Top 107 Quotes & Sayings by Gianfranco Zola

Chelsea is a very demanding club. They need to be in the Champions League and they need to win trophies because that is what the club has been doing for some time.

I went to West Ham without ever having coached and I know what that means.

It's very difficult and unfair probably to compare players from different eras, because they were able to reach excellence in their time and they have to be rewarded for that.

He was so influential on every aspect of my game. I promise you - I would have been another Gianfranco Zola if I hadn't trained and played with Maradona every day.

It is a pleasure for whoever loves football to enjoy watching Hazard.

Chelsea is where I had the best satisfaction of all, where I was treated the best. This is a special place.

What makes you better is not playing every single game in a modest championship. What makes you better is playing 10 games in a very competitive league.

When I was making myself known I learnt a lot from him. I definitely regard him as the greatest, although it's difficult to say that and also unfair because there are players from different eras that have been so important and Maradona was one of them, but certainly he was an unbelievable player and I'm so glad I met him.

The majority of supporters admire Barcelona because of their fantastic football and for the type of players they have.

I played many times as a player in European competition and I know how it can make a player better to play those kind of games.

The Premier League is very competitive and you have to be prepared for that.

The memories obviously of playing with Maradona are fantastic memories, he's probably the most important part of my career.

My love for the game is massive. That won't change.

When I was playing football it was 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So I said to myself when I stopped that I wanted to dedicate myself to things I'd never done before. I even had a list.

If someone can make a team champions, it is Tevez.

Some leaders speak a lot in the dressing room, on the field and others do it with actions contributing important things in games, deciding big games.

It's normal that you have good moments and bad moments - it is how you deal with it.

I am the first one to believe that if a player is happy in what he is doing he performs much more.

I felt Ancelotti did a good job for Chelsea and, like many fans, we are sorry for what happened to him.

I remember that when I was learning to play football, kicking a ball for example, I used to do it 300-400 times a day at least. There were moments when I got tired but I needed to do it repeatedly because if I wanted it to become a part of me, this was the process I needed to go through.

Because of players like myself, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and so many others, the game in England is at such a high level.

Carlton Cole is no surprise to me anymore. For me, some of the bits he does are unbelievable.

If you want to learn how to paint, go to Caravaggio.

In football you need freedom to try things.

In life you have to be ambitious, you have to look forward all the time.

In football, even when you do your best on the pitch, you can win or lose. That is the nature of the game.

There is a common mistake people make. They say, 'We need to play the young English boys.' Of course, but only if they are good. How can you measure that? If they are playing with good players and if they can fit into the level of the good players. That's why, because of the level of the Premier League, England has so many talented players.

Chelsea is in my heart and I was so proud to achieve so much for the club.

I was head coach before and my main ambition is to return to that. But to work for Maurizio and Chelsea was a great opportunity.

I think Ancelotti really likes London and he likes the way football is played over here. That doesn't surprise me because, after Italy, if you come here, you really enjoy the culture.

Eden is the type of player who can make a big difference when he comes on, even for 20 minutes.

You don't have to just work on your game, you have to work on yourself. This is the last step to becoming a big, big player.

People expect a lot from the number nine at Chelsea. They expect a lot of goals and good performances.

Eden Hazard's definitely at the very top. He's such an unbelievable player. The more I've spent time with him the more I appreciate him as a player, but also as a boy.

With Jorginho it depends what type of football you want to play. If you want to play possession where you have the ball all the time and you play a lot of passes, there are not many as good as him around. If you ask Jorginho to cover 50 metres of pitch in width and get all the balls back, it's going to be difficult.

It was great to win that competition and when people ask me what was my best moment in England, I always say winning my first FA Cup.

They are both fantastic players. But I like Messi. Ronaldo is a fantastic goalscorer but I don't think he is as good as Messi when it comes to creating chances for others.'

Carlo Ancelotti is a good coach and a good man. I worked with him for just three months at Parma, before I left for Chelsea, although I had worked with him before with the national team. In my first game for the national team I played with him.

I'm sure there are some people who still think I'm too much of a nice guy to be a manager but I'm certain that's not an issue.

Sometimes good work is done with passion, enthusiasm - presence can be as valuable as many millions of pounds.

I love the game and I have a fair approach to it.

Sometimes players don't like to be dropped and, when they don't like something, they react.

The concern is that when you are playing against a team that has a lot of quality you know that you can work hard for a long time and then in a second they can produce some quality necessary to score a goal.

I have had downfalls in my career but I always knew I was going to bounce back.

There are those who think that in order to get respect you have to be some sort of tyrant or overly authoritative. You can be fair to people.

I went from being a player who had received just a few yellow cards in his career to a red card in a World Cup. It was a devastating moment for me. It was my first game in the World Cup, so I was excited and thankful for the opportunity. Being sent off was a big blow.

Maradona? You couldn't match him, but you could learn a lot from him. I did not play much, but I did learn plenty from him at Napoli. He was the best striker in the world and I was so lucky to have played with him. Some of the things he used to do you couldn't even dream about. It was absurd.

It is obviously pleasing to see your name associated with La Nazionale.

I want the players to enjoy their football as much as I did in my career and to make it enjoyable for those who come and see it.

Working for a top club with a top coach has been good for me.

Maybe some people were surprised that I came here to Watford. But, after three or four months here, it's the best choice I could have made.

Some players mature at 18. Others at 28.

I don't think John Terry would have been the player he was if he hadn't had Marcel Desailly or Frank Leboeuf in front of him with us at Chelsea.

Jorginho is not a player that has a lot of physicality and mobility but he is very intelligent and is always in the right place. If you have someone who can help him, he can make a big difference. It's just about getting the best out of him.

I was very tired when I left West Ham, but that's my character really. I gave everything. It can be bad, that, because you need to be at your best when you manage a football team. The players take it on board and see how you are.

People think because I'm a nice person I'm a weak person. But I don't think being nice means you don't know how to take tough decisions.

Sometimes you need to get bored but when you get bored you persist in what you're doing and you get better.

I stopped playing football. And life wasn't easy without football.

It is not true that Sarri did not defend, indeed all of his work starts from there. But it's a different way to defend, in a much more advanced area of the pitch.

No, I didn't expect Mancini to become a manager, because of the type of player he was - he was an intelligent player, of course, but I didn't think he had the desire to become a manager. But I guess if you speak to some of my team-mates they'd probably say they didn't expect me to either. I certainly didn't expect it.