I don't know where football will take me because in football, you never know, but for sure, as a family, our home will be in London.
The best way to stop Messi is when you play with 11 men and then you can double mark him, one player to stay on him and the other to help out. If it is 11 against 10 then you have almost no chance of stopping him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
To effectively counter a great player like Messi, you need to have equal numbers on the field and use strategic marking.
In this quote, Jose Mourinho emphasizes the importance of having a fair matchup in sports, particularly in soccer. He suggests that to limit the effectiveness of an extraordinary player like Lionel Messi, teams must have equal players on the field and employ strategies like double marking to contain him. When one team is outnumbered, it greatly diminishes their chances of success against a formidable opponent, highlighting the dynamics of competition and strategy in sports.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
A coach might quote Mourinho when discussing strategies for an upcoming match against a strong opponent.
More from Jose Mourinho
All quotes →You have to work hard AND well. There are a lot of people who work hard but not well.
I won't say we have to win. I won't put that pressure. But we can't lose.
You can have the top stars to bring the attention, you can have the best stadium, you can have the best facilities, you can have the most beautiful project in terms of marketing and all this kind of thing. But if you don't win... All the work these people are doing is forgotten.
Once, players came to football expecting to be wealthy when they retired. Now, they expect to be wealthy before they've played their first game!
I would rather play with 10 men than wait for a player who is late for the bus.
Similar quotes
I am a believer in passing the ball on the ground, I was lucky to be part of teams like that at Arsenal, with the French national team and with Monaco and at Barcelona. I know you can win in other ways, but I believe that is the way football should be played.
As far as I'm concerned, Aaron is the best ball player of my era. He is to baseball of the last fifteen years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He's never received the credit he's due.
If all of us who love baseball and are doing our jobs, then those who get the game from us will be as proud to be a part of it as we were. And we are. This game is a gift, and I am humbled, very humbled, to accept its greatest honor.
I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty.
Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead, 'A pretty move, for the love of God.' And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle, and I don't give a damn which team or country performs it.