A Quote by Patrick van Aanholt
I wanted to be a centre back but I was always stepping over the ball and playing one-twos.
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When friends wanted to go to the centre of town, they took a bus or tram. I took the ball and went running after them. School was hell because I had to put the ball on the ground. Outside, I was free, playing the ball.
As a youngster as I was a centre-half, I liked being on the ball and coming out from the back. I took chances so I got put in midfield and then I was playing all over the pitch so adjusted wherever I needed to play.
I know if I'm playing centre-back, there are certain places where you don't give your full-back the ball - because I've been the full-back!
When I was switching around in my early stages, people underestimated how difficult it was just to go from playing centre midfield to right-back to centre-back to right-back to centre midfield.
Centre-backs usually get criticised for clearing the ball long, but it's easier doing this than risking a pass. If you lose the ball at the back, it's almost a goal. Most centre-backs don't risk this kind of game, depending on the holding midfielder in front.
I think I'm more than capable of playing in positions such as right-back, centre-back and centre-mid.
When I was playing football I never enjoyed it that much, I was never happy. If I scored two goals, I wanted a third, I always wanted more. Now it's all over I can look back with satisfaction, but I never felt that way when I was playing.
There are teams in England who play the football I like, keeping the ball on the ground, playing a quick game with one-twos, pressing their opponents high up the pitch. If one of these clubs were interested in me, I'd adapt to them well, and they could adapt to my way of playing, which isn't so common.
Fitness is amplified in one-day cricket - fielding, running ones, twos, threes. Sometimes in an over you are running six twos. If you are not fit enough, you can't run those runs.
Players who win on a clay surface are those who can control the ball, playing steadily and accurately from the back-court, keeping the ball in play and moving it around with changes of speed and spin, and resisting the temptation to over-hit.
I always loved hitting a low fade to a back-right pin with the wind howling from the right. Not many guys could get it close in that situation, because they kept it low by just putting the ball back in their stance. You see, playing the ball back turns you into a one-trick pony - you can only hit hooks.
As a young centre-back at Ajax, I played with Wim Jansen, and of course you learn a huge amount. I made some mistakes, because we Dutchmen want to solve situations by playing football. So we look at the ball, try to judge where it will come.
I prefer playing up front, really, because I feel like if I make the right run, or if I get the ball at the right time, I can just be one-on-one with the defender, and then if I manage to get past the centre-back, it's one-on-one with the 'keeper.
At seven, I played centre-back. When you're so young, though, it's more to enjoy the training and to get a feel for the game. It's not heavy on tactics of a position. We were playing on a half pitch, seven against seven or eight against eight, so they say you're a centre-back, but it's not like the real definition.
What I say about actors is you always want to find an actor you can play ball with. You throw the ball at them and you want them to throw it back. Your ball playing is a lot better when you play with good ballplayers, like any sport. Every actor I know feels the same way.
I would look straight back at the quarterback thinking the ball's coming straight to me... and as soon as I looked back, the ball's going right over my head.
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