Quote

There's a tacit understanding among clubs that a good player shouldn't miss out on the big break of his career or a chance at exponentially improved earnings.

People talk about loyalty of players to clubs. But in the everyday world, you don't see people being loyal to their company when they're getting offered considerably better deals elsewhere.

I don't like to compare clubs or players from way back. It's different today. Your ballparks are better. In the days when I played, we had eight teams in each league. Now you have more.

I think sometimes managers like to buy players because they're more experienced from abroad or when they've got players under their nose that will give everything to the club they've been brought up with.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.

When you're with your club team, every week you have a performance to judge. But when you're with the national team, it's a little different because you might not play for three or four months at a time. Things change constantly.

As with Cesc Fabregas, some players who go and play for foreign clubs improve on a cultural level. It makes them grow on many levels; intellectually, because you have to learn a new language and adapt to another culture, and on a footballing level too.

The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.

I'm a great believer in the character of a club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have.

Comparisons are really no good in sport, especially if it is a comparison between different eras and generations, for there are so many variables that come into play, starting from the quality of the opposition to playing conditions.