Soccer Players From England

"‘He is physically and technically precocious. He’s got a good engine and remarkable energy. He reads the game and he passes quickly. I would hate to think Liverpool have someone as good as Roy Keane.""

"Alex Ferguson is obviously one of the most successful coaches the game has ever had. But I did find his comments about Steven Gerrard very strange. To say he is not a top player is wrong. For two or three years, Steven Gerrard was the best midfield player in the world. Even now he is playing at a high level for ­Liverpool and England."

"“I have said in the past that at his peak he was the best in the world. I think it was the summer of 2004 I was having a conversation with Florentino (Perez) and I told him I wanted him to partner me in midfield for Madrid. I know the club tried twice but he wouldn’t leave Liverpool. Not many players turn down Real Madrid but I think that tells you a lot about the loyalty of the man.”"

"Asked who was the toughest English opponent he had faced over the years, Pirlo said, “That night in Istanbul, Liverpool’s fight back was centralized on Steven Gerrard. He was their leader, their star player, their man who made it happen. Carlo tried to sign Gerrard for Milan so we could play together, but he had no interest in leaving Liverpool,” Pirlo, 36, told ShortList magazine. “We could have played together, but now in MLS we will be playing against each other, and I will look forward to that""

"Kaka wants AC Milan to sign Steven Gerrard, despite the England midfielder recently agreeing a new contract with Liverpool. The Brazilian said: ‘The time has arrived to re-energise a group which has many players at the end of their contracts. Gerrard is a complete player and can play anywhere. I could see him fitting in really well at Milan.""

"“Gerrard will fit in with any club in the world. He’s one of the players in the world that have all what it takes to play for Real Madrid. I want to urge Gerrard to join Real Madrid. If you don’t play for Real Madrid you always feel that something is missing. There is nothing better than wearing Real Madrid’s jersey. This is a big opportunity for Gerrard. I’m not talking money wise, but victories wise. I’m sure that Gerrard has alot of respect towards Mourinho. Steven signing for Real Madrid will be perfect for him.”"

"'For me Gerrard can do everything and that's the reason I'd say he was the best of the three if I had to split them ahead of Scholes and Lampard in that order. They are all top professionals and each brought different attributes and strengths but Gerrard can tackle, defend, score goals, head it, make a telling precision pass, dictate the tempo and is a powerful runner. He has a bit more to his game.""

"Lampard was asked, "Who was your best opponent in the Premier league, directly in midfield?" Lampard's answer: "Steven Gerrard. I think over the period of my career playing against Stevie [Gerrard] in those big games against Liverpool when he was on top of his game. You knew he was a force and we had great battles, I had a lot of respect for him as a player even though we had those rivalries. I think as you get older it is much easier to have a view on it rather than that view when you’re playing each other and you’re real rivals. I have to give Stevie complete respect for as a midfield player.”"

"But speaking about Liverpool and speaking about honouring the champions, this is my time to honour a champion. It is my time to honour Steve Gerrard.It is with opponents like him that I am the manager that I am, because I learn with my players and I learn with my best opponents. I tried to bring him to Chelsea, I tried to bring him to Inter (Milan), I tried to bring him to Real Madrid but he was always a dear enemy.""

"Obviously he's one of the best players in the world and I'd like to manage him one time in the future. If you can manage the best players, it's easier to win. I don't know him as a person. I think he's a good man. But the reason I would like to manage him is because I've managed a lot of fantastic players, and he's one of the best players. In Italy, when I played, there were players like [Giancarlo] Antognoni at Fiorentina, Rainer Bonhof in Germany. Today, Gerrard. Full stop. He can be a holding midfielder. He has fantastic shots, passes and skills. He is the complete midfielder."

"He's one of the players I would have loved to coach, and I thought about him so many times in the past when I was at Milan. But it was impossible because he was very much linked with Liverpool. We had sounded him out but Gerrard's bond with Liverpool was unbreakable. I don't remember exactly what year it was but we did try. Of course, I wanted to pair him up with Pirlo, it was a fantastic combination. Putting Gerrard in midfield with Pirlo. It would have been fantastic."

"The best midfielder I would say is Steven Gerrard. I really rate him as a player and as a man."

"In an interview with Gazzetta TV. “I have an incredible admiration [for Gerrard]. When I was at Milan we tried signing him, but it was not possible.""

"What I have always liked of Steven is that on the pitch he was very quiet, but was capable of inspiring all his teammates with great strength, not so much with words. His story is one of those stories to be told, one of those fairytales - just like it happened to me - to be narrated to your children and grandchildren. I still remember his face [in Istanbul] and the pain he was in from cramp but he was still going around tackling everybody. He put everything into it. For you guys, he was an example for all the others. I think Steven has been and is an absolutely complete player, because he had personality, technique, he could set the play and also defend, and he could score goals - penalty-kicks, free-kicks. So really a modern, complete player. I have a very clear memory of the final we lost in Istanbul, when he was helping his teammates with difficulties in defence. He started playing at the back and tackled every single player of Milan. But I must say that what probably made the difference was his example for all his teammates."

"I'd put him in the top three, not just in England but in the world because he's a complete player. Would I have liked to play alongside him?" I think anyone would love to play with players of that calibre. He's a terrific player; he's a match-winner, so I think he's a player any club in the world would want. Gerrard is a complete player because he can play in every position and can do everything with a football at any time in a game. He's a player who scores goals, who builds the play, he's a sensational player.""

