When I'm about to play in a big match, I take things easy.
Something we do every tour is to choose a song for the team CD that gets played in the dressing room prior to games.
Some of the games in Spain... we played at the Wanda, which was amazing, but then the next week, they're creating a penalty spot 10 minutes before the game starts.
A lot of times, the press guys ask why I take an hour and a half to come to the interview room, but if you don't do the massage and the ice baths and the stretching and the cooling down and the eating, and your opponent is doing that stuff, they already have an advantage.
You don't win games as a coach during games. You win games as a coach before games. Players win during games, not coaches
I'm only superstitious on the tennis court.
I was in Minnesota in 2014 when Adrian Peterson was suspended. In that situation, we were about to play the Patriots when his suspension came out the Friday before the game.
I end every speech the night before a game with, 'Now, let's go get a snack.'
I don't believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on a field and be prepared to play a good game.
When the game starts, you don't really look at uniforms.
I spent the nights before the Jets' two biggest games last year - for the AFL championship and the Super Bowl - with girls. But I don't consider that bad or foolish of me... The night before a game, I prepare myself both mentally and physically for the next day. I think a ballplayer has to be relaxed to play well; and if that involves being with a girl that night, he should do it.
For home games, I bring my clothes to the arena. I bring two different outfits that I can pick after the game. Road game, I got to wear what I walk in with.
I think players tend to get anxious if they've not really done things properly - like eating, resting or training. If you're fully prepared you've got nothing to worry about - it's just a game of football.
It's not superstition, but I do everything exactly the same on game days. I'm a creature of habit. I eat the same breakfast, and then I drive the same way to practice. Then I come back and eat the same exact same lunch before every game.
On game days, I'm pretty boring: I like to rest and watch TV with my legs up so I'm not on my feet too much before the match.
I like to get on the court three hours before the game. That way, I can get out of everybody's way, and I can do what I need to do for me and get up the shots that I need and then be in the locker room and getting my stuff taken care of physically - if I need treatment or whatever may be.
Footballers are very superstitious.
I don't have many superstitions, but I do have a few things I like to do out of routine and habit before a game.
You visualize [pitches]. You see it in your head; you think it...I used to play every pitcher in my mind before I went to the ballpark. I started getting ready for ever game the moment I woke up.
Some players like to practise right up to the start of play. But for me, whatever warming up I did was only going to be followed by cooling down again.
I don't talk to media or anyone before games. I just put my headphones on, turn up some hip-hop, and get in the zone.
There were butterflies, otherwise, you're not really ready to play. The locker room, I remember, was quiet and we were very focused on playing that game.
I would say I'm more traditional than I am superstitious. I don't, for example, have to do things ritually before the game in order to feel comfortable going to the game. But I don't think I'm naturally a football player. I don't have that grit and that killer instinct.
In the dressing room before kick off, Arsene won't say a lot.
The period before the game can be important to influence opinions, characters, personalities, feelings, and, of course, I use that to touch my players, to touch opponents, to touch supporters.
