A Quote by John Barnes
Normally when you look at the Ballon d'Or winners, they're either attacking midfield players or centre-forwards. They are goalscorers and eye-catching players.
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Every team needs goalscorers, attacking players, players who can sweep up the ball, but every team needs that someone who can be the link between defence and attack. The greatest teams always have that sort of player.
I've played all over, to be honest. Centre-half, defensive midfield, attacking midfield.
Everyone talks about the forwards, the players when they are scoring goals. But sometimes I look for the complete player not just the players who score but those who can pass.
Normally, I play in midfield where I'm challenging the players and trying to take the ball.
If you win the midfield, you probably win the game. But that doesn't mean the players in the midfield are the ones alone who determine that, because now we have strikers who drop into midfield and defenders who move up into the midfield. It is the area you must dominate.
I look for players who do not just score goals but provide an attacking point, linking with other players and able to see the third man as well. Van Persie is one of the best strikers around at that.
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 always like the players to be within 10 to 15 metres of each other. When the attacking players try what I am asking them to do, and it breaks down, there are players close enough to then go and win the ball back and counter press the game.
I don't get involved in recruitment like people think I do. There's a myth that I look at YouTube and choose players. I don't. Having an eye for players is an art. I have no interest in doing that.
I grew without having a thing about the Ballon d'Or. When I was young, Ballon d'Or was also given to the European players. I didn't grow with this ambition. I think it's a personal trophy and football is a team game.
I prefer to play in midfield, whether that is attacking midfield or defensive midfield.
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.
I can bring my drive, I can get behind centre-halves, get on the other side of midfield players, score goals. That's what I can bring to a team when I am at my best.
As a young centre-forward, if I'm to look along the line of top centre-forwards, I would look at Robert Lewandowski and study his game and see what positions he gets in, because I feel he's got similar attributes to what I have.
I've played lacrosse players, football players, basketball players. I think that's just because of how I'm built. I look young, and I'm also a big person.
I study the other players in training, particularly the forwards, and I look at how they are scoring goals. What do they do when they finish a chance?
