Top 50 Michail Antonio Quotes

Players should be picked on form, not reputation.

I want to always be better and make my career last as long as possible.

The players, we just got to believe in ourselves.

Certain things have happened in my life where it has been crazy touch-and-go situations, but it has let me know that, even if there are going to be difficult times, there’s always a bright side to everything.

I signed for Reading and then West Ham where people called me ‘The Invisible Man’ or a ‘poster’ because I was on the bench for three months. I turned down opportunities to go on loan because I’d achieved everything I wanted in the Championship.

I’m a person who’s quite professional and I believe I’ll do anything I can to help the team.

I kept going out on loan because I wasn’t getting much time at Reading. Then I went to Sheffield Wednesday and then Nottingham Forest and I managed to get to West Ham, where I always wanted to be – the Premier League.

The majority of the time having first touches, when the ball comes to you, you’re normally free so you’ve got time to control, but as a centre forward, you’ve got to be able to ride it. You’ve got to tense your body, but then have your foot be soft enough to control the ball, as well.

Obviously I’ve been friends with loads of white people and there’s certain things that happen and even though they’re constantly around black people, they still don’t understand. So maybe they can also educate themselves as well.

In a normal job, if there was a chance for you to get promoted, are you going to go, ‘No, no, no – I want to stay in the exact same spot I’m in now.’ Or, are you going to strive and move forward and be better?

I’m just trying to play my football right now and whatever happens, happens.

I’ve been on and off with West Ham, I’ve had some good seasons and some not.

You come to me and punch me in my face I’m going to protect myself.

Playing in non-League gave me the resilience. I learned everything there. You needed to fight off hard tackles and I was playing against big men. You learn how to be strong and take them on and learn resilience.

One thing I have always believed in is to never give up.

Academy wingers always pick up the ball and then cut inside or lay it off. No one runs at players like I do, or gets to the back stick and overpowers a defender.

Once I’ve picked the ball up, I look at the full-back and I make my decision. Am I going to go past him? I don’t think about it before. Everything I do is a reaction. That’s why some people don’t like it.

I’m quite ragged. People say ‘raw,’ and some people don’t like raw. They prefer it neat and tidy but you can’t be neat and tidy and also be leaping above people at the far stick to score goals.

I had to be resilient playing non-League because I was 17 playing against men. I always knew how to beat someone and how to use my body. And that’s one thing academy players don’t really learn. Because in the academy you’re playing against people your age. I was always playing against men.

Being a lifeguard was boring. Bo-ring. It was an indoor pool and it’s so hot and humid in there. All you can do is sit there – you can’t have music on because you need to pay attention and not be distracted. So you’re just sat there, you’re looking at people swim up and down, up and down. That was so boring.

London is becoming more of a business than a place for families. You can’t live here. We’re not investing in the future.

Kurt Zouma is a strong guy.

You’ve got to take each step as it comes – you can’t think about 20 steps away because it will distract you and trip you up.

I’m not that refined academy player who’s going to pick the ball up, pass it and be neat and tidy all the time. I’m a player who’s going to get it and run at the full-back, run in behind.

I was 13 and one of the boys on the other team called me a monkey. When I was younger, that sort of thing got me angry. I was the one who got a red card that day.

When my mum didn’t let me join Tottenham, it kind of gave me a confidence that I had the ability to do it but then again, it kind of upset me massively.

I don’t see any difference between any games, whether it’s a Premier League game, a cup game, an FA Cup game; all those games are the same for me. I want to score in every single game I play.

It’s good to have the option to have someone else who can come in and play in different positions.

There are times I pinch myself. There are times where I’ll wake up and be like, ‘I’ve got four kids,’ or I’m like, ‘I’m actually playing in the Premier League.’

It does make me proud to know where I’ve come from and how hard I have worked, but I’m also scared of it, because I know what I’ve had to do, and I don’t ever want to go back to that situation. It drives me more to be better.

You can’t be around players and not know what makes them tick.

I feel like black players have come a long way.

I always want to push on, I always want to keep going because I feel like I’ve missed out on things in the past, so I’m going to keep going until I can’t go anymore.

England need players who are hungry – not guys who think they should be there because of who they are and what they have done previously.

Being a lifeguard, not having much money – that is the thing that pushes me the most. I don’t want to be in that situation again.

To have the experience of the World Cup would be unbelievable.

Everyone all over the world can be in one changing room, can get along.

I always believe that people need to strive and push forward and keep going for your dreams and never give up. It doesn’t matter what age you are.

When people run at me, I see what I don’t like for myself. When I’m running at people I understand now what full-backs don’t like and what they do like.

Always have belief in yourself that you can achieve things.

I never really thought about becoming the all-time top goalscorer. Because when I first signed for West Ham, I was just trying to get a game.

A good manager doesn’t put pressure on his players.

This is my boyhood dream to play for England.

I’m an attacking player who likes to score goals. I love scoring goals.

The way I play, some managers are going to like me, some managers are not going to like me.

I don’t mind the wing-back role but I don’t like to feel boxed in defence. I like to be free, involved and scoring goals – that’s when I’m happiest.

The best player I’ve played with is Adam Lallana. I just think he’s quality. He’s both footed. When I was playing with him at Southampton I kept asking him what foot he is. He said ‘I’m both.’ I was like well everyone’s dominant one foot and he was like ‘no I’m both.’

I was planning on becoming a teacher. I didn’t become professional until I was 17, nearly 18, so I was going to college – I picked universities and everything – and I was planning on becoming a PE teacher.

I go back to my secondary school to speak to the people there and say, ‘If you want to become something, don’t ever hesitate, don’t ever feel like you can’t do it. Just look at my path, look at where I’ve come.’

There’s nothing better than scoring a goal and hearing a roar from the fans.