Top 70 Marco van Basten Quotes

When I became the assistant, I was intelligent and helpful. I had patience. As the head coach I was completely the opposite. I made a good decision to get out.

Football is spectacular and it has to stay spectacular in every sense.

Modern football is like handball. You see 11 players defending on the edge of their own area.

English football is very strong physically, but Spanish football is more technical.

I want a healthy atmosphere around my team, not problems.

If you have 48 countries in a World Cup, we have more countries who have the joy of participating.

When you feel good and the ball comes just a bit behind you, then you have the option to hold it and lay it back, but you can also do a bicycle kick – that was one of my qualities.

It is a contact sport. Being tough is also part of the game.

I worked hard at it, because I find being a coach a great and interesting job.

The truth is that if you don’t buy, improving the squad becomes difficult.

I like that about the English people. They are sharp.

Johann was one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He could do everything. I’m not at that level. I’m more of a classic attacker, a penalty-area player. And after a while, I realized that this was how I could best help my team.

Messi is the best player in the world. If he wins a World Cup, he will be the best player ever.

Xavi has won the Champions League three times, the European Championship twice and the World Cup. He’s a real football player, a man who focuses on his football, hard work and training instead of the glamour, and that is why he has stayed at such a high level for so long.

Arsenal have the most amazing stadium, they have a style of play, they have a beautiful shirt – in every way I consider Arsenal as the ultimate football club.

My first dream as a young boy was to be a gymnast and my first memory of football is of watching Ajax win the European Cup in 1971. It was a time when a great philosophy was being developed at Ajax, making rounded players who were there as a complete team rather than as 11 individuals.

Am I too critical on Torres and Drogba because I used to be a striker myself? I don’t think so.

As a player, you play and you have much more influence. As a manager, you talk about the game all week with every player and all of a sudden when it starts, your influence is so small and it was very difficult for me to accept that.

Football should be tense, fair and attractive.

Rooney has to remember he is an icon and an example to youth.

We must keep looking for ways to improve the game.

I feel very honoured that I’ve been chosen as the best player for 1992 by national coaches with so much football knowhow.

I’m sad when I see San Siro with empty stands.

They are not the same – Xavi is more the man of passing and Iniesta can dribble more – but they have great vision, they are important to the defence and the attack.

I do some business and work for television, talking about football.

I have a nice life.

When you get older and more open and more honest, it is easier to show yourself how you really are.

Some players have 18 years in football. But some players are injured before they start. When I thought like that I said: ‘If I compare with that I have been very lucky. At least I had 10 years of a beautiful experience that changed my life for ever.’

I had nice years at Ajax, wonderful years with Milan, and won something with the national team.

When I was growing up, we didn’t qualify for the 1982 and 1986 World Cup and the 1984 Euros. And then suddenly we won in 1988. It goes up and down. We are a small country.

I think the person I learnt the most from as a coach was Cruyff because he was always talking about tactics – how to play, where to play and when to play. I think that helps a lot of young players, which is good. He was the most important trainer for me.

In England there’s a lot of money to create a great team like Barcelona.

Arsenal are a really big club.

The defenders, they get all psyched up to play against me. I know it means a lot to them if they can keep me from scoring.

I think it can be very interesting watching a game without offside.

Lewandowski reminds me a bit of me. I was a bit of a mix of him and Ronaldo. I also understood playing with the others and I could give assists.

When you are a good player you want to play every week.

The video ref should focus on the key things, situations ahead of goals, penalties and red cards.

Football has changed just like life in general has changed.

The spectators want to see action, goals, tackles.

It was great that Cruyff believed in me so much when I was taken on at Ajax. As a coach, Cruyff also had a clear vision, which enabled him to create a better team.

Louis van Gaal is a big manager, very experienced.

All the pain I had, it was not worth it. My ankle created so many problems, it affected my day-to-day living. But at that time football was my whole life. Now I am older, I have had a life without football. You can still have a good life – there is more than football.

I think it’s strange to change the turf three days before a match.

If your ankle is damaged and you get another heavy tackle on it the pain is always with you.

Two days before the World Cup, it’s a good time to be back to your best.

We play to win.

I’d like to coach Balotelli.

We all love this sport. That’s why I will work hard to develop football technically in the way that our sport will give to the fans and the players always emotions and joy.

In sport it’s all about winning, not how you win.

Ronaldo is a great player. But those who claim that he is stronger than Messi do not understand football or are in bad faith.

Premier League clubs have a lot of money, that’s why they’re strong and have a lot of good players.

After two good and interesting years I decided to put an end to my duty at FIFA, mainly to be able to spend more time with my family in Amsterdam.

I’m not a good manager.

Rooney is the man.

Scoring can be simply a matter of confidence. Sometimes it happens easily.

If you can score a lot of goals in Italy, you can do it in the Champions League as well.

I tend not to pay too much attention to the person marking me.

Shootouts are spectacular for the viewers and they are interesting for the players.

When you accept the captaincy, you accept the responsibilities that come with it.

In football you need opponents, competition because if you are alone with two or three clubs controlling everything you don’t have any competition.

Leonardo left Milan on bad terms, but I did not.

As a manager you have to be positive to your guys, as a father to his sons, and that was one thing I really didn’t have.

I think my gymnastic background helped a great deal with my agility when I took up football seriously.

From the bottom of my heart I can honestly say that it is always nice to see Milan play.

Whatever the situation, winning is always the most important thing.

Football should be a pleasure.

There was a moment in 1996 I had to say: ‘I have to try to get healthy.’ We made a decision to fuse my ankle. For a sportsman, and I was still only 32, that’s the worst choice. But I had to stop the pain.

The friendlies are an opportunity to look at different players and tactics.

There’s a lot of emotion in the game but we have to control it. The people want to see action.