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Goal.com Quotes Of The Week: Jose Mourinho Is Not Harry Potter, Zlatan Ibrahimovic And Javier Mascherano Hit Back At Former Employers And More
Goal.com's Subhankar Mondal rounds up this week's best quotes from the players and managers, our writers and you the fans...
| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £70.00 | Draw £42.00 | Barcelona £14.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £65.00 | Draw £43.30 | Barcelona £14.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £85.00 | Draw £45.00 | Barcelona £14.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £75.00 | Draw £42.00 | Barcelona £13.70 |
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Sep 3, 2010 9:15:00 AM
By Subhankar Mondal
They say...
Pep, The Small-Time Coach
"In my book, a great coach solves his problems. A small-time coach runs from them. There was only one person [at Barcelona] who wanted to get rid of me. I have never had problems with any coach before during my career. But suddenly I had a thousand problems and I had no communication with 'the Philosopher'. No communication whatsoever. I don't know what his problem was," new Milan signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasts Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola for being the only reason why he had to leave the Spanish champions.
Lies, Damn Lies And Liverpool's Lies
"It is not easy for me to defend the actions [of Javier Mascherano] because professionals are paid to play and when they are called on to play, they play... I don't think they [the players] mean it as a challenge to your authority or a challenge to the club's authority. It is just a selfish situation that they have got something they want to do and they just expect the club, and therefore you as one of the leaders of the club, to bow down and accept that they are going to do it," Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson blasts Javier Mascherano for forcing his way to Barcelona.
Mascherano's initial reaction: "Roy Hodgson knows the truth. This is a happy moment for me so now is not the time to say it, but a lot of lies have been told about me and I will respond to them. Last year Liverpool would not let me leave. There was no way they would sell me. They had Xabi Alonso and me, and they would only let Xabi leave. I was disappointed not to be able to sign [for Barcelona] last season."
And then the Argentine revealed it all... "They'd promised me something for a whole year and they never fulfilled their promise. And that didn't have anything to do with my family or anything else. When you read or hear lies, you obviously get angry. When they started to involve my family and to say things that didn't make sense, I obviously suffered."
But what exactly did Liverpool promise Mascherano a year back? An improve contract? Better salary?
The Name's Mourinho, Not Potter
“I am a coach, not Harry Potter. He is a magician. Magic is fiction and I live for football, which is real. I’ve only been in Madrid for two months. Do you know how many training sessions I have had with everyone together, including the new signings? Not even 10. My profile as a coach is different to what it has been in recent years. If things go badly I have to leave. I would have one of the best clubs in the world waiting for me.
“This personal stability allows me to say I am the ideal person to be at Madrid because I fear nothing. Madrid need stability, and I am here to give it," Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho suffers no identity crisis as he made it clear that he is no Harry Potter - not even close. He is, to put it simply, the 'Special One'.
We say...
Angel And Demon
"Everything Anelka does for Chelsea screams altruism, a characteristic diametrically opposed to the aloof, self-regarding loner often painted in the media - and by the French Football Federation, who banned him from the national team for a mind-bending 18 matches. It's hard to argue with his reported reaction of laughing hysterically. What else could he do?," Andy Brassell explains that Nicolas Anelka may be a 'bad man' when with France, but with Chelsea he is an angel in human form.
Invincible And Unstoppable
KS Leong is confident that with the arrival of Javier Mascherano Spanish champions Barcelona have become an unstoppable machine and underlines just what makes the Argentine so very crucial:
"Busquets is a more static midfielder, someone who usually stations himself infront of the back four – back two in most cases – and waits for the opposition to advance with the ball before launching himself into a challenge.
"But Mascherano will provide the Blaugrana with something more valuable. His solid and secure defending in midfield will give the Barca stylists more freedom and peace of mind to carry on with the duty of attacking and showboating. His ability to close down an opponent quickly or track back at speed will allow him to lend a hand offensively when required, something that Busquets never could do.
"And unlike Busquets, Mascherano is also a much better passer of the ball; a hybrid between Xabi Alonso and Yaya Toure if you like."
