Top 107 Quotes & Sayings by Gianfranco Zola - Page 2

Those who have a personality like Balotelli do things that other people maybe wouldn't. Balotelli sometimes does things that look strange and unbelievable. But maybe for him it's just a way to feel normal. He doesn't want to cause problems or upset people.

Being a good player doesn't necessarily make a good manager, that's for sure.

Every manager, when things don't go well, they feel bad about it. That, unfortunately, is our job.

Football can be played in different ways and the more ways you know, the better you will be. If you know only one way, you're limiting your possibilities.

I always loved playing an attacking form of flowing football.

You have to be who you are but work hard and make sure that you always give the best of yourself.

When I do something I like to do it well and I believe I've got a lot to give.

It's not easy to make big players bond together.

In football you never know what's going to make you close to somebody.

I have always followed Scottish football quite closely.

Pirlo is one of those players who, as they grow older, their football intelligence is such that they remain vitally important.

In football you have many opinions and you have just to notice those that make sense to you.

The Premier League is the biggest on the planet and the challenge is you have to be very good to make it in England.

Playing football is one thing, but coaching is another.

I'm a proud man.

One thing is to know how to do things and another is to make it simple and accessible to others. This is the challenge for the big players when they go into management. To do that, you have to learn and study very hard. I have read football management books, analysed myself and the way other people learn and understand things.

The day you feel like you don't have anything to prove, it's better you go to the beach and stay there and take in the sunshine.

Everyone has to be the way that they are.

A big club should have big characters and big men. The more strength you have in the dressing-room the better.

Whatever type of football you want to play, if you don't have certain principles you're lost.

My players will make mistakes, but as long as they don't do it on purpose and try their best, I can handle that.

I'm lucky to have played for some great managers who can be positive influences on how I work at Watford.

I learnt many lessons from some tough experiences. One of the biggest was that no matter what happens you need to hold on to your beliefs. And you must stay humble.

I really do like Scottish people. I have met Gordon Strachan quite a few times and always liked him. Craig Burley is another Scot I played with at Chelsea and he's a good guy.

Of course you cannot make a Messi or a Maradona. But even players who are not considered very skilful, if you coach them in a certain way you can make them better.

Sometimes we forget football is, first and foremost, entertainment. Sometimes we consider it a more important matter. It is but, at the same time, it is not.

English football is evolving. It's no longer the game it used to be. Apart from the larger quantities of money which make it more attractive to foreign stars, the mentality is also different - everybody looks to win games no matter what, even if it means taking risks.

I always had the impression England never came to competitions with freedom of mind. They are so afraid of mistakes.

A winning team must have quality, but it means nothing if the players are not connected to each other.

I'm not an enemy of formations and tactics because they are important - but you get to the point where the whole system loses balance.

If I felt like I needed to be aggressive all the time, it would have been impossible to be the player that I was. Or John Terry, if he had tried to be a player of finesse, probably he wouldn't have been the same.

I look back to the 1980s and 1990s, when Italian teams dominated Europe. They had maybe three players from abroad, but they were the best players in the world. That was perfect, because there was always the possibility for young Italian players to get in the team.

I have always admired the games between Celtic and Rangers. That's one of the games that you always watch when it's happening.

Do I ever lose my temper? Sure, I do it all the time - just ask my wife, she will tell you.

When you are a talented footballer you rely on your abilities to win games. You use your skills without thinking. But in management that doesn't work.

During my time away from football I was with Milan and Barcelona during training. The most impressive thing about Barcelona was how humble they all are. The humility of the players and staff was fantastic.

Sometimes in football, like in life, you have to step into the wilderness. That's the way to get better. You have to try new things and be positive.

A pianist practices for up to 10 hours a day. Then, when he takes to the stage, you see the harmony. Having such an elegant touch is a natural gift, but it's the daily training which allows you to perform that miracle and create feeling, even if you were born tone-deaf.

Pep is an extraordinary coach.

I like working with young players.

Ninety-five per cent of my language problems are the fault of that stupid little midget.

Do something. Anything. You're alive, and you'll only be for a few decades, and then it's done. You'll be in the ground, worm food. Make something and don't let fear consume you.

It's best that I hide my real personality. I cannot tell you what it is because I don't want to go to prison.

As a Chelsea fan I always want the team to be in the best possible hands, as they are right now with Roberto Di Matteo.

He [Stanley Matthews] told me that he used to play for just twenty pounds a week. Today he would be worth all the money in the Bank of England.

Italians have a very closed life. Football is all their life is.

I'm going down the apples and pears, into the jam jar, down the frog and toad into the rub-da-dub-dub, and I'm going to have pig's ear.