years trying to time up my drops with my throws. You learn to listen to your feet and trust your positions.

Small players learn to be intuitive, to anticipate, to protect the ball. A guy who weighs 90 kilos doesn't move like one who weighs 60. In the playground I always played against much bigger kids and I always wanted the ball. Without it, I feel lost.

I have a unique ability to predict the flight of the ball, and my teammates have a unique ability to find me.

Playing in midfield is a different ball game. You have to be on the half-turn all the time, have a different picture in your head of what is behind you and in front of you. Playing at right-back is different again.

Before I receive the ball I already know how that play is developing so I'm able to give rhythm to that play.

I feel comfortable in the air, me as a person. I feel very in control of my body. You can toss me from the weirdest angle. I just know where I'm at. I don't even know how to explain it.

My coach would push us off the balance beam and teach us how to fall. That helps with your body awareness, your air awareness, but even the training I had in cheerleading, gymnastics, bodybuilding, nothing prepares you for what you go through in the ring.

When I get the ball with my back to goal, I like to be in touching contact. I need to feel the guy. He will try to take the ball, and I will go past him.

Over the years, you get better at timing because you've been through the situations thousands of times. The ball goes over your head; he passes you on the right, left. Eventually, you just know what you have to do.

You mostly defend with your head, always reacting to the movement of opponents and teammates. I had to become more aware of that, play with much more consideration, the way you drive a car: you always need to look left, right, and the rear mirror to see what's going on around you.

When the ball is up in the air for a rebound you always have to be on your toes to go up for the ball. It's the same situation in football as a receiver; I'm always trying to get the ball at the highest point like a rebound.

I was certainly no Maradona. I was a very fast player. When I saw a space, I used it. When I went past somebody, he didn't catch up with me again. I was a player who came with a run-up. What Maradona could see in a small space, I saw over long distances.

When you play eleven a side, you might go through a game with very few touches, but with street football, you're always involved in the game, so it is a great way to improve your skill and to learn how to create and use space, as the pitch is very small.

I learned how to defend the ball with my body and to be faster than my opponents.

The evolution of football has seen a reduction in the space between the teams. It is therefore important for the modern footballer to react and be quicker than in the past, because there is more happening in the restricted space.

Smaller players in the Premier League are very good at using their bodies and that's what I will continue to do.

Let me tell you what it is like playing against Messi. You are up against a footballer who can take the ball either side of you, and you have no idea which side that might be from any hint about his body-shape.

Guys in the league have grown-man strength. They're not going to move off when you bump them. They know your moves and are going to cut them off. You have to be strong and have counters. You have to slow down.

You need to beat a defender when you have the ball. You need to be able to successfully pass to a team-mate, and there are other attributes needed to be the complete player.

Every good, successful player, especially an attacking player, has a well-developed sense of space and time.

Adrian Dantley is a guy that I looked at . . . on how to maneuver my body around.

In small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player.

I like to take a little bit from every midfielder I have played against, whether it's physically, technically, tactically, just to try to improve my game.