Best Players Quotes

We're all brought up to believe that the best players show up in the biggest games, and what bigger game than the Super Bowl? I've just been blessed and very lucky to have two of my best games on that stage. ~ Justin Tuck

What I always do is just look at the players, look at the best 11 they can put on the pitch. ~ Alan Hansen

It's disappointing being a Canadian and having friends on that team but that's the way it goes. It's the Olympics. It's disappointing for every Canadian but over the years you've seen the parity with all the teams because it's the best players in the world. ~ Darren McCarty

This is God's way of saying you've achieved so much, here's your chance to play against the world's best players. There's got to be some reason behind it. It has to be God. It's been created because of Him and the belief the boys have in Him. ~ Jarryd Hayne

It's not that difficult to play well and win titles in a team like Barcelona, but it's in the national side where you see a player's true class. That was the case with figures like Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane. With Spain, Iniesta has shown that he is among the best players of all time and that's why I rate him higher than Messi or Ronaldo. Even though the latter two have incredible scoring records for their clubs, they still haven't won anything with Argentina or Portugal respectively. ~ Boris Becker

Hockey lends itself to special events, including the Olympic competition: a glorious tournament of the best players in the world, putting on their national jerseys and playing on big rinks with no-goon Olympic rules and referee enforcement. ~ George Vecsey

Excluding nobody, I'm the best player in the National Football League. ~ Randy Moss

The team with the best players usually does win - this is why you need to invest the majority of your time and energy in developing your people. ~ Jack Welch

My former coach, Simen Agdestein, used to be the best player in Norway. ~ Magnus Carlsen

In our small chess community in Marylebone it would be mock modesty on my part to deny that I have built up for myself a considerable name without ever actually having won a single game. Even the best players are sometimes beaten, and that is precisely what happens to me. ~ Stephen Potter

I got to play with some of the best players in the game, from Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore in Cleveland, to here with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels. Obviously, to Seattle with Ichiro and Felix Hernandez, and then to Texas with Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Mike Young. It was a great experience. Without being traded I never could have gotten to do any of that.? ~ Cliff Lee

It's only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own. He's almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. ~ Zinedine Zidane

In terms of merit, sports has mathematical statistics. That's how you know who the best player is. ~ Norm MacDonald

One of the best players I've ever seen in my life! Spectacular on training!! Playing with him was a joy! ~ Gerard Pique

The team with the best players wins. ~ Jack Welch

I want to be one of the best players in the game. ~ Kevin Durant

I want to be the best player to ever play this game. ~ Adrian Peterson

My desire at Liverpool was to help get the club playing in the elite because they had been five years without it. We used to talk about it in the dressing room. If Liverpool are not in the Champions League, it is difficult to get the best players to come to the club. ~ Luis Suarez

If he continues like this then I think Messi will be the best player in the history of football. ~ Xavi

This Guy (Messi) is the Best Player in the World, no doubt about that. I think we're always nervous about calling people who are currently playing, who are young at 23, to say he's the Best Player ever. But we shouldn't be. We should admit what we are seeing in front of our eyes. This is a special talent, who may be is the Best Player ever been seen. ~ Gary Neville

I wanted to prove people wrong who didn't think I could play at this level. I also wanted to take care of my family. It was a chance to play against the best players in the world. Mentally and physically I don't think I was ready, but I was ready to take on the challenge. ~ Jermaine O'Neal

One thing I think you have to do here at Wisconsin is maximize your personnel. From the standpoint of getting our best players out there, you've really got to make sure you're not burying anybody at a position. ~ Bret Bielema

But in my mind, I don't think there's any question Sidney Crosby is the best all-around player in the game. His hockey sense is so strong and so solid, combined with his God-gifted talent of being able to see the ice, see the entire picture in front of him. And, most importantly, I don't care how good you are, if you don't have a work ethic, it doesn't matter. There's no question that each and every game, he's one of the hardest-working guys on the ice. In my mind, he's the best player in the game today. ~ Wayne Gretzky

