Athlete

The most important part are the fans, that people going home are happy. It's their time off, and you should give them something to enjoy.

Italians can not beat us, but we can certainly lose against them.

How can you create a team and bring all these egos together? The main goal for Manchester United is for them to play well - and not have a player saying, 'I play well; I scored two goals'. Because if I score two goals, but three goals go into our net, then we lose.

Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than the others, I appear faster.

Before I make a mistake, I don't make that mistake.

It's like everything in football - and life. You need to look, you need to think, you need to move, you need to find space, you need to help others. It's very simple in the end.

Football is a game you play with your mind.

There is no greater medal than to be acclaimed for your style.

Ajax was spending too much money; they were buying players that were too expensive. If you get 100 per cent, you can't spend 120 per cent. It's quite easy.

Everybody could use the money, but you don't play for it - you play with your heart - and that's a big difference you see in Barcelona. Everybody wants to play there; everybody wants to enjoy themselves. It's maybe a small percentage, but maybe it's the difference.

To win you have to score one more goal than your opponent.

The disabled people that do sport, they don't think about what they don't have but try to get better with what they do have. That is the same for me.

Coaching courses are still much too theoretical, and this is what you see reflected in the basic technical skills of the average player. I even see things deteriorating.

All these countries like Holland and Scotland, they create their own problems. They are always complaining, but they don't solve anything. Don't look at what you don't have; look at what you can create.

I look at Messi, and he makes me laugh. A beautiful footballer who is still like a kid. A world superstar, but still a kid. Innocent, you know. He just plays.

I'm not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw.

If you take golf, you have a teacher for the drive, a teacher for the approach play, and a teacher for the putt. That's three specialist coaches for one player. In football, one coach looks after 25 players.

Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.

The romance of English football is fantastic, but it has lost its identity under the influence of other cultures.

I don't want to be a thief of my own wallet.