“I like to be the winner; I like to change. I like to make history.”
― Samir Nasri
“A final is a final, a trophy is a trophy, a cup is a cup. Whatever cup you play, you want to win it, especially when you are a player.”
― Samir Nasri
“You don’t forget where you came from. I came from nothing. I was in Marseille in a bad area. We didn’t have anything. We were rich in love.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’ve learned a lot over the years, but I am an honest person, and when I’m not happy, I can’t fake a smile. If there is a problem, you will know straight away because you will see it on my face.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m lucky to have a second chance. Not everyone in life has a second chance, and I do.”
― Samir Nasri
“When I’m happy and smiling, I play my best.”
― Samir Nasri
“I don’t want to go back to the national team and play the hypocrite when some of them asked for me to be kicked out.”
― Samir Nasri
“We get older, we get more mature and stronger mentally. You learn to deal with different situations.”
― Samir Nasri
“Marseille has a big Muslim community. The good thing is it is a melting point: all nationalities in there. Everyone is fine with each other. It is really close to North Africa, to Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, so a lot of them come from there.”
― Samir Nasri
“When I say something, I don’t go back on it.”
― Samir Nasri
“I will only be 29 in 2016 for the European Championships, but the French national team doesn’t make me happy.”
― Samir Nasri
“Sometimes it is a good thing to hear what kids have to tell you. Kids just tell the truth.”
― Samir Nasri
“My parents sacrificed everything for me. My father worked on a building site and as a driver – so many jobs. My mum was at home full-time to take care of me, my sister, and two brothers.”
― Samir Nasri
“From time to time, I’m a jerk.”
― Samir Nasri
“You don’t want to stay on the bench. You want to play every game.”
― Samir Nasri
“Sometimes I do things in training and think, ‘Ah! I need to do that in a game. If I do I will be close to my full potential.’”
― Samir Nasri
“I wasn’t just playing football on the street. I grew up on the street.”
― Samir Nasri
“You can’t be the best every game. Even Messi can have a bad game.”
― Samir Nasri
“I have to smile because we, as footballers, are really lucky to do the job we do. But this is not just a job for me. It’s my passion.”
― Samir Nasri
“Of course, every game and opponent is different.”
― Samir Nasri
“All my younger years, I was a No. 10. In the national team, I used to play No. 10, and Marseille, I used to play No. 10.”
― Samir Nasri
“If you look at Barcelona and the way they press high, or Bayern Munich, the way they press high… that’s what makes them the best teams, because when they lose the ball, in the first three seconds, that’s when they get the ball back, really, really high.”
― Samir Nasri
“Real Madrid, they are the best counter-attacking team in the world.”
― Samir Nasri
“I try to be precise with my passes but take some risks as well.”
― Samir Nasri
“If you win the Carling Cup, it can give you confidence, and sometimes, when you haven’t won a trophy, you become scared of winning.”
― Samir Nasri
“I don’t make plans for my future. I have learned that you cannot predict what will happen.”
― Samir Nasri
“I will not play for Tottenham.”
― Samir Nasri
“I just look at what is best for me.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m not an Arsenal fan. I am not from London.”
― Samir Nasri
“When Manchester City came for me it was the best choice to come here.”
― Samir Nasri
“Pellegrini gave me back the joy of playing football. He is like Arsene Wenger: someone who likes to joke, someone who likes to talk and take an interest in your life.”
― Samir Nasri
“The World Cup is the World Cup, and I’m sad I won’t play in it; that’s my only regret. But to play a friendly with my national team, I did it many times, so it’s not something I’m missing.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m used to playing in the Premier League now. I’m confident, and all my team-mates are confident with me.”
― Samir Nasri
“I think more with my head – things are 90 per cent in your head, and everything else comes after that.”
― Samir Nasri
“Remember that before joining Arsenal, I was at Marseille where it was easy for me because I was with my family; I was born there and had played for them since I was nine. I came here on my own, and you grow up more quickly that way. It made a difference, because now I have become a man.”
― Samir Nasri
“It’s better not to talk but to act on the pitch.”
― Samir Nasri
“Arsenal have good fans but not that passionate since they moved from Highbury to the Emirates.”
― Samir Nasri
“I never said Arsenal fans were not good. I just said I saw real passion when I signed here, and I said Arsenal was a little bit different. That is the only thing I said.”
― Samir Nasri
“Cristiano Ronaldo is more of a professional, hard-working guy. Ronaldo is the example you follow.”
― Samir Nasri
“I don’t know of one player who is happy on the bench, especially when you don’t understand the reason.”
― Samir Nasri
“In December, every league has a break, but in England, it is not like this.”
― Samir Nasri
“I think I have had my story with France. Unfortunately, it’s not the story I would have liked. I would have liked to have played a World Cup; I would have liked to have done a lot more for the French national team.”
― Samir Nasri
“Pellegrini was the biggest factor for me to be joining West Ham.”
― Samir Nasri
“When you’re a player, you want the manager to know your quality and to want you.”
― Samir Nasri
“A lot of things have changed in my life and for the best. I’m really happy about it. I’m just blessed.”
― Samir Nasri
“Mentally, I’m really strong, but for maybe the first time in my life, I cried about my career because I thought it was over. When you’ve been out for a year, and you think it’s over, you think completely differently after that. I was just looking on TV, and I wasn’t able to train, and in the meantime, I had a son.”
― Samir Nasri
“I am a guy who likes a challenge. I don’t like to go somewhere where I am used to winning.”
― Samir Nasri
“Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, they play on a different galaxy.”
