Boredom does get you into trouble and we footballers have a lot of time on our hands, and sometimes we fill up that time with stuff that isn’t always positive.
There are a lot of football clubs that are fantastic football clubs but how they treat footballers is another story.
Acting has never been a thing that me and my dad have talked about. It’s like footballers: when they get together, I bet the last thing they talk about is football.
I was a fan once, and I remember what it was like approaching footballers for their autographs. I used to get starstruck a lot of the time.
I’ve seen a life many, many footballers had never seen.
A lot of youngsters want to be footballers and a lot dont make it. It is very difficult but if your education is good and you work hard and do everything the best way, then why not?
I run an academy in Spain for young footballers who are released by their clubs and who, in my opinion, deserve a second chance. It is a rewarding job for me, but one that also reveals many of the faults in the English game.
I think people don’t really understand how much footballers are affected by the people in their lives. When we’re interviewed, people always ask about managers and tactics and training, but they almost never ask about what’s going on off the pitch, and to me, that’s just as important to your career.
We are a great fit, and I’m excited about the chance to influence a new generation of young footballers alongside Warrior.
Nigerian footballers who have played in Russia improved their ability here.
Footballers are an easy target. They are offered big lines of credit. Every sport is vulnerable; it’s such a big gambling industry, and there are problems with syndicates in other countries.
What you’ve got to realise is that footballers, and me in particular, have seen everything in the changing room. Everything. I’ve seen the manager kicking off with the players, the players kicking off with him, players fighting each other, managers fighting, everything.
Football’s the big cheese, if you like. It’s easy to have a swipe. There’s a lot of footballers, and when they fall foul, they become big news.
We are professional footballers. How to cope with the pressure is one of the things we have to learn.
When I arrived in Milan, I found myself surrounded by many fantastic footballers.
They are different footballers. For me, Cristiano has more points in his favour because he heads the ball well, he is stronger and he scores goals. Messi has quality, dribbles and scores goals. For a coach, I think Cristiano is better because he is more complete.
I’m very happy to play at the World Cup, and that is a message to all footballers and others around the world, that you should believe in your dreams and fight to make them come true.
I respect footballers of any skin colour and any sexual orientation.
A friend at school was always being laughed at because his father emptied dustbins for a living. But those who laughed worshipped famous footballers. This is an example of our topsy-turvy view of ‘success.’ Who would we miss most if they did not work for a month, the footballer or the garbage collector?
The make-up on ‘Footballers’ Wives’ is unbelievable – there’s loads of fake tan.
People talk about footballers and they get a bad press when not all of them deserve it.
I was fortunate to play with so many wonderful footballers and under the greatest manager of all time, but I do believe that a club’s ethos, the principles of how it plays, should outlive even the biggest individuals in its history.
I don’t know many footballers except Maradona and Messi.
There is a lot of crap spoken about footballers being nomads but when you get to a club and you create a spirit, there is no doubt players want to do well for their team-mates and club.
Argentina produces great footballers, but Uruguay does the same.
My long hair and the sideburns made me stand out, really, because my hairstyle was completely different to the other footballers of that era.
I don’t know if my perspective is different because my dad played but I’ve always admired footballers: second division players, second division B players.
I don’t necessarily like the things footballers do. All these kissing the badge, just doing it for the clout.
There is such a strange microculture to footballers’ fashion and style and the design that goes around it.
Like bankers, top footballers are massively overpaid, but at least you comprehend what they’re doing for the money.
As footballers, you just grow up with people from different backgrounds and different colors of skin.
This is what footballers are used to. You’re used to playing matches throughout the Christmas period so for us it doesn’t feel weird. We’re working on Christmas Day and we’ve always done it.
We want to be treated as professionals and like the male footballers.
The hardest thing for young footballers is that you start earning money and you can start copying other players.
If I had an ego as big as the Eiffel Tower, would I have won this many collective trophies? I know people like to talk about it. And O.K., I am not going to answer every story. But maybe I will let my collective trophies speak for themselves. I don’t know many other footballers who have won as much. Do you?
By training with some of the world’s finest footballers and manager, I feel I have matured in all areas – mentally, physically, and technically.
You can’t have square pegs in round holes. It’s not just about getting talented footballers, it’s about getting people who fit into my football.
If Im out and Im around loads of very high-profile footballers, fans always come up to me. I think they just feel comfortable coming over.
There are some who when they play football they carry the ball ta-ta-ta, but they are jugglers not footballers. The less you have the ball at your feet the better.
I think medically, football is generally well looked after. There are always checks made. Anything which can be done to make footballers or sportsmen of any area safer has to be encouraged.
The trouble for today’s footballers is they have too many distractions. We used to get our old players coming to watch training with football magazines in their hands. Now, more often than not, they are checking the share prices.
I think the stereotype about footballers being badly dressed is unfair.
We as footballers, like with Sancho, have a lot of power to reach other people, to be role models and to say something. What we say to people outside gives us a big chance to make a statement.
As much as footballers want to talk about how terrible it is for them, look at what’s happening in the black community of kids without an education and who haven’t got jobs.
The footballers’ wives I know, they’re teachers, midwives. They want to do something useful. One is working at my son’s nursery, on her hands and knees, in Converse and jeans, teaching kids to count.
I never thought I’d rather watch England’s cricketers batting for a draw than their footballers in the World Cup but it was a lot more exciting.
I’m not looking for sympathy. If there’s other footballers addicted to gambling, then maybe me speaking about my battle might help them.
Most people think footballers are thick. Some might be, academically, but they can see the game, strategically, tactically, in every way.
We are footballers, so if you’ve got to play with someone, you’ve got to play with them. What happens off the pitch, well, you can’t get on with everyone you work with.
The Champions League is a big ambition, and all the footballers want to play in it; it is a very important competition.
A lot of Brazilians are very superstitious, especially footballers. I’m the same. I always step on to the pitch with my right foot first.
There are footballers who are very good playing on the outside but don’t know what to do inside. Then there are players who are very good inside but don’t have the physique, the legs, to go outside.
Everyone has their own background and some managers are Premier League footballers, international footballers, some of them find themselves getting jobs.
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