But the equipment to protect the players hasn't developed along with that, so now you have more players out with worse injuries, for longer periods of time.
I always liked to be fairly simple because you could get more players ready to play quickly. If you lose players to free agency, injuries, etc., it is easier to get young players ready to play in a less complex system.
Sometimes recruiters and scouts are missing on players. Going after the guys who are really hyped, five-star players and guys that are playing in grassroots and are seen all the time. Then there are the players that developed internally. They go to small schools and they continue to work on their games and they blow up later.
Steve Jobs has a saying that A players hire A players; B players hire C players; and C players hire D players. It doesn't take long to get to Z players. This trickle-down effect causes bozo explosions in companies.
I spend a lot of time copying saxophone players and trumpet players. Not to say that it is not important to listen to guitar players, but there's so much music out there and so many possibilities. I like anyone who plays any instrument.
You have to figure out that balance between younger players and veteran players, star players, and All-Star players, really a team effort. And then you have to be lucky.
I think the average MLB career now is just a few years. The quote that has always resonated with me is 'We're going to be former players a lot longer than we were current players.'
The players wanted more money, higher salary caps and they didn't have that family relationship we felt with the players. Mentally, the players were more businesslike.
My players have to be competitors before footballers. They don't pull out of tackles in training. It's full-tilt and if we pick up injuries, we pick up injuries. They have to give everything on the pitch and leave it all out there.
Managers now don't just use 11 players; they have to care about all the squad of 25 or more players.
The foreign players have arrived in India to give our contribution in order to improve the Indian League, to make it more smart, more well-known, more open, and also to prove our quality along with Indian players.
I don't think we should ever compensate players. I think we can do as much as we can for players. The cost of attendance is good. They get more meals now so they can keep their meal money. I think those are all good things and I think more of those things should have been done. But I don't think you can compensate players straight out.
The dollar that's being paid the players has hurt the game. The players take advantage of coaches. The players' attitude is, "I make more than you, so don't tell me what to do."
The players are benefiting a lot from the PSL. You saw the young players in the PSL who are now in the senior team. They are learning from the international players who play with them in the league.
Everybody's got pretty good players now, more players than there've ever been. If you play poorly, you're going to get beat.
Dhoni backs players as well. People like (Suresh) Raina, (Ravindra) Jadeja, and Rohit Sharma have developed under him as players and has some terrific qualities as a leader.
You have to put all the criticism of this club down to jealousy. United have produced more players who have played for their country, more world-class players and more players who have won European Footballer of the Year than any other team in this country, so we must be doing something right.