"Yes of course [Gerrard’s one of the best I’ve faced]. For long periods when Liverpool were in trouble, everyone looked to Gerrard and nine out of 10 times he did it. He’s a huge player and what I liked is that he’s shown great loyalty through his whole career to play for Liverpool. It’s very difficult to see how because he had the calibre to play for any big club but he stayed loyal and I have big respect for that. When you look at his qualities it’s hard to see what he didn’t have in the locker. He’s quick, a good passer, good technique, could score goals, a dream midfielder. He had every single quality needed for midfield."

"For me, and I have always said this, he will be regarded as one of the greatest midfielders ever when he finishes his career. No doubt."

"I find it a disgrace that he didn’t win European Footballer of the Year in 2005 after Istanbul. For me, he is one of the best ever. Whenever you play Liverpool you know you have to get him out of the game. If not, it’s all over for you. “He’s a midfielder and if you look at all the important goals he’s scored - well I can’t even think of a striker in the world who has scored as many important goals, never mind a midfielder. How many times has he done it in the dying seconds of a game? I am trying to think of a striker now who does it - there aren’t any. Think about it."

"What makes him so good? Well, there is nothing he can't do. He is clever. He sees the game quicker than anyone else. He sees the picture. He can play the ball first time round corners that aren't even there. He has got intelligence. He has got physical attributes. He can bomb past people. He is quick. He is a proper, powerful athlete. Give him a header, he will score. He can play in behind the front man. He can get the ball off the back four and control the game from the quarterback position. He is just an immense all-round footballer. I have never seen anyone put it all together like him, never seen someone with so many qualities. I have played with a lot of talented players, but he was better than any of them."

"On a BBC documentary, Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney was asked who was the best player he played with for England. “I’d have to say Stevie [was the best]. For me he’s an incredible player, an incredible leader. He helped me a lot during my early days with England.”"

"Brian Moore: Quickly Kevin, you know him best, will he score? Kevin Keegan: Yes"

"I don't think there is anyone bigger or smaller than Diego Maradona!"

"[Referring to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson ] When you do that with footballers like he said about Leeds, and when you do things like that about a man like Stuart Pearce - I've kept really quiet, but I'll tell you something, he went down in my estimation when he said that - we have not resorted to that. But I'll tell ya - you can tell him now if you're watching it - we're still fighting for this title, and he's got to go to Middlesbrough and get something, and... and I tell you honestly, I will love it if we beat them, love it!"

"The presenters we have now, some of the girls are so good, they are better than the guys. It's a great time for the ladies. But if I see an England lady footballer saying about England against Scotland at Wembley and she's saying, "If I would have been in that position I would have done this," I don’t think it's quite the same. I don't think it crosses over that much."

"I'm not as keen, I've got to be honest, and it may not be a view shared. I don't like to listen to ladies talking about the England men's team at the match because I don't think it's the same experience. I have a problem with that."

"The Premier League is in danger of becoming one of the most boring, but great, leagues in the world."

"Our current financial situation means that if we want to buy, we have to spend."

"(about his wife) in Jean I think I've found the ideal partner... I think... I abuse her."

"(in the build-up to the France-Portugal semi final at the 2006 World Cup) "This is the BBC and we will be completely impartial, so allez les bleus. With me tonight holding their lucky coqs sportifs under the desk are...""

"There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I'm out of order?"

"I always score one against the Germans."

"The best place to watch Wimbledon F.C. is teletext. As you can tell, I dislike Wimbledon. Hate them, even."

"Football is a simple game, twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."

"It's Colchester's cup final."

"They will carry us over the finishing line every so often, and we’ll carry them over the line other times. It’s a mutual respect at the moment."

"Seriously if I had a gun I would have shot the plane down."

"I remember being asked at various stages last season "Would you take 17th place now?". Come the last game of the season, the answer was definitely yes. At the start of the season, then the answer was probably yes. But looking back at the season as a whole, then the answer is probably between yes and no."

"This is the start of the season for us - an 11-game season"

"Thirty minutes into the game, I was quite comfortable. Then they [...] got two goals back-to-back which certainly turned the game in their favour."

"I'm looking forward to the game because I think it will be a great spectacle. [...] He's the type of guy that can pull a rabbit out of the hat every so often and I'll be watching out for that."

"It's important that you win games at any level."

"The other night was like when my daughter was being born and I was in the waiting room. You are waiting for good news and obviously the good news didn't come through this time."

"The way the game is, players come to a football club with baggage. Whether that's positive or negative, they come to a new club with some luggage. Tony's baggage over the last four or five years has been not playing so many games at Tottenham."

"We were very hopeful of getting Fraizer all the way through. We'll keep in-house what went on, but we were involved with Fraizer until the moment he went to Tottenham."

"For me today, Hull City beat Hull City."

"In any game, you get pictures and at half time there were 11 players who had half a shirt for Saturday."

"You get pictures in pre-season. You get pictures of fitness, you get pictures of attitude, you get pictures of mentality, you get pictures of systems and the way players play and you also get pictures of whether people can step up to the plate in the Premier League. I was getting all those pictures in the first half"

"I know my best team, but my best team has got 15 players in it."

"It's hard to say how long he'll be out but he's 100 per cent doubtful for the weekend, that's for sure."

"When you compare the changing room to last season, there is a massive, massive difference. The changing room now is full of men"