Of course, the best thing, if you play in the Premier League, you can always develop further as a player, and you are playing against the best players. You are also playing game after game all the time, two or three games a week. ~ Mesut Ozil

Without question, no hesitation, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best player I ever played against. ~ Bill Walton

I want to be one of the best players around in two or three years time, to be a decisive footballer. ~ Cristiano Ronaldo

Characteristics of a Team Player We all fit into different niches. Each of us must make the effort to contribute to the best of our ability according to our own individual talents. And then we put all the individual talents together for the highest good of the group. Thus, I valued a player who cared for others and could lose himself in the group for the good of the group. I believe that quality makes for an outstanding player. It is also why the best players don't always make the best team. I mean by this that a gifted player, or players, who are not team players will ultimately hurt the team, whether it revolves around basketball or business. Understanding that the good of the group comes first is fundamental to being a highly productive member of a team. ~ John Wooden

Intuition is what makes the best players. ~ Adolfo Cambiaso

I have never been concerned about winning the Ballon d'Or or being the best player in the world. The best player is already here and that's Messi. And now I can see him from close up and help him. ~ Neymar

Get the best player because whether it's soccer or whether it's anything else the team with the best players wins. So focus your energy on getting the best and getting rid of the weakest. ~ Jack Welch

When you look back you talk about legends of the game, he's certainly up there. Twenty trophies since 1994. He just seems to get better and better. I've had the honour of playing alongside him. The four years I've played alongside him, he is the best player, one of the first names on the manager's teamsheet. He is just a complete legend. There are not enough players like Paul Scholes around any more for my liking. 'Legend' is over-used but this guy is right up there with the very best. ~ Dwight Yorke

I love competing against the best players. I have a huge challenge, and that's to win a U.S. Open and complete the Grand Slam. I enjoy that challenge. Every year it comes around, I get excited to try to conquer that opportunity. I love it. ~ Phil Mickelson

The best player I ever played with was Dennis Johnson. ~ Larry Bird

The best players are always in the thick of the action. (Michael) Jordan did it with the Bulls, (Kobe) Bryant does it with the Lakers and Leo does it here. We want him to stay with us because he's the best and we wouldn't swap him for anyone. ~ Ronaldinho

Congratulations to the Italian people for winning the World Cup ... They won after France's best player got ejected for head butting. That's the closest anyone in a French uniform has come to combat in 60 years ~ Jay Leno

It just feels good to say we're the best team in the world, with the best player in the world. ~ Klay Thompson

The best players in the world are playing to make history. There are only four tournaments you can win to make history, and TPC (The Players Championship) is not one of them. And neither are those world events. And you're not going to make history winning some kind of FedEx Cup. ~ Paul Azinger

For me, Lionel Messi is quite clearly the best player ever. It's a pleasure to put myself against him and when I finish my career it's something I can look back on and know I've tested myself against the very best. ~ John Terry

Messi is the best player of all time. Better than Pele, better than Maradona and better than anyone else. ~ Adriano Galliani

To this day I am not convinced of having brought together with me in Germany the technically best players that could have been. But I was firmly convinced I called the ones that could create a team, and they could play with one another to the best of their possibility. In this day and age you win if you become a team. It doesn't necessarily mean that you've got to have the best football players in the country. It's possible that the best, all together, don't become a team. It's like a mosaic, you have to put all the pieces together. ~ Marcello Lippi

You want to play in the best stadiums against the best players - your Real Madrid's and Barcelona's - you want to play those teams. ~ Jermain Defoe

Defensive backs are the best players on the field. But when you get an exceptional player like a Deion Sanders or a Darrell Green - these guys are fast and they have very good technique. You have to work a little harder. ~ Jerry Rice

Everywhere I've been, I've been the best player. I love being a leader, and I love being the best. I just want to get better. It's not about being cocky or selfish or anything like that. It's just how I am. ~ LeBron James

