Jermain Defoe Quotes

When teams play good football, it tends to create chances for the striker.

Sometimes you just square the ball, and somebody else shoots, but some assists are so nice, and the passing is very important. We creators have a thing with the attackers.

I always play football in my team, and I know that if you play too much long ball, then it's difficult.

I would love to play alongside Wayne Rooney. He does the running of two or three players and makes a lot of space. We would be the perfect combination.

When you get into the game you've got be thinking, when I get into the attacking third I'm gonna be freakin' creative.

Football is not about suffering. It's about enjoyment. Control the ball, be friendly with it, try to attack, try to score goals. Of course defending is part of it, but you can defend in a lot of ways.

I'd played some very good games, at Manchester United, at Tottenham Hotspur, but they'd lacked a goal. There've been times when I could have scored myself, but I've played a pass to a team-mate instead.

If you've got someone like Thierry Henry in your team, you get him on the ball.

As a player I was taught the importance of working four or five passes within your team and then stretching the play. That's something I believe in strongly as a coach.

Football is about scoring, and if you want to do that, you have to go forward.

I have to play with discipline in midfield.

I like to play with my back to the goal, but my colleagues have to tell me when I'm alone or how much room I have so I can choose to pass or to go straight for the goal.

I like attacking football, but that's not the only thing the game's about.

The midfield is the heartbeat of a football team, it's the centre of the action, so you can't just do one thing.

If you stop me from scoring, and I don't do anything else, then I've not really played well, have I? You can't score every game, so what are you doing if you're not scoring?

When you're at a club like Liverpool, it's always about what you can do with the ball.

What I want is to recover the ball as near to the other box as we can, and when we have the ball, play.

As a player, you are more concerned with the moments when you have possession of the ball or are about to receive the ball. You are watching your team-mates and trying to decide what the possibilities are.

Everyone wants to score goals - that's the point of football - but you have to look at the whole situation in detail.

The most important thing is to be a midfielder first, not scoring goals. You have to make the game, make an assist for the team, and if you can score, it's a plus for the team.

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

A forward always has to help the team, either with assists or goals.

Football is about joy. It's about dribbling. I favour every idea that makes the game beautiful. Every good idea has to last.

Obviously, you want to demand the puck; you want to have it as much as you can because you feel like good things can happen when it's on your stick.

I always dribble for a reason, and I always head for the goal.