Chris Smalling Quotes

Everybody has some part of their game that is easily influenced to choke.

Sometimes you don't play well or you don't score, and in those times, the pressure comes from all around you as well as from yourself.

I'm always thinking 'Don't mess this up.'

Listen, if you start worrying about the people in the stands, before too long you're up in the stands with them.

If you go to a game nervous, you make a mistake.

I don't know, I think, in times where I'm really nervous, and I'm really under the pressure the worst possible outcome is for me to start thinking about it. I just do.

You can have all the experience in the world and come out and not play well.

Pressure is self-doubt when you're unprepared.

Ever since I can remember, over-expectation and pressure have been my worst enemies.

It's impossible, when one team and one player is afraid of something that might happen in a match, they will not play well, they will not have 100 per cent confidence.

Pressure comes from fear. If you start thinking about the result or what might happen if you do something, that's the only time there's pressure.

I think anytime you put the weight of the world on yourself saying, 'I have to perform,' or, 'I have to get a completion. I have to throw a touchdown,' nine times out of 10, I think you're going to fail.

You put pressure on yourself to go out and do better. And when you try to do too much, and you're thinking about it too much, it can throw your game off.

Sorry am I to say, I have often observed that I have performed worst when I most ardently wished to do better than ever.

We all choke, and the man who says he doesn't choke is lying like hell.

My biggest enemy for the longest time was my head. When I first became successful, it made me anxious because I was overthinking everything, and you hear so many 'fail' stories.

I'm in a complete state of panic before I begin something because I'm sure that it's going to be a complete disaster. I'm going to do a worse job than anybody could ever imagine anybody doing on the planet Earth.

I think it's one of the main negative emotional ingredients that fuels show business, because there's so much at stake and the fear of failure looms large.

I felt tight from the beginning of the match to the end. I couldn't relax.

Some people thrive under pressure, but pressure can also ruin your performance, it can push you down angles which you don't want to go.

Show business is, essentially, a fear-based industry.

When I play in a tournament, sometimes I'm feeling tired and don't want to play in the tournament. I don't want to lose.

I'm on national TV in front of millions and I hate making mistakes.

In the early days, I often felt that I was taking a math test when we were playing. It was a profound feeling of having to prove myself.

My main weakness is nerves.