Top 49 Quotes & Sayings by Rio Ferdinand

Most professional players are their own biggest critics. Some of the things you read in the papers that strike you as bang out of order will already have been thought by the players themselves.

You are always flattered when big clubs are interested in you.

There is a hangover from a defeat like Denmark - ask any player about when they've had a bad game, it's still in there somewhere in the back of your mind.

People think we don't give a toss about the game, but when I walked out of Windsor Park that night I felt lower than a snake's belly. The reality is still there.

Four years ago maybe we thought we were inferior to Brazil, subconsciously we didn't see ourselves beating them. Now we believe in ourselves, we can be on the pitch with any team in the world and think we can win.

I set myself high standards on the pitch and I know I have not always lived up to them this season.

No matter how much money you have or what kind of cocoon you live in, the reality is that you have lost a game of football and let England's fans down. We are bothered.

If we had a starting XI that no one could argue about it wouldn't say a lot for English football. We'd probably be on a downward spiral. It's good that people have different ideas about who should play.

I've heard people say it looks as if I don't care and I've certainly read that, but the way I play is natural. I don't think I can change it. I know I'm working as hard as the next man, even if it doesn't always look that way.

I want a new contract. I'm happy at United and I see my future here.

You want to come home from a tournament with a winner's medal. That's not the fans or the media putting us under pressure, that's the pressure we put ourselves under.

If any player has a bad game it's there in the back of your mind in the next game. There's always a hangover. It is like a wounded animal in a way, as you want to get out there as quick as possible and rectify it.

There is a huge responsibility on all of us to get England through. It would be one of the biggest disasters in sports history if we blew it and we must make sure it does not happen.

I didn't expect to be dropped by England.

I used to read every, well, most nights. I think reading helps me in terms of relaxing... It helps me to get my mind off the game a little bit more and it helps me to be a little bit more focused.

I will be gutted if Roy does go because I would far rather he stayed at Old Trafford. (on Roy Keane leaving Manchester United)

Someone now has to step up and take on the mantelpiece.

His temperament is always there to be questioned because he plays on the edge. That is just the way he plays. It is a cliche but if you took that edge away from Wayne he wouldn't be the same player and I would rather have the Wayne Rooney we have now.

If any player has a bad game its there in the back of your mind in the next game. Theres always a hangover. It is like a wounded animal in a way, as you want to get out there as quick as possible and rectify it.

I set myself high standards on the pitch and know I have not always lived up to them this season.

I could never get bored talking about him, he was my favourite player. I loved watching him because he did everything you'd want to see in a footballer. He could dictate the pace of a game; he could take it by the scruff of the neck and control it; he could score decisive goals; he could make the killer pass; he could switch the play, open teams up, slow the game down, quicken it up; whatever was needed. He would take the ball anywhere on the pitch He was such a selfless footballer, too Scholesy was the man, all right.

You get a bad result one week and it's a natural reaction to go out in the next game and put it behind you and do well.

For me, the biggest idiot will always be John Terry.

There are loads of players I could name who are 16-16 looked like world beaters but then at 21-22 they are subs in non-league. There comes a time in your career when the pennies got to drop, where you've got to understand decisionmaking at the right, poignant moments in the game. When to pass, when to dribble, when to shoot. Game-changing moments, can you be the guy that sits there and takes the responsibility. And the great players do.

At times, European football can be very slow but it speeds up in the final third.

Most professional players are their own biggest critics. Some of the things you read in the papers that strike you as bang out of order will already have been thought by the players themselves

He has always been a slippery little git! (on Joe Cole)

Who were the best players I had ever played against? Raul, Messi, Zidane.

Welbeck will be the main man and I have no doubt he will flourish. Imagine the pace Arsenal will have when everyone is fit.

Our club captain Gary Neville's been out for a year now, but Giggsy has taken up the mantelpiece.

Do you know who I am? Why, have you forgotten?

I feel the longer he stays at United the better it is for the club. He's done so much for United you can't imagine him not being here. (on Sir Alex Ferguson)

It was wicked meeting Nelson Mandela.

So if u shorten words to get what u want in within 140 characters it makes u a twit?

If you come out with racist comments, then I believe you shouldn't be allowed to come to a football match. Don't be so narrow minded, you're bigger than that.

For too long now, European football authorities have not taken the problem of racism in the game seriously and refuse to acknowledge how widespread the problem is.

In some ways, I was a little bit surprised [by how dominant we were] but then I look at the players in our changing room and it doesn't surprise me because we've got quality in there. If we click and play well like we did in the first half, we can open up any team.

I'm sure the mantelpiece of captaincy will suit Wayne.

Our lives are quite boring. I spend a lot of time watching Coronation Street and Eastenders.

It's great to see young players like Kieran coming out and not being intimidated by it. (on Kieran Richardson)

If I saw an ugly bird but she was a celebrity, she wouldn't attract me at all.

Gary Neville is the club captain but has been injured for the best part of a year now - and Giggsy's taken on the mantlepiece.

Nobody wants to be associated with failing to qualify for the World Cup finals. I cannot imagine the shame of it.

Best player? For me, it's Paul Scholes. He'll do ridiculous things in training like say, “You see that tree over there?” - it'll be 40 yards away - “I'm going to hit it”. And he'll do it. Everyone at the club considers him the best.

I thought I would be at United for a couple of years, maybe three or four, and then go abroad somewhere. But I just fell in love with Manchester United. I fell in love with winning, fell in love with the history of the club and being part of it was something I could never have imagined.

It doesn't matter whether you're a senior or not, if something needs saying to a colleague it will be said.

There are two things that really get under Gary Neville's skin: scousers and policemen.

It hit me like a thunderbolt!

Football is the most important thing in my life, but I do have a life outside football and this is one part. The TV, the music, the fashion - it all goes to make up Rio Ferdinand.