Top 98 Quotes & Sayings by Per Mertesacker - Page 2

I was talented at a young age, but I still had to grow and develop further.

Moving abroad brings you on both as a player and a person.

Mentality is a big part of every game, when you take the initiative and when you drop.

My father said, 'You're not going to make it.' That took a lot of pressure from me. I took football like a hobby.

It is an important part of the role of a centre-back to focus on building up the game and initiating moves.

The more people that write me off, the stronger I get.

You always have to remain professional. I have always done so.

Things can change very fast in football.

The best players in the world play in the Premier League and therefore it is the best league.

Every footballer has his ups and downs.

When people are acutely depressed, many of them seem to want to hide.

I want to show on the training pitch that I am ready whenever the manager needs me.

Sometimes you need a humbling experience to think about a few things.

I was with Bremen in a good situation in the Bundesliga. I was the captain and was involved in everything to do with the club.

I had a great time at SV Werder Bremen and I'm grateful to the club.

It's hard work to do important games for the club every three or four days, that is very physical.

I loved the Olympics.

It is an important duty at Arsenal for the experienced players to show the younger ones that there is a chance to make it into the first team.

Arsene Wenger is a coach who has a very special personality. He has an experience that not many coaches have, and all at one club, at Arsenal.

Goals often come from a mistake much further up the field, yet the analysis and blame will always be on the defence.

Doing something for others helped to not put that focus too much on football and to put things into perspective of how fortunate we are.

I've played for 15 years and played in five major tournaments. I know what it gives me in terms of the joy, in terms of the love for the game. But I'm done with it.

Moving to London enables me to fulfil a dream and a further step in my career. The Premier League has always represented a great challenge for me.

For a national player it is a good thing to get experience playing abroad.

You learn a lot from defeats. As well, you need to learn from victories.

If there is a really good player at U16 level who disrespects the coach, if you then say: 'You can go somewhere else then. That is not how we do things here.' That would be powerful.

It is a lot of fun here in England and at Arsenal.

Playing at the highest level really is something special for me.

There's always that mental battle, who's going to have that confidence to be on the front foot.

There are not a lot of German players out there who are successful in a foreign country.

I wasn't that good at football aged 14 or 15. I didn't take it too seriously.

I've never had that dream in my head: 'I want to play Bundesliga or Premier League.' I was a fan, but it was never the dream that one day I was going to make it, because a lot of people had told me already that I wouldn't.

I had a totally different upbringing, totally different background, raised in Germany, small town, now I am in London taking care of 180 kids who think they are the one percent who can make it in professional football.

For almost 15 years, professional football is about yourself: How can I improve? How can I make myself better? Before winning a game was the short-term reward that meant everything. Now, I can look at the bigger picture.

Sometimes as a player you have a different view and you can't believe what we did as a defensive unit.

Living in London is very different to living in a little town in Germany.

In Germany I already know everything, I know every stadium.

We cannot take responsibility for every goal we concede, we all need to do our part across the field to ensure we win as a team.