When I was a child I had a dream to become a football player. I always played as I played when I was a child. I tried to improve. I never dreamt of becoming a professional football player, I dreamed just to play with the best players in the best team. I never dreamed to be paid to play. I would have paid to play an FA Cup Final in front of 80,000 people in Wembley. I just tried to play the wonderful game that football is. So, I hope young players will still have this dream. ~ Eric Cantona

I want to keep growing. I should take a couple steps every year if I want to be one of the best players in the league. ~ Ilya Kovalchuk

Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers. ~ Magic Johnson

There are too many coming from different countries. When we started, foreign players were in the minority. All the best players from Spain, France, Brazil, Argentina are going to England. And Ireland is bound to suffer. ~ Kevin Kilbane

My name is not 'The Best Player in Baseball.' My name is George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. ~ Ken Griffey, Jr.

Tennis is at an amazing time when you've got two of the best players ever to play the game. You can argue the two very best playing in the same generation. It's a rivalry I think that we've never seen in our sport. ~ Andre Agassi

Brandon Rush is not just one of the best freshmen in the league, he's one of the best players. ~ Kelvin Sampson

Even when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players. I picked guys with less talent, but who were willing to work hard and had the desire to be great. ~ Magic Johnson

I don't know if we are the best team in the world. I am lucky to be playing alongside some of the best players around. It's a dream. ~ Zinedine Zidane

Ashley Cole is a fantastic defender. I have seen him keep the best players in the world quiet. ~ Ronaldinho

Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Scholes. He knows how to do everything, and he is one who directs the way his team plays. On top of that, he has indestructible mental strength and he is a genuine competitor. ~ Thierry Henry

You never had the opportunity to play with some of the great ballplayers, but being that close around them, and being in the same category, was a great feeling, to feel that vibe of all the best players who played the game. ~ Rickey Henderson

When I see Messi - who is the best player in the world in my opinion - lose the ball, he runs off until he gets it back or commits a foul. Our guys lose the ball and fold their arms. ~ Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva

The best player I ever played against is Thierry Henry. He was something else; i've played against Rooney and Ronaldo and players like that but i think he was the best player ever to play in the Premier League ~ Jamie Carragher

I have the possibility to watch Messi in training each morning, and because of what he demonstrates he is the best player in the world, he stated during a press conference. It is a pleasure to watch him, and because of the way he plays he is an undisputed leader of the Barcelona team. ~ Thierry Henry

Rooney is one of the best players in the world and I love watching him play. But if you had to pick out only one, then for their history and for all that they have achieved it would have to be Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs. They are two shining examples for any player. ~ Andres Iniesta

LeBron James is the best player, hands down. He is easily moving into the territory of one of the best players of all time and may end up being the best player of all time. ~ Howard Bryant

My ambition is that I have the best players
who can collaborate with each other to form
the best team in the world. ~ Louis Van Gaal

Choose the best player for every position, and you'll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong 1's. ~ Johan Cruijff

I was the second-best player in high school. I was the second pick in the draft. I've been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the Finals. I'm tired of being second. I'm not going to settle for that. I'm done with it. ~ Kevin Durant

Great players never look in the mirror and think I'm a great basketball player. You ask yourself, Am I the best player I can be? ~ Michael Jordan

They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best. ~ Red Auerbach

Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third. ~ Shane Warne

I want to be the top player in the league, and I want to bring my game to another level. I want to play against the opposition's best players-and I want to beat them. ~ Jarome Iginla

The best players will play. That's the way it will always be. ~ Larry Bird

Few of us have chosen our clubs, they have simply been presented to us; and so as they slip from Second Division to the Third, or sell their best players, or buy players who you know can't play, or bash the ball the seven hundreth time towards a nine foot centre-forward, we simply curse, go home, worry for a fortnight and then come back to suffer all over again. ~ Nick Hornby

I need to see where I am physically and practicing with NHL players is the best way to find that out. ~ Mary Lynn Rajskub

I'm obviously coming out of the Australian summer with amazing momentum, knowing I can pretty much hang in there with anybody and even beat some of the best players. So for me, it's definitely a good feeling, I think. ~ Sloane Stephens

