Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
It's hard to evolve when you only have fifteen days or three weeks to practice and correct and change tactics.
We must condition the players. They need to get into the right frame of mind in the hours leading up the game.
We can't really look back and see what is in the rear-view mirror. This is not how you are going to move forward.
You need to have discussions and make sure you guide players towards the collective spirit. It can't be done overnight.
Creativity is making a good pass at the right time... but it can also come from deeper, there should always be a balance.
There are always crucial, decisive players in every side who make the difference and do not necessarily depend on others.
When you make your final list for the World Cup or European Championship you don't take the 23 best players, that is for sure.
Benzema is a team player, he is very important for us. He always wants to score with us, but scoring is not everything to him.
Look, I was a water carrier, I don't reject my image. I didn't have the pretension to think that I could change a match by myself.
For me, the goal is to make the most of each player, play them in the position they feel best in. And then repeat, repeat, repeat.
I've always hated to lose and I continue to hate it. But I've been obliged to accept it because I also have had some crushing defeats.
At the highest level, if you don't have a solid defensive base, you can't get by. In one match, yes. But over a whole competition? No.
He might not be very tall, but he's very useful. Kante wins balls, has great transition play, can be found everywhere, and always has solutions.
Open all the debates that you want, but I think that the players that I select, and in whom I have total confidence, deserve a minimum amount of respect.
Nowadays you never see players playing cards. We used to sit around playing cards together all the time. But I can't fight that, I have to adapt and change.
We arrived at the 2002 World Cup with two titles, very calm, well organised, maybe missing a bit of concentration. But the only truth is on the pitch. The dangers are there.
When there are hard times, the trend is to question yourself and to dig deep but when things go well you shouldn't relax and think things come easy or you need to put in less effort.
Either a player accepts competition or they say they absolutely need to play. For a player to have an open door, I have to have, at the same position, an element that is just as good or even better.
My departure from Juve remains a regret, a mistake that taught me one thing - never make an immediate decision, at the end of the season, when everyone is 'boiling.' I have paid for such an experience.
The key thing is knowing how to adapt. Adapting to the group that you have at your disposal; adapting to the place where you're working; adapting to the local environment. This is crucial: adaptability.
Sometimes you need to encourage them sometimes even to comfort them, let them know I trust them. Sometimes you need to tell the truth, being more aggressive. That's management. I need to put the players in the best possible conditions.
Players like me, we did something of a thankless job. You don't show a hard tackle or stripping someone of possession in slow motion on the big screen. But if you add it all up, I was always the one that the coaches wrote down automatically on the lineup card.
Messi plays in Spain, we know he makes a difference, but if you've played against him then maybe you're aware of situations that can repeat on the pitch. But Messi is Messi, with his talent, he may send a spark with very little and make the difference. He is unpredictable.
It's not just about the words you use, but the way you use them, and the message that puts over. Also your face too and the way you project your message. If you're telling the group to stay calm, be good, and you have beads of sweat dripping down your forehead, you're in trouble.
Managing players is harder these days because of the arrival of new technology. They are all using it in their spare time so they become more isolated and selfish. They share less, they talk less. They have apps, their phones and the Internet but they are less used to talking to people.
You can't wake up one morning and say, 'Right, now I'm going to be a leader.' I think it is something that's in you, that you're born with, and which develops. Some people have that character, that personality and it comes naturally. You can't force it. It has to be authentic and natural. Innate.