Top 75 Midfield Quotes

I think I am strong on the field, I am versatile, I can play in several midfield positions. Some coaches like that, it grabs their attention, it is a big deal for me.

As a holding midfield player, you want movement and to play between the lines.

Normally, I play in midfield where I’m challenging the players and trying to take the ball.

I’m not going to be running round at the back of the grid, or even in midfield, just for the sake of saying I’ve been in Formula One.

But I loved playing in midfield. In midfield you always have a sight of goal, you’re always participating in all the plays.

I think that Sarri’s formation and playing with a midfield three have been fundamental for me.

Even though I started out at right-back, I actually enjoy the contrast of playing both at full-back and in midfield. Both require physical attributes and a lot of energy.

At Newcastle, I was playing in the No 10 position but also in midfield as a left winger.

All coaches now look for forwards who not only score goals but also run back and help in midfield.

I prefer to play in midfield, whether that is attacking midfield or defensive midfield.

Central midfield has been my main position, but I’ll play wherever the gaffer wants me.

If you are playing on the left of a four-man midfield, there are a lot more defensive duties to do, so you can’t find the times to keep attacking. But if you’re on the left of a 4-3-3, I find that position really good as well.

I just want to be able to be an attacking influence and have that effect further up the pitch; whether that’s from an attacking midfield position or one of the wider positions coming in, I’m not too fussed.

In the 1970s you would have had lots of black goalkeepers and defensive midfield players but never made it professionally because the perception was, ‘You don’t think too much, you can’t play in positions of responsibility so you play on the wing or up front.’ Lots were lost to the game because of the perception.

Busquets reads everything. Players like Busquets or Xabi Alonso in midfield have the capacity to read the whole game.

I don’t like getting pinned back with a line of four in midfield. You risk losing too much space.

Frank Lampard was always the player I tried to model myself on. The amount of goals he scored from midfield was incredible. On and off the pitch, he was what I wanted to be.

It’s important to be a soccer player in the sense of the whole vision – if you put me at forward, I can do it, or if you put me in midfield, I can do it.

It doesn’t matter who you play against in midfield, you need to try to come out on top and more often than not when a team wins a midfield battle they normally have a good chance of winning the game because that’s where a lot of the play goes through.

I prefer advanced midfield, like a No. 10, but you know me: I’ll play anywhere for Villa.

If I don’t get the service or if I don’t the ball in the box, where I want it, I start drifting into midfield. I go and look for the ball. I try to be important for the team in other areas.

As a young player, I played up front, on the wing, in midfield, and when I started in the reserves at Standard Liege, I played centre back.

To be honest, from England Under-16s, through the 17s and 18s, really all the way through my youth career, I played at centre-half. For some reason, when I made my debut at Everton, I just played in central midfield, and it went from there.

In the midfield, I’m not the most comfortable playing with my back to the goal, and in the midfield you find that ball a lot.

One of the things that makes the best teams in the world the best is the fact that, across midfield and up top, they are capable of hurting you.

The cap is a discussion about competitiveness, not about money. It’s about trying to bring the top teams down to a level where the midfield teams feel they can compete. The reality is that whatever the level of spend there will always be teams that run at the front and teams that run at the back.

My favorite position is in the center of the midfield, maybe the defensive midfield. I think I can play this position the best. I played there in my youth all the time, and I like to be in the center of the game because you’re never standing still.

I would say I am more comfortable in the centre of midfield. But when you are at a big club like Liverpool, you maybe get played in positions with which you might not be so familiar. But you have got to learn the different roles, because it gives you a better opportunity to play.

Defensive midfield can be the one position that’s easier to play as you get older.

Right backs now should be the highest paid players in every team! Strikers just have to score. Midfielders, they pass. Goalkeepers make saves. Full backs have to mark, cover centre backs and midfield, get forward and cross, take shots and provide the link to strikers.

When I play in central midfield, that’s my favourite position.

Obviously when you grow up in the area you love playing on the street, and to go from playing on the street with my mates to playing at Upton Park is a bit surreal, and 15 years on to still be in the heart of the West Ham midfield is quite good going!

Pirlo is a cool customer who does things in his own time. On the pitch, he just looks so relaxed, no matter what is going on around him. He is one of those greats who looks like he could run a midfield with a glass of red wine in one hand.

At Rennes, I played more down the left wing, but also down the right and sometimes in midfield. At Dortmund, it was the same: I alternated wings. I don’t have problems with the position I’ll take up.

Tevez is an extraordinary striker. Not only does he score goals, but he also helps his teammates and the midfield, too.

I have worked on my defense skills and played in the midfield as well. Coaches are preparing players to play at any given position.

I’m a very versatile player, I have covered many midfield roles but my favourite one is the centre-midfield.

The AZ captain Teun Koopmeiners, a left-footed centre back who can sit in midfield, is probably the best player in Holland in defensive areas.

I often felt as a player in a 4-4-2, you end up being outnumbered in midfield and chasing the ball, so as a manager I liked wingbacks to push forward; it gives the midfield player on the ball three or four options.

I’ve grown up playing in central midfield more, and I think my natural game is about coming inside from wide.

I am a player who likes to play in between the lines and try to break that midfield line, whether it’s when I receive a pass or can go and show everyone what I am about.

It’s very physical in the midfield, but I’ve come into my own now, and I can handle it in there.

If you have a good midfield, you have a good team.

I moved into midfield because I ruptured my Achilles tendon and couldn’t run anymore – it’s not what I wanted to do, it’s what I had to do!

When I was switching around in my early stages, people underestimated how difficult it was just to go from playing centre midfield to right-back to centre-back to right-back to centre midfield.

Sometimes in midfield, it’s nice because you do get a little bit more of the ball, and maybe out wide you rely on people to get you the ball.

The No 10 position is my favourite role, and I’m a player who likes to play in between the lines and try and break that midfield line.

They wanted to play me central midfield when I was at Aston Villa, so that’s why we left. Things were going good at Coventry, but then scouts from Manchester United and different clubs around England were watching me, and I don’t think Coventry liked that.

Midfield, defence – I have even played out wide for Everton, so I will do a job anywhere and give 100 percent.

I know when I step into midfield I have to sharpen my feet up and be more aware of what’s around me, at centre back it’s more about timing, positioning and communication.

Dominating the midfield is the most important thing in modern football. To succeed, you have to be good at everything.

If you have control of the midfield, you have control of the game, and you have more chances to win.

I have been lucky enough to work with great coaches. My father was also a coach, and my position in central midfield requires tactical knowledge.

I’ve played midfield my whole life.

Maybe modern tactics mean that making the switch from defence to midfield is easier. Many years ago, full backs were more limited – you were just supposed to defend, and it didn’t matter if you could get forward too.

I have to play with discipline in midfield.

In the academies, people develop differently, and going into that No 10 role helped me because central midfield was always packed with big, strong boys.

If I was to play on the left, I’d rather play there if there was three in midfield.

I’ve said it a few times over the years that I’m very happy in midfield.

Over the long term, it is definitely my ambition to play in the midfield.

I can bring my drive, I can get behind centre-halves, get on the other side of midfield players, score goals. That’s what I can bring to a team when I am at my best.