“Being a manager is kneading people.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Success is built on organisation, determination, and experience, not to mention following the regulations, so of course it’s no easy matter.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“You always need to have the highest respect for your opponents. If you see them fighting, you know you have to give something extra.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It’s always the losers who are complaining about a result.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“My aim is to get the team to work hard and stay strong together.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I had a lot of success, of course, but whatever was achieved was due to a group effort on the part of all the players.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Without a doubt, it is easier to produce a defensive soccer team, because it does not need you to have talent for it but simply to be well organised.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The situation with Anders Frisk is clear: he was threatened by the supporters of Chelsea, and he retired because he was in fear. This is serious.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I always had much respect for Rudi Voller.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I see a lot of fouls on Messi, and he’s not the type to overreact.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“We have to remember, Mourinho worked at Barcelona. He has good memories of Barcelona. The club did well when he was here.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“With every coach you work with, you learn something. Then, at the end of your career, when you become a trainer, you take something from every coach that you think is useful for you.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“There are coaches with habits you don’t like, and you tell yourself, ‘I don’t want to be like that.’ But there’s no one way to success.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The Dutch public always wants to see a team that is trying to be dominant, trying to play attractive football, and after that, hopefully, a team that is winning.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The differences between the top teams in Euro 2000 are so minimal that I think you have to be very clever in defence and stop your opponents getting opportunities.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“In the end, every coach wants the same – that’s to win.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Mourinho is very intelligent; he knows what he’s doing. He has the right to act like he wants to act, and he’s very successful with it, so who am I to criticise him?”
― Frank Rijkaard
“We can be confident about our qualities, but the qualities need something to come out.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I have a great deal of respect for Sir Alex Ferguson. He has done a great job. Without any doubt, he is one of the best and most influential around. He is the embodiment of football.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I try to stay in the moment.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“When it’s a clash between two big teams, you know your players will concentrate.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“How can you judge a man until you come face to face?”
― Frank Rijkaard
“There is a part of football I would describe as ‘serious’ and one part I would describe as more ‘playful,’ i.e. more technical.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Someone said that my coaching is a combination of Milan’s defensive discipline and the Dutch propensity for attacking football, and I think that is a fair description.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The goal is always to win.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I am completely uninterested in playing beautiful football if the team doesn’t win.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I made Edgar Davids vice-captain. Nothing to do with colour, just because he was playing excellently and because he lives like an athlete.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“After your career, you go to matches, and you see so many unnecessary goals because a person is just looking where the ball is and not his opponent. Well, a ball alone has never scored a goal.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“As a young centre-back at Ajax, I played with Wim Jansen, and of course you learn a huge amount. I made some mistakes, because we Dutchmen want to solve situations by playing football. So we look at the ball, try to judge where it will come.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“One thing was crystal clear to me: if you’re centre-back, you first of all have to perform your task.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“We win together, and we lose together.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Losing against rivals is always a blow to the morale.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“When a parent has two children, it is difficult to pick one favourite.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It would not be honest if I did a review, because I’ve worked with Leo Messi, whom I consider the best player I’ve seen. I cannot comment or compare with Cristiano Ronaldo because I have not worked with him. That is not to say that I do not have as much respect for Cristiano as a footballer.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Players are sometimes sad, sometimes happy during their sporting career.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Most of the clubs who have had success against Barcelona have relied on a highly organised and disciplined defence.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“He’s an incredible person. Messi is not simply a uniquely talented footballer. He’s also strong mentally, very bright, and exceptionally dedicated to his job. Personally speaking, I enjoy watching him play, and I’m deeply proud of him and what he has achieved. Quite simply, he’s the best.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“If you want to come out of a sad moment, you have to work really hard.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“From the moment Messi was introduced, we all knew he was a unique talent. I remember Deco and Ronaldinho immediately realised how special he was, and they took him under their wing.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“He was always brilliant, but when Pep Guardiola started to use him as a ‘false’ No. 9, he got even better. It’s impossible to be more of a footballer than Messi.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I have no desire to be 60 years old and standing on the side of the pitch.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I’m grateful for everything I have achieved in football, but now I’d rather do other things, go and watch games and enjoy discussing them afterwards.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“As a player, you are more concerned with the moments when you have possession of the ball or are about to receive the ball. You are watching your team-mates and trying to decide what the possibilities are.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“When you are a coach, you are watching how the team is positioning itself on the field – if your team is in possession of the ball, you are already anticipating what could happen if you lose the ball.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I understand very well that if you are a national coach, you want to use all the opportunities that you have to meet up with your team.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The evolution of football has seen a reduction in the space between the teams. It is therefore important for the modern footballer to react and be quicker than in the past, because there is more happening in the restricted space.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“No person is the same, and so you can’t treat each player identically.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I’m not a guy who believes in revenge.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Ronaldinho is very happy at Barcelona.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It is always a shame when players are injured.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Pavarotti is not judged on how he sings in the shower. People wait until he gets on stage.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It’s not for nothing that they say it’s easier to get to the top than to stay at the top.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Manchester United is a world-famous club, and yet if you say, ‘Manchester United,’ then immediately you think of Sir Alex Ferguson. To have achieved so much and have so much importance at such a big club is extremely rare.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It’s normal that if you are working with a lot of people, then you have a lot of different mentalities and characters. You have the serious guy, and you have the one who is always complaining and the one who is always talking. Everyone is different.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I can work with a lot of different mentalities.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Every manager feels a responsibility to his board of directors and the public and the players.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“You see a lot of managers who are working and yet are already talking about other countries and other teams. But that’s not for me.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“All the big clubs set their goals. We have to do that because it is necessary to explain to the fans. But this does not mean I am thinking only of the final results. The work you are doing every day with the team is often more important.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The national team means you have the nation behind it.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“You have to score one goal more than your opponents. That’s the most important thing.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Dennis is something special. We are talking a lot about exciting football, and Dennis Bergkamp, I think, started with attractive football a long time ago. He was one of these players. A lot of the things he did as a football player you can compare to art.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“If someone is quite tall, the people will sing songs about his height. We don’t have to overreact. You just have to do your job.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I think that every manager who starts work with a team has the best expectations and is giving all he’s got to improve immediately.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“A team like Barcelona always has targets, and that’s quite normal.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Before we talk about stylish performance, we need to think about winning. That’s the most important thing.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Mourinho is a great coach, and I respect the way he works.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Everyone has his own form, and I never had any problems with Mourinho.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Mourinho follows his personality – staying close to his own way – he chooses that, and he has been very successful with it. I can only have respect for that.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Short-termism is no good: plans must be carried through to the end.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It’s my belief that Barcelona are successful because they have a number of youth teams alongside the first team. They are where it begins.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Africa has produced some good players.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Ronaldinho is another special player, probably amongst the most talented players I have worked with. At Barcelona, he was outstanding.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“At Barcelona, I was exposed to talent. You had Ronaldinho, who was a marvel to watch. Deco is skilful and talented. Then there are players like Xavi, a good and hardworking man who gave his all. Iniesta is another. Then the name of Messi will come up in that list.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“I was once in charge of the Dutch team – and then I was introduced to club football!”
― Frank Rijkaard
“Generally speaking, I think that Frank Lampard is one of the best players in international football.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“It is very tough to beat an English team. The type of football they play is only in the Premier League. They defend as though their lives depend on it. And they are very successful.”
― Frank Rijkaard
“The level of English teams is high.”
― Frank Rijkaard
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