Some Latin Flavour...
Daniel Edwards is on a Argentina-trotting mission and makes a curious observation:
"No matter how much Argentines tell you that their wine industry has improved over the years, and how many awards the Mendoza Malbec has won recently, away on tour you will still end up drinking copious amounts of 50p a litre swill which needs to be diluted with Fanta and ice to be remotely drinkable."
"The difficulty with Robinho's arrival at San Siro comes in terms of the decision whether to include Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Robinho and Pato in the same team week in-week out. Because that might prove to be taking it one step too far. Yes, there are undoubtedly goals in such a line-up, but can Andrea Pirlo and Massimo Ambrosini seriously be expected to do all of the midfield grafting alone? And just how exposed will Luca Antonini and Gianluca Zambrotta/Sokratis Papastathopoulos become if they don't get the required cover from the likes of Pato and Robinho?," Goal.com's resident Milan expert Kris Voakes is not entirely convinced by the arrival of Robinho.
You say...
As the Euro 2012 qualifiers get into full swing, totaalvoetbal makes his prediction, "I hate to say this... but I think Germany will win it! Which team will even fail to qualify? I think Italy will fail to qualify!"
vivastpauli replies, "I don't know what will happen with France and Italy, but we can all be sure that Portugal will flop - as always."
However, juvenelcuore is optimistic of Italy's chances in Euro 2012 and explains, "Does anyone else realize how PERFECT these numbers (age of players) are? I mean, a ton of our young talent are 19 years of age and come Euro 2012, they will be 21, which will make them unable to play with the U-21 squad and perfect to play for the senior squad.
"On top of that, they will get the kind of experience they need at the international level in a relatively low-pressure environment....less so than the World Cup, of course. Then when they are 23, they can comfortable star in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
"Perfect."
southern_man simply lists his top five candidates for the FIFA Ballon d'Or: "1) Messi 2) Sneijder 3) Xavi 4) Iniesta 5) Forlan"
Now that the transfer window has closed, the Goal.com forum is buzzing with who made the best and the worst signings. In shamirr's opinion, "It (the most shocking transfer of the summer) has to be Bruno Alves to Zenit... Who saw that coming after all of Europes big clubs were sniffing around...?"
Pep, The Small-Time Coach
"In my book, a great coach solves his problems. A small-time coach runs from them. There was only one person [at Barcelona] who wanted to get rid of me. I have never had problems with any coach before during my career. But suddenly I had a thousand problems and I had no communication with 'the Philosopher'. No communication whatsoever. I don't know what his problem was," new Milan signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasts Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola for being the only reason why he had to leave the Spanish champions.
Lies, Damn Lies And Liverpool's Lies
"It is not easy for me to defend the actions [of Javier Mascherano] because professionals are paid to play and when they are called on to play, they play... I don't think they [the players] mean it as a challenge to your authority or a challenge to the club's authority. It is just a selfish situation that they have got something they want to do and they just expect the club, and therefore you as one of the leaders of the club, to bow down and accept that they are going to do it," Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson blasts Javier Mascherano for forcing his way to Barcelona.
Mascherano's initial reaction: "Roy Hodgson knows the truth. This is a happy moment for me so now is not the time to say it, but a lot of lies have been told about me and I will respond to them. Last year Liverpool would not let me leave. There was no way they would sell me. They had Xabi Alonso and me, and they would only let Xabi leave. I was disappointed not to be able to sign [for Barcelona] last season."
And then the Argentine revealed it all... "They'd promised me something for a whole year and they never fulfilled their promise. And that didn't have anything to do with my family or anything else. When you read or hear lies, you obviously get angry. When they started to involve my family and to say things that didn't make sense, I obviously suffered."
But what exactly did Liverpool promise Mascherano a year back? An improve contract? Better salary?
