Just Be Who We Are

His essential confidence was unshaken. “Just be who we are,” he told his team. It’s interesting advice. Lesser-talented teams sometimes need to be more than who they are.
-Michael Sokolove in his Article "Happiness Is A Warm Football Coach" about Pete Carroll 

Not Letting Things Get The Better Of You

“It is amazing what you can get through, really, the sort of stuff that you just get on with. You do it and then you think, 'Oh, that's sore', but at the time it is all part of being a footballer, of not letting things get the better of you. I think that has got me where I am today - the hatred of losing, of not being involved. That is why I always do that little bit extra.”

- John Terry

If You Have To Run Through Me

“I've had a lot of injuries in my career, but this has got to be one of the most painful,” Terry said. “I thought I'd broken my arm it was that bad and I immediately thought I was out of the final. But it was one of those things. No problem, in the end. I always say to Petr, every season, come out, and if you have to go through me and the striker to get the ball, just do it. And that is what he did. So how can I complain? He did what I have been telling him to do for three years. He did the right thing. As long as the ball got cleared, which it did, and we didn't concede, which we didn't, everything else was just bad luck. And I'm going to be OK, so it worked out.”

- John Terry

Rules

Artists cannot break the rules until they have learned them.

Discipline

The sterner the discipline, the greater the devotion.
-- Pete Caroll

Be Good Every Day

It isn't hard to be good from time to time in sports. What is tough, is being good every day.
-- Willie Mays

The Difference Between Failure And Success

The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing it exactly right.
-- Edward C. Simmons

The 6 W's

The Six W's: Work will win when wishing won't.
-- Todd Blackledge

Kind Words

You can motivate players better with kind words than you can with a whip.
-- Bud Wilkinson

Aggressive Leaders Are Priceless

Good guys are a dime a dozen, but an aggressive leader is priceless.
-- Red Blaik

Success vs Excellence

Success is about having, excellence is about being. Success is about having money and fame, but excellence is being the best you can be.
- Mike Ditka

Make The Present Good

Make the present good, and the past will take care of itself.
- Knute Rockne

There Is A Point Where You Get Tested As A Parent

You try to raise your kids to make decisions for themselves and there is a point where again you get tested as a parent as to whether or not you know what's best for them or how you discuss those things. And they're not easy things.

-Bob Bradley

As A Coach You Hope Your Child Finds Something They Really Love

Bob Bradley helped out with Michael's youth teams but never coached one. Was it important to him that his son would become an exceptional player?

"No," says Bob Bradley. "You hope to help your kids find things that they have passion for, things that they really love, and things that they want to put something into. That was just the way we always approached it. "

Have A Desire To Improve

He was the runt of the litter. Athletically, he wasn't, let's say, fully developed. Sometimes when you look a youth team, people say the best guys are the ones who are the better athletes.

Mike wasn't that. But he loved the game. He had a passion for it. He was a soccer rat. And he always had the desire to improve.

-David Richardson, coach of the Sockers FC Chicago youth club, on Michael Bradley

It May Be True, But It's Not Automatic

Certainly, for all of us who are involved in youth soccer there are times when you say that it's true.  That a younger player who is smaller has got to develop his other qualities, so it's a plus. It can work that way. But I don't think it's an automatic.

-Bob Bradley

Besides That He's All Right

He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right.

-George Best

Impossible Is Nothing

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

We Remain Petty and Cannot See The End Of Our Own Road

In the San Siro last week, I thought I heard the Liverpool fans chant “England”. Just the once, mind, and long after the ground had cleared of Italian supporters. It seemed a fine gesture, though, an acknowledgement of the wider achievement of English football in Europe. It felt consistent that supporters who care so much for history would have a heightened sense of it.

Then the letters started arriving. Liverpool fans were chanting “Inter”, in recognition of the sportsmanship of their hosts, which was still a decent thing to do. Some of the contributors, however, were affronted by the misunderstanding. Liverpool supporters would never chant England, they said. They think nothing of England.

I accept that I misheard. I also overestimated the ability of club fans to see, briefly, the bigger picture. I forgot that we remain a petty, parochial nation that rarely sees farther than the end of our road. For a moment, I thought we were pretty cool. This will not happen again, don’t worry.

Believe In What You're Doing

"You have to believe in what you're doing, you have to relax.  This game has taught me a lot. You must continue with what you set out to do."

-United States coach Pia Sundhage