English players are as easy to coach. The problem is that the Premier League has the best players in the world, and statistically not all of them can be born in England. But we don't have enough English players: we are working very hard on it. ~ Arsene Wenger

All I ever wanted to do was play competitive golf against the best players in the world. ~ Jack Nicklaus

I probably visualize myself, the shots I'm going to get in the game, how I'm going to play defense, what we have to do to stop the other team's best player, what it's going to take out of me, the whole aspect of the game. ~ Paul Pierce

Trying to build a team over the course of the winter to put on the field is really just half the job. Because if your best players go down, it's not so much him going down as who you replace him with, which ultimately might have the biggest impact on how you end up finishing. So you want to have both a belt and suspenders for support. ~ Billy Beane

Torres was easily the best player I have ever played with in my career. I loved him. And when he approached me and said he wanted out, it was like a knife to the heart. ~ Steven Gerrard

We play the hands of cards life gives us. And the worst hands can make us the best players. ~ Doc Searls

Well, I like to - the game of serve and volley, but it's very tough, you know, against the best players because they return so good and their passing shots are really good. So it's really tough to get there with those players. ~ Daniela Hantuchova

Who is the Best Player in the World? Leo Messi. ~ Marco Van Basten

You learn from playing against the best players and the best teams, and we're going to keep fighting and figuring out ways to beat them. ~ Scott Brooks

Best player? For me, it's Paul Scholes. He'll do ridiculous things in training like say, "You see that tree over there?" - it'll be 40 yards away - "I'm going to hit it". And he'll do it. Everyone at the club considers him the best. ~ Rio Ferdinand

You need your best players to play their best when their best is needed ~ Jeff Van Gundy

You could be the best team or the best player in different generations and people respect each other. Nobody cares who was the best. ~ Jim Brown

The NHL is the best in the world, it has the best players. I love the NHL. ~ Alexander Ovechkin

A key basketball skill is imagery. The best players "see" situations before they happen so they can be prepared ~ Jack Ramsay

Messi is the best player in the world. If he's not already, he'll be the best footballer of all time. ~ LeBron James

I have always been confident in my skills and once the game got going I knew I was probably the best player on the floor most of the time whether it was junior high, high school or college. I knew I had control of the game. ~ Larry Bird

I think we're really good about pushing each other in practice and we have high tempo and I feel like we have some of the best players in the world so just competing against one another and getting in there and pushing each other around and getting ready for that physical style of game coming up, we have to play hard and pretend it's a game. ~ Cherie Piper

My goal was just to try and be the best player on my high school team, and look where I am now. And that was still my goal as a young kid, just to try and be a little better than my brother was. ~ Larry Bird

I wanted to the best player in the state - [the best] the area has ever seen. That's always been my goal. Guys like Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley and Dave Bing, it's tough to pass those guys. So I'm studying, working. My project's not over yet. Hopefully, I get there. ~ Kevin Durant

The best players want to play in the best competition, ~ Brendan Rodgers

I am the best player in the world and I am here to prove it ~ Bobby Fischer

Great players inspire you. The best player I played with was Gervi (Gervinho) ~ Eden Hazard

Ndamukong Suh is the best player in this generation to hit free agency since Reggie White. ~ Mark Dominik

Lord Bendtner is the best player of all times ~ Barack Obama

I really did not think a thing about playing five black players to start the game; they were our best players and deserved to start. But if I knew all the misery it was going to cause me in the weeks following the game, I'd have thought long and hard about it. The players from Kentucky were gracious about it, but many of their fans and people from other parts of the country did not want to see it. ~ Don Haskins

Magic Johnson is the best player who plays on the ground, and Michael Jordan is the best player who plays in the air. ~ John Paxson

Put your two best players away from the ball and bring it back to them. ~ Don Meyer

I didn't know so well chess theory, the theory of chess openings. And so, of course I knew the theory, but not on the level of the best players, so this was my ... this was always my weakness. ~ Anatoly Karpov

Your best players have to unite and inspire the group ... otherwise, they'll divide the group ~ Jeff Van Gundy