Some football quotes

"I like pace, directness and players who can beat players" - Steve McClaren explains exactly why he has ended David Beckham's England career.

"I've been there and done it and I don't see why I can't do it again. Why not?" - Emile Heskey, from Wigan, threatens a return to international football, ignoring the fact that he has been there before, catastrophically failed to do it and nobody wants to see him (not) do it again.

"Obviously I want my stuff back, but I want Mac back more than anything. He is just a puppy" - Andy Van der Meyde of Everton reveals his priority after burglars broke into his home and stole Ferrari, a black convertible Mini Cooper, a Rolex watch and a de Bordeaux dog called Mac.

"We have to work. I read a few newspapers where some super-specialists laugh when I say we need time and we are not in the same moment as other teams. But it is because they are funny people and like to write funny things" - Jose Mourinho is rather funny himself.

"What strikes me most is the number of parks" - Andriy Shevchenko adapts to life in London.

"If all the foreign players come over here, you will stop English players from playing" - The ever-astute Peter Taylor has a point because if all the foreigners do indeed come over to England then they will out-number the English players. Full marks to Peter for avoiding the hysteria.

"It is disgusting. Why say things after the event when you were part of the problem and when you are just as culpable as the manager? Does Frank want to tell his story or does he want to make money? It is cowardly and he was not brave enough to stand up at the time and admit we were going wrong. Unfortunately that is the self-obsessed world football has become" - Reading's Dave Kitson warms up for a testy meeting with new author Frank Lampard.

"We must buy players. Arsene knows that and the fans know that. It is more than vital we get players in. Our defence needs strengthening, Let me make it clear - I don't know what is happening with Ashley Cole but the fact remains that if Ashley goes we would be losing one of the team's best assets for the second year running. I don't know anything about the situation with Chelsea but if he goes there it will look like we are trying to catch a team as well as giving them one of our best assets. It would be difficult to take" - Thierry Henry isn't happy.

"It was a strange kind of moment at that party. It was weird but it was a good night for us. We didn't know quite what to expect and that was a strange combination, but Tony Blair was great" - Frank Lampard reflects on meeting the Prime Minister and Snoop Dogg during Chelski's pre-season tour of the United States.

"The memory of that moment when we got knocked out against Portugal will live with me forever, I'll never forget the pain of it all. It was terrible" - John Terry has been having nightmares.

"It pains me to admit this but it needs saying. We were not as good as we thought we were. On arriving in Germany, England were guilty of over-confidence. It was ours for the taking. No one was better than us. Me and the other players placed too much pressure on ourselves by constantly claiming we could win the World Cup. Stupid. We talked ourselves up too much. Never again. In future tournaments we must learn to be humble. Be calm. We went around Germany blowing our own trumpet and returned home mute with embarrassment" - Steven Gerrard.

"Not only were England embarking on an arduous World Cup campaign with only four forwards but one of them was Theo Walcott. I almost fell over when I heard. He had no right to be in Germany. None at all. I was gobsmacked to find him on the plane - Extract number two from Steven Gerrard's forthcoming autobiography.

Taken from Football365.com