Midfield Quotes

One of the things that makes the best teams in the world the best is the fact that, across midfield and up top, they are capable of hurting you.

My favorite position is in the center of the midfield, maybe the defensive midfield. I think I can play this position the best. I played there in my youth all the time, and I like to be in the center of the game because you’re never standing still.

Normally, I play in midfield where I’m challenging the players and trying to take the ball.

When I play in central midfield, that’s my favourite position.

Frank Lampard was always the player I tried to model myself on. The amount of goals he scored from midfield was incredible. On and off the pitch, he was what I wanted to be.

I’ve grown up playing in central midfield more, and I think my natural game is about coming inside from wide.

Arsenal wanted me to be a controller in the midfield, an Emmanuel Petit-type.

I’ve said it a few times over the years that I’m very happy in midfield.

I have to play with discipline in midfield.

I have been lucky enough to work with great coaches. My father was also a coach, and my position in central midfield requires tactical knowledge.

But I loved playing in midfield. In midfield you always have a sight of goal, you’re always participating in all the plays.

In the Premier League it is difficult, the midfield is very congested; there is a lot of pressure and the game is very fast. So it’s hard for you to spend a lot of time with the ball; you have to be very fast, you have to think long before the ball reaches you.

I think that Sarri’s formation and playing with a midfield three have been fundamental for me.

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.

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.

I’ve played all over, to be honest. Centre-half, defensive midfield, attacking midfield.

If you have a good midfield, you have a good team.

Mario Mandzukic works so hard for his team. He’s not only a No. 9 but also runs behind the defenders and drops into midfield.

I have fans rooting for me, all the other drivers in the midfield have fans rooting for them, and they never get to see that driver fighting for wins. Of course it would be a lot better if you had a broader range of drivers who were in the fight for wins.

Over the long term, it is definitely my ambition to play in the midfield.

At Newcastle, I was playing in the No 10 position but also in midfield as a left winger.

In the 1970s you would have had lots of black goalkeepers and defensive midfield players but never made it professionally because the perception was, ‘You don’t think too much, you can’t play in positions of responsibility so you play on the wing or up front.’ Lots were lost to the game because of the perception.

I just want to be able to be an attacking influence and have that effect further up the pitch; whether that’s from an attacking midfield position or one of the wider positions coming in, I’m not too fussed.

As a young player, I played up front, on the wing, in midfield, and when I started in the reserves at Standard Liege, I played centre back.

Real are really powerful in attack, really strong in defence, and have a balanced midfield. There’s a reason they’ve won two Champions Leagues in a row.

I’m not going to be running round at the back of the grid, or even in midfield, just for the sake of saying I’ve been in Formula One.

Once I reached about 14 or 15, I started to steady myself and get into a midfield role and carried that on until I was 17. Then I dropped into right-back, and I have played there ever since.

I have been playing box-to-box more for Everton as a two, so I have felt comfortable in that position, but anywhere across the midfield I can play.

I started in a 4-3-3 formation at Ajax, playing in left midfield. There, you need to be just as involved defensively as you are going forward. You attack and you defend, and that allows you to be a complete player.

To be honest, from England Under-16s, through the 17s and 18s, really all the way through my youth career, I played at centre-half. For some reason, when I made my debut at Everton, I just played in central midfield, and it went from there.

When I played in the Benfica youth teams, they would always call me to play in midfield if someone was missing and I didn’t ever embarrass myself.

For me it’s best to play midfield but if the team needs it, I can play anywhere.

It’s very physical in the midfield, but I’ve come into my own now, and I can handle it in there.

I’m a very versatile player, I have covered many midfield roles but my favourite one is the centre-midfield.

The AZ captain Teun Koopmeiners, a left-footed centre back who can sit in midfield, is probably the best player in Holland in defensive areas.

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.

That was always something I remember, playing in loads of different positions when I was younger, and learning about what it takes to play a right-wing role, or holding midfield, or as a striker. I had a lot of experiences in those different formations and positions.

Even though I started out at right-back, I actually enjoy the contrast of playing both at full-back and in midfield. Both require physical attributes and a lot of energy.

At Rennes, I played more down the left wing, but also down the right and sometimes in midfield. At Dortmund, it was the same: I alternated wings. I don’t have problems with the position I’ll take up.

I used to find most joy with those long, bursting runs from your own box where the opposition‘s central midfield player has to track you. It gives them a decision to make: do they pass you on to a defender, or do they go all the way with you.

Obviously when you grow up in the area you love playing on the street, and to go from playing on the street with my mates to playing at Upton Park is a bit surreal, and 15 years on to still be in the heart of the West Ham midfield is quite good going!

I think my biggest strength is that I always keep doing exactly the same thing. There are forwards who go crazy with euphoria, but after a goal, I let myself fall back to the midfield, recharge. Keeping yourself cool and concentrated on your mission.