The Name's Mourinho, Not Potter
“I am a coach, not Harry Potter. He is a magician. Magic is fiction and I live for football, which is real. I’ve only been in Madrid for two months. Do you know how many training sessions I have had with everyone together, including the new signings? Not even 10. My profile as a coach is different to what it has been in recent years. If things go badly I have to leave. I would have one of the best clubs in the world waiting for me.
“This personal stability allows me to say I am the ideal person to be at Madrid because I fear nothing. Madrid need stability, and I am here to give it," Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho suffers no identity crisis as he made it clear that he is no Harry Potter - not even close. He is, to put it simply, the 'Special One'.
Mourinho's magic is real
We say...
Angel And Demon
"Everything Anelka does for Chelsea screams altruism, a characteristic diametrically opposed to the aloof, self-regarding loner often painted in the media - and by the French Football Federation, who banned him from the national team for a mind-bending 18 matches. It's hard to argue with his reported reaction of laughing hysterically. What else could he do?," Andy Brassell explains that Nicolas Anelka may be a 'bad man' when with France, but with Chelsea he is an angel in human form.
Invincible And Unstoppable
KS Leong is confident that with the arrival of Javier Mascherano Spanish champions Barcelona have become an unstoppable machine and underlines just what makes the Argentine so very crucial:
"Busquets is a more static midfielder, someone who usually stations himself infront of the back four – back two in most cases – and waits for the opposition to advance with the ball before launching himself into a challenge.
"But Mascherano will provide the Blaugrana with something more valuable. His solid and secure defending in midfield will give the Barca stylists more freedom and peace of mind to carry on with the duty of attacking and showboating. His ability to close down an opponent quickly or track back at speed will allow him to lend a hand offensively when required, something that Busquets never could do.
"And unlike Busquets, Mascherano is also a much better passer of the ball; a hybrid between Xabi Alonso and Yaya Toure if you like."
Some Latin Flavour...
Daniel Edwards is on a Argentina-trotting mission and makes a curious observation:
"No matter how much Argentines tell you that their wine industry has improved over the years, and how many awards the Mendoza Malbec has won recently, away on tour you will still end up drinking copious amounts of 50p a litre swill which needs to be diluted with Fanta and ice to be remotely drinkable."
Robinho - a boon or a nuisance?
"The difficulty with Robinho's arrival at San Siro comes in terms of the decision whether to include Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Robinho and Pato in the same team week in-week out. Because that might prove to be taking it one step too far. Yes, there are undoubtedly goals in such a line-up, but can Andrea Pirlo and Massimo Ambrosini seriously be expected to do all of the midfield grafting alone? And just how exposed will Luca Antonini and Gianluca Zambrotta/Sokratis Papastathopoulos become if they don't get the required cover from the likes of Pato and Robinho?," Goal.com's resident Milan expert Kris Voakes is not entirely convinced by the arrival of Robinho.
You say...
As the Euro 2012 qualifiers get into full swing, totaalvoetbal makes his prediction, "I hate to say this... but I think Germany will win it! Which team will even fail to qualify? I think Italy will fail to qualify!"
vivastpauli replies, "I don't know what will happen with France and Italy, but we can all be sure that Portugal will flop - as always."
However, juvenelcuore is optimistic of Italy's chances in Euro 2012 and explains, "Does anyone else realize how PERFECT these numbers (age of players) are? I mean, a ton of our young talent are 19 years of age and come Euro 2012, they will be 21, which will make them unable to play with the U-21 squad and perfect to play for the senior squad.
"On top of that, they will get the kind of experience they need at the international level in a relatively low-pressure environment....less so than the World Cup, of course. Then when they are 23, they can comfortable star in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
"Perfect."
Balotelli is one of Italy's most promising players
southern_man simply lists his top five candidates for the FIFA Ballon d'Or: "1) Messi 2) Sneijder 3) Xavi 4) Iniesta 5) Forlan"
Now that the transfer window has closed, the Goal.com forum is buzzing with who made the best and the worst signings. In shamirr's opinion, "It (the most shocking transfer of the summer) has to be Bruno Alves to Zenit... Who saw that coming after all of Europes big clubs were sniffing around...?"
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