― Samir Nasri
“Every great player has a big character. I don’t know any player with a lot of quality who just has quality – you have to have an ego and character to be the main person on the pitch.”
― Samir Nasri
“A man is not scared of playing, of having any contact, and you won’t shut him down if you kick him – he will just ask for the ball all the time.”
― Samir Nasri
“It’s always good to score, and if we want to do something as a team, you need your important players to be at their best.”
― Samir Nasri
“The horizon is a little bit blocked with Didier Deschamps as manager. I respect his choices, but the French national team doesn’t make me happy any more.”
― Samir Nasri
“I tried to do everything on the pitch to play at the World Cup. It wasn’t enough.”
― Samir Nasri
“I don’t pretend; I’m honest. Sometimes that causes a problem; I always say what I think.”
― Samir Nasri
“I hope I can score many more goals and help to bring more trophies.”
― Samir Nasri
“It’s not enough to be top in your league if you don’t do anything in the Champions League.”
― Samir Nasri
“The thing in the Champions League is not just the talent. It’s not being a team. It’s the experience as well.”
― Samir Nasri
“The past is the past, and we have to look forward.”
― Samir Nasri
“The problem is you lose too much energy when you play in the Premier League. Even when you play the team on the bottom, it is difficult.”
― Samir Nasri
“Tactically, Italians are very strong. They are a lot into tactics: how to defend, when you lose the ball, where will you be?”
― Samir Nasri
“Defeat is forbidden.”
― Samir Nasri
“Tactically, I know how to play on one side even though I remain convinced that I can play better through the middle.”
― Samir Nasri
“After 2012, I wanted to stop, but my father told me I had to play the World Cup. I tried to be good.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m not perfect.”
― Samir Nasri
“I do not see myself returning to Ligue 1. I love the Premier League. I like my life in England.”
― Samir Nasri
“I see myself going to play in the MLS, to discover something other than France.”
― Samir Nasri
“I like offensive, technical, and quick football – exactly in the style of Arsenal.”
― Samir Nasri
“I can play in the centre or on the wing, behind one or two strikers, on the left or the right.”
― Samir Nasri
“I hope I will integrate myself quickly in this team and bring everything I can to Arsenal and the fans.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m really happy that West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini have given me a chance to be playing again.”
― Samir Nasri
“I don’t regret leaving Arsenal.”
― Samir Nasri
“I do not have regrets, I do not regret joining Manchester City.”
― Samir Nasri
“My departure from Arsenal was purely for sporting reasons.”
― Samir Nasri
“Wenger is the best coach I’ve worked with.”
― Samir Nasri
“Arsenal remains a big club, but the building of Emirates Stadium changed a lot of things.”
― Samir Nasri
“From the start, there was unanimity about my arrival at Manchester City. The coach, the executive director Garry Cook, and chairman Khaldoun al-Mubarak – I felt everyone wanted me.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m used to dealing with pressure.”
― Samir Nasri
“I’m never happy with my performances. I always want more and better for myself.”
― Samir Nasri
“If you want to be a big player and play for a big club, you have to deal with the pressure.”
― Samir Nasri
“Arsenal do not have money to spend, so they are gambling on young players. Arsenal are obliged to sell their best players and bet on youth – but what counts is having a team, great players, and a solid squad to win titles.”
― Samir Nasri
“Wenger is an immense manager and a great man. He takes care of his players, maybe too much. He’s not a man of conflict.”
― Samir Nasri
“I wanted to write history rather than participate in it.”
― Samir Nasri
“I needed a familiar club that would give me affection, and Sevilla can do that.”
― Samir Nasri
“I like Sevilla’s attacking style. That is why I chose them.”
― Samir Nasri
“I love American culture.”
― Samir Nasri
“I was at Marseille and had four coaches in four seasons. Changing coaches is nothing new.”
― Samir Nasri
“When I am on the pitch, I don’t focus on the opposition fans. I am focused on doing my best for the team.”
― Samir Nasri
“It’s so important to do well in the first game of a tournament because it can be key in the group. If you lose, you have so much pressure on the next two games.”
― Samir Nasri
“If starting games in a club like Manchester City and winning two titles isn’t enough, too bad. I won’t regret anything.”
― Samir Nasri
“Marseille would be the only place that I’d like to play in France, but I think it’s not realistic.”
― Samir Nasri
“All my career, I’ve played in great teams – Marseille was a great team, Arsenal was a great thing, but we never won a trophy. With Manchester City, first year, it happened, and it was just a big relief.”
― Samir Nasri
“When you win the league, it’s different. Saying it is one thing, but when you win it, you know all your hard work for the season has just been rewarded.”
― Samir Nasri
“My dream is to play in the MLS maybe, because I love the lifestyle in America. Doesn’t matter – New York, L.A. – I want the big city.”
― Samir Nasri
“When you compare Arsenal and City, it’s not the same. With City, I’m playing in a better team.”
― Samir Nasri
“You can ask any player: I never had any problem with any French team-mate.”
― Samir Nasri
“I made mistakes, I know, but I’m not the ugly duckling that some people seem to think.”
― Samir Nasri
“Now I am finally a City player, and that’s all I wanted since the start.”
― Samir Nasri
“The crowd at City are amazing, and that’s what you want as a player – a good atmosphere.”
― Samir Nasri
“If I stay working with Pep Guardiola, if he wants me, he’s just going to be a lucky man because I will be really hungry. I am the type of player for his philosophy and the way he likes his team.”
― Samir Nasri
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