 If I wanted
you to understand, I would have explained it better. |
| My attackers
only have to run 15 meters, unless they're stupid or sleeping... |
| When you are
4-0 ahead with 10 minutes to go, it's better to hit the post a
couple of times so the crowd can go 'oooh!' and 'aaaah!' Then
you get angry as if you hadn't meant to. I just always loved that
sound when the ball hits the post hard... |
| Football should
always be played beautifully, you should play in an attacking
way, it must be a spectacle. |
| If you are all
feel the same way, it must be the referee's fault then. (When
asked, in Hong Kong, about a such nice guy like him but get in
trouble with the referees so often.) |
| Every trainer
talks about movement, about running a lot. I say don't run so
much. Football is a game you play with your brains. You have to
be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not
too late. |
| For me, football
is emotion. Without emotion, I can't do it. |
| Because of the
emotional way I live my football there's only very few clubs I
can work for. And I never want to work for a club which has a
running track in the stadium. |
| A top team needs
a player the others look up to. He doesn't even play but when
he says "let's go" evertbody goes. No one stays in their
seats. That's what you call charisma. |
| I think people
should be able to play in all different positions on the field...That's
why it is so important everyone listens when you have a tactical
conversation. The left winger can't go to sleep when Michels talks
about the right-back. |
| In the kingdom
of the blind the one eyed man is king - but he still only has
one eye. |
| I want players
who can make decisive moves in a tiny spaces. I want them to do
as little work as possible to save their energy for that one action. |
| I know it's fashionable
these days to say countries like Luxembourg and Cyprus aren't
small anymore, but that's nonsense. You know what the mistake
is? People think these countries can play football. Of course,
if you give them space they can do everything with the ball. Anyone
can play football if you have five meters of space. |
| We are in a miserable
period in terms of our ideas and the lack of a real genius. Things
are so bad when anyone starts to do something which is even a
little out of the norm he is immediately called exceptional when
that is not the case. During the World Cup we have seen those
considered to be the stars of the game. These are guys for whom
clubs pay millions and who demand millions when absolutely none
of that collective madness is justified. (After World Cup 1998) |
| I read an opinion
in a newspaper which declared that the fifties were Di Stefano's
decade, the sixties Pele's, the seventies Cruyff and the eighties
Maradona's. Whether one agrees with that or not it is clear the
nineties have no such king of the game |
| I'm a bit strange.
An idealistic professional. That's how you have to see it. |
| There is a God.
You can't do things you're not allowed to do to people without
being punished. |
| Simple play is
also the most beautiful. How often do you see a pass of 40 meters
when 20 meters is enough? Or a one-two in the penalty area when
there are seven people around you and a simple wide pass around
the seven would be a solution? The solution that seems the simplest
is in fact the most difficult one. |
| Italy can not
beat the Netherlands, but the netherlands can lose to Italy! (Before
the semi-finals between the Oranje and Italy in Euro2000) |
| Brazil played
anti-football, not as a team. They just took advantage of the
mistakes of the teams they played against. Brazil deserved to
win, but France were better in 1998. (After World Cup 2002) |
