Marcel Desailly Quotes

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Marcel Desailly

Profession : Footballer

Birth : September 7, 1968

There's no price for experience.

Marcel Desailly

To experience playing with other big players, to be maybe a second choice. To face difficulty, a new language for his family. It's a real change of life and an approach to life as a human being and as a soccer player.

Marcel Desailly

We won the 1998 World Cup on home soil because we were able to bring out the positive from that pressure.

Marcel Desailly

Capello will show you your mistakes on TV the next day, he will shout at you and he will be very hard on you.

Marcel Desailly

The likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are top players. We know they have talent offensively but Capello will tell them: 'first of all don't forget we have to defend our position and after I will give you the freedom to express yourself.'

Marcel Desailly

When you see me on the television you may think I'm very sure about myself. That is not the right image.

Marcel Desailly

I am a nice, family man, a good father. I'm a simple guy.

Marcel Desailly

Winning is beautiful.

Marcel Desailly

I try to take some positive things from the African mentality and from the French and European mentalities. My homeland is France, but I like to go back to Africa.

Marcel Desailly

All the small details make the difference and allow you to become a major team in Europe.

Marcel Desailly

When you are a coach you want your best player.

Marcel Desailly

Maybe when you are eight, nine, 10 the coach can be influenced by the social level of the parents to put their kids into the team because the competition is not there. But once you reach a decent level from 15, even 13, the best are playing. No matter the colour, the origin, whatever, you put your best players in the team.

Marcel Desailly

When you are a coach there are some keys things that you have to put aside. Like your own experience. You can never talk to your players about your own experience.

Marcel Desailly

If, with top players, you speak too much they will switch off. They will switch off and identify what they need to be able to go and perform. It's good to be low on the communication... You cannot be too demanding.

Marcel Desailly

Because he knows he has the talent to change games, you get the impression Neymar wants to be the one to do that something special. But he has to understand that it's not like that at international level. He might be the greatest player, but you have to think of the collective.

Marcel Desailly

Playing football helped me to gain self-discipline, confidence, negotiation skills, teamwork and leadership.

Marcel Desailly

I am glad to learn UNICEF considers sport an important part of education.

Marcel Desailly

You can't rely on one player on the international level.

Marcel Desailly

Lyon is a big club, but it's not Milan, Barcelona or Chelsea.

Marcel Desailly

Every big club in Europe treats its players well, but Milan's organisation is something else. They really make you feel at home.

Marcel Desailly