Top 227 Quotes & Sayings by Ivorian Authors - Page 4

In Ivory Coast it's very hard to have normal shoes, so just imagine football boots - they were considered a true luxury.

It's a great club, for me, and I am still an Arsenal fan. Will I come back? Maybe, I still hope to.

Coaches can teach you two things: confidence and technique.

As players, we have the best job in the world and if the manager said, 'You haven't worked hard enough, you will only get half your wages this week,' it would make the players fight harder.

I know my qualities, I've got nothing to prove here in England, they know me here.

My dream is to win the World Cup with an African team, for my continent.

I'm a professional footballer and, to me, playing regularly is the most important thing; money is secondary.

For me, Ramadan is not an easy time because it's a time when I need to work much harder, because I need to help my teammates. That's the way I see things.

I have experienced a lot in football and if the young players need advice, they know they can ask me.

In China you have to be in peak form because you need to do well. You earn a lot - I had a huge salary - but then you have to prove you are worth it. Every match is a challenge and I played next to or faced some truly great players.

It is very difficult to leave your team for a month to play in the African Nations. But you are playing for your country, for your father, for your family, for your pride.

My wish was to finish my career at Arsenal, but there are always banana skins.

Back in the days, being able to join the Jean-Marc Guillou academy was one of the best things that could happen to a youngster from Ivory Coast. There were thousands of kids who wanted to join that school so it was a great feeling for me.

During the holidays, professional players would come and say hello to us in the academy and that really made you want to be a professional. When you saw what great conditions they lived in, it gave you even more desire.

The academy at Abidjan was my school of education. At 16, they sent me the boots and jersey with my name on the back. You can imagine how I felt: in the clouds.

Arsenal will always remain a large club.

If you're not perfect, don't expect the other guys to be perfect.

In the Champions League, if you can win at home, the draw away is priceless.

When you don't play, you need to support the team and your team-mates need to feel that you are behind them fully.

Football really has saved my family and it's true that it saves a lot of families in Africa. It gives us the means to be able to give a better life to our loved ones.

It is always a great pleasure to fight for your own country.

Regarding my position, I feel really comfortable in any position up front.

Everything's possible in football.

It's very important to know what you are facing, whether you are going to be part of the team or just a squad player.

To win the World Cup is not about one player, it is about a squad.

In life you will always be criticised.

When you spend a lot of money on one player, you want him to prove himself, but the way football works, one day you can be good, the next you can be bad, and the next after that, you can be very bad. I have come to Manchester City to work very hard and to help my friends make Manchester City great.

Nobody is perfect in life.

Kieran Tierney's work rate is just amazing. He gives 100 percent in every game, he makes lots of runs and makes lots of assists too. He defends, he goes forward, he is every inch the modern left back.

Beveren helped me a lot to adjust to Europe.

Yes, at times in front of goal a fog descends. Perhaps the speed of my feet doesn't match up with that of my mind.

Whatever player Arsene picks to play for Arsenal, I respect that and so should the fans.

I would never say a bad word about Mr Wenger, because he is somebody that makes players better players.

My idol has always been Thierry Henry.

Wenger is a top manager, he has shown that unbelievably. The thing I like is this manager can make an average player one of the best players in the world.

I am a midfielder who is mainly involved in the defensive phases, even if I also like to help build moves - I would say that my foremost quality is my generosity.

I had six years at Arsenal but the last two were very difficult.

It's not easy when you have to make a lot of changes.

Entertaining those who come to see me is my objective.

There is great respect for Liverpool in the Ivory Coast.

We all make mistakes. But we learn from it.

I didn't lose my smile from the first to the last match at Arsenal. I remember when I left I wanted to thank everyone, even the dressing-room staff.

To play for Arsenal will be the best day of my life and I will do anything to play for that team.

In official competitions there are mistakes you don't make or you pay for it dearly.

It is difficult to learn anything on the sidelines.

I need to work hard and that is alright by me.

In football you have to take risks if you want to win.