Landon Donovan Quotes

If you are the coach of a national team, you have to evaluate players based on what they do on the pitch.

Italy have plenty of high-quality players. Newcomers need time to get adjusted to the set-up and the system of play. I'm very young, and although I think I have shown good quality in my international games, I realise that there are plenty of others competing for places.

Every coach will have good and bad.

Whenever you are coaching, you are trying to get the most balanced team that you can: balance between defense, offense, and rebounding.

There's always competition in the national team.

Managers and players at different clubs, it's difficult to compare.

Any new coach takes about six months to adjust to the system, and players also need time to understand his methods.

Every coach has his own ideas about managing the team and how it plays.

Coaching - get a guy like Phil Jackson, you expect the coaching to change right away and things to change right away. Ultimately, it takes a lot of time.

We can never achieve perfect football at Bayern because the game is always changing. There are always new influences and different styles.

When you change 10 out of 22 outfield players, you need time and hard work.

When you are not winning, the coach is more or less the weakest person in the team who can be replaced.

As a coach, you have to play to how your team is built.

People talk about tactics, but when you look at it, tactics are just players. You change things so that the team can get the most out of the skills they have to offer, but you don't go any further than that.

When I was coach at Ajax, in the first half of the season, the players needed time to adapt to me, to know who I am as a person and as a coach.

I think our sport evolves as the talent evolves and the mindset evolves.

The worst part about getting in a rut in football is the weeks are so long.

Number one consideration is always availability. Then it's about - for me and, I guess, for every player - the connection with the coach, like with any relationship: how you work together, the chemistry on court.

It's important for the coach when you arrive to understand the players and to understand every single player's strength and their weakness.

You either grow with this sport, or you get left behind. It's sad, but it is what it is. You gotta keep up with this sport.

When you are one of the best coaches in the world, it is normal to attract bad reviews if you lose a couple of games.

If you win games, at the top, there's no pressure to change. You change when you have to change. You change when you don't win anymore.

From Rick Adelman to Kevin McHale, it was a big difference. Things are a lot stricter with McHale, and with Rick, things are a lot different, offensively, defensively. You go from being successful as hell with one coach and being comfortable with the coach to, yes, I was really successful with Kevin McHale, but I just didn't do it the right way.

Playing for the national team is not the same as playing for your club.

If a guy's not executing very well, then obviously we haven't given him enough looks in practice.