Top 103 Quotes & Sayings by Michael Ballack - Page 2

I hope that people will remember me as a special footballer.

Very good players have no problem moving to a different country.

I don't want to look back on my career at some point and say, 'What a pity, I came close a few times, but it was never good enough.'

Mesut is an amazing player.

In football, if you have a big break after a disappointment you can stew on things, and that hurts you.

I was able to play for and captain my country.

I did not win anything at Leverkusen so to win six titles in four years with Bayern shows the move was worthwhile.

Football in Europe is No. 1 - that is what everyone watches because the best players in the world compete in this area.

Winning the league is one thing but for me it was always the dream to win the Champions League.

When you're 29 and you've already got family, it's important that they feel comfortable.

A team can have quality but it's also about personality and how they can grow.

As German players we have something special inside us, because of our football history. We know we have to win, it is what is expected, so we have a good focus.

I played in the Champions League constantly for 12 or 13 years in my career, and I reached only two finals. I know how difficult it is to get to that point.

I like Daniel Sturridge a lot after playing with him at Chelsea.

The coach is the first person who is under pressure but when a new manager comes you should give him time.

Mario Gotze is a great player, but one of my favourites is Marco Reus, who is a fantastic player, and one of the very best.

There must be some tensions in a team, which you can't always wipe away or smooth over.

To pass on your ideas and have an influence on a team really interests me.

Pogba is a great talent.

I want to prove myself at Chelsea and be successful in the Premiership and the Champions League.

Titles are sometimes overrated.

Of course Lothar Matthaus is always going to be associated with the 1990 World Cup. But does everyone immediately remember what titles Gunter Netzer, Johan Cruyff or Luis Figo won? Or do they also think about how those players played their football and how they led their teams?

If you want to work as a coach for longer term you need consistency, trust in the club and also the environment around the club.

The main reason to come to England and Chelsea was to play with a great team. Money and the chance to live in a city like London are additional factors.

I am always open to new ideas, but you can't always be right.

I can imagine finishing my career at Chelsea.

We will give everything for the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League.

Playing for Chelsea I have to be more ruthless than in the German team, where I have managed to earn myself a different status over the years.

You love what you do but it's still a job and you are limited in the time to earn money and you think about it if someone makes you a crazy offer.

I am happy to play in the Premier League. It's a competition which encourages players to give only their very best week in, week out and you have to be 100%.

I've always reflected on the game.

That's what counts for you as a player if you are on a high salary and you are earning, let's say, enough money, which you normally can't spend in your lifetime. It's something you should really think about - where you play, what level you play, the audience.

Experienced national players deserve at least some respect and loyalty.

London is a brilliant city.

If you are a top player in England, the cult around you is bigger than in Germany.

In training, for example, when you feel your position on the team is in danger then you have to be fully focused.

People have weaknesses, we should accept it.

You always need time to adapt to a new manager. But in football if you don't get a result, you are under pressure.

Of course, South Americans are different from Europeans; I knew that when we played them.

I played at the highest level throughout my career and I'm happy about that.

But at [soccer] tournaments you tend to see novel, unanticipated trends coming through, with everyone watching each other like hawks and immediately copying anything new. What is really important for every team is to be aware of its own capabilities and find a style which plays to one's own strengths.

A leader on the pitch is someone who can turn a game in the right direction, he isn't someone who has a go at his colleagues after the match for everything they did wrong.

We have to be very aggressive, to go to the limit of what's legal.