Words matter. These are the best Frank Rijkaard Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
Africa has produced some good players.
We win together, and we lose together.
One thing was crystal clear to me: if you’re centre-back, you first of all have to perform your task.
Manchester United is a world-famous club, and yet if you say, ‘Manchester United,’ then immediately you think of Sir Alex Ferguson. To have achieved so much and have so much importance at such a big club is extremely rare.
Someone said that my coaching is a combination of Milan’s defensive discipline and the Dutch propensity for attacking football, and I think that is a fair description.
When a parent has two children, it is difficult to pick one favourite.
You always need to have the highest respect for your opponents. If you see them fighting, you know you have to give something extra.
It’s my belief that Barcelona are successful because they have a number of youth teams alongside the first team. They are where it begins.
Every manager feels a responsibility to his board of directors and the public and the players.
Generally speaking, I think that Frank Lampard is one of the best players in international football.
It is very tough to beat an English team. The type of football they play is only in the Premier League. They defend as though their lives depend on it. And they are very successful.
I try to stay in the moment.
Being a manager is kneading people.
As a young centre-back at Ajax, I played with Wim Jansen, and of course you learn a huge amount. I made some mistakes, because we Dutchmen want to solve situations by playing football. So we look at the ball, try to judge where it will come.
Ronaldinho is very happy at Barcelona.
I was once in charge of the Dutch team – and then I was introduced to club football!
I think that every manager who starts work with a team has the best expectations and is giving all he’s got to improve immediately.
You see a lot of managers who are working and yet are already talking about other countries and other teams. But that’s not for me.
Everyone has his own form, and I never had any problems with Mourinho.
How can you judge a man until you come face to face?
I understand very well that if you are a national coach, you want to use all the opportunities that you have to meet up with your team.
We have to remember, Mourinho worked at Barcelona. He has good memories of Barcelona. The club did well when he was here.
I made Edgar Davids vice-captain. Nothing to do with colour, just because he was playing excellently and because he lives like an athlete.
As a player, you are more concerned with the moments when you have possession of the ball or are about to receive the ball. You are watching your team-mates and trying to decide what the possibilities are.
The situation with Anders Frisk is clear: he was threatened by the supporters of Chelsea, and he retired because he was in fear. This is serious.
The differences between the top teams in Euro 2000 are so minimal that I think you have to be very clever in defence and stop your opponents getting opportunities.
Losing against rivals is always a blow to the morale.
I am completely uninterested in playing beautiful football if the team doesn’t win.
There is a part of football I would describe as ‘serious’ and one part I would describe as more ‘playful,’ i.e. more technical.
The national team means you have the nation behind it.
There are coaches with habits you don’t like, and you tell yourself, ‘I don’t want to be like that.’ But there’s no one way to success.
The Dutch public always wants to see a team that is trying to be dominant, trying to play attractive football, and after that, hopefully, a team that is winning.
I’m grateful for everything I have achieved in football, but now I’d rather do other things, go and watch games and enjoy discussing them afterwards.
It would not be honest if I did a review, because I’ve worked with Leo Messi, whom I consider the best player I’ve seen. I cannot comment or compare with Cristiano Ronaldo because I have not worked with him. That is not to say that I do not have as much respect for Cristiano as a footballer.
From the moment Messi was introduced, we all knew he was a unique talent. I remember Deco and Ronaldinho immediately realised how special he was, and they took him under their wing.
It’s normal that if you are working with a lot of people, then you have a lot of different mentalities and characters. You have the serious guy, and you have the one who is always complaining and the one who is always talking. Everyone is different.
Dennis is something special. We are talking a lot about exciting football, and Dennis Bergkamp, I think, started with attractive football a long time ago. He was one of these players. A lot of the things he did as a football player you can compare to art.
After your career, you go to matches, and you see so many unnecessary goals because a person is just looking where the ball is and not his opponent. Well, a ball alone has never scored a goal.
It’s not for nothing that they say it’s easier to get to the top than to stay at the top.
In the end, every coach wants the same – that’s to win.
You have to score one goal more than your opponents. That’s the most important thing.
Mourinho follows his personality – staying close to his own way – he chooses that, and he has been very successful with it. I can only have respect for that.
At Barcelona, I was exposed to talent. You had Ronaldinho, who was a marvel to watch. Deco is skilful and talented. Then there are players like Xavi, a good and hardworking man who gave his all. Iniesta is another. Then the name of Messi will come up in that list.
Players are sometimes sad, sometimes happy during their sporting career.
