Football Intelligence Quotes

Pep Guardiola sees things before they happen, and that's an advantage - a massive plus.

There are not many number fives but the best are Busquets, Tiago, Gabi... I also learn a lot from Xabi Alonso. He is also among the top.

Everyone's got talent at the level we're at. But being a smart, tough football player - there's a huge premium for that.

The work is intense. You have to calculate a great deal very quickly which requires football intelligence and real concentration. Part of my role is to shuttle between the defense and the attacking lines to make sure that the ball circulates well and quickly.

Paul Scholes has been the best England midfield player for 30-odd years. You'd probably have to go back to Bobby Charlton to find someone who could do as much as Scholes. When the ball arrives at his feet he could tell you where every player on that pitch is at that moment. His awareness is superb.

When you look at what we want our individual player to represent from that makeup, if you will, we're looking for mentally and physically tough players who are smart and want to compete. And when you say smart, you're talking about situational awareness. Guys that are instinctual. That are smart football players.

We all feel that hunger in football. With Cruyff, it was different. He deepened and changed the hunger so you became conscious of why you are getting better.

I'd hate to be the sort of player who people just regard as being tall and only good for winning headers.

As a young centre-back at Ajax, I played with Wim Jansen, and of course you learn a huge amount. I made some mistakes, because we Dutchmen want to solve situations by playing football. So we look at the ball, try to judge where it will come.

Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.

Really, I learned a long time ago that in the National Football League, paper doesn't mean anything. Football teams are created on the football field.

I think a good quarterback or a good linebacker, a good safety, even though you have a lot of bodies moving out there, it slows down for them and they can really see it. Then there are other guys that it's a lot of guys moving and they don't see anything. It's like being at a busy intersection, just cars going everywhere. The guys that can really sort it out, they see the game at a slower pace and can really sort out and decipher all that movement, which is hard. But experience certainly helps that, yes.

Lahm is a scandal. He is super-intelligent, understands the game brilliantly, knows when to come inside or to stay wide. The guy is f****** exceptional

Most people think footballers are thick. Some might be, academically, but they can see the game, strategically, tactically, in every way.

You watch the game, you don't see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game.

I've been on a number of NFL teams, and a lot of them address situational football. But I've never been around a team that does it as meticulously as the New England Patriots.

When I was in Dutch and Italian football, a lot of people looked at Manchester United, and when they were asked who was the best player, a lot of them said Paul Scholes. Much of what he did looked simple, but actually it was quite hard. Invariably he controlled the ball instantly and passed it straight on, keeping the game moving. He made inch-perfect passes across the pitch; he saw the gaps and could play the ball through them. So it didn't surprise me that so many top-class international footballers recognized his quality.

What happens is once you start to understand football, you realise that it's not just about the physical side of the game and chasing after a ball. It's a strategic sport which requires a lot of intelligence. It's a very mental game.

People compare me to Verratti, and I do really like him, but we have very different playing styles.

Something interesting has happened over the last 10 years in the Premier League. Players who once would have been discarded as expensive and too old have become important parts of title-winning squads.

I know and the manager knows my best position is centre-half but if I can learn two other positions if needed then it's great for me as a player and my development.

I would loved to have played with Scholes. He plays the game the way it should be played and at his peak he was the best midfield player in the world.

I remember being coached at Liverpool, and there was another kid called Toni Silva, and they said, 'You know, instead of blasting the ball, and it goes in, do like Toni does: pass it around the keeper.'

Ibrahimovic is a very intelligent player and there are very few strikers like him in world football.

As a player, you get to the stage where you realise that you are not 25 anymore - and can't play the way you used to. The intelligent players adapt - and Steven Gerrard has the ability to do that. He is an excellent passer of the ball, possesses an intelligent football brain, and has great vision.