“I’m surprised some people don’t like me! I think I have a good heart, so they should like me!”
“I respect the real fans and I understand them.”
“Yes, sometimes I have done some wrong things and I’m not an angel.”
“The German journalists still ring me and ask me to come back because without me their newspapers are empty – but I’m happy for that.”
“The M6 is terrible and there are always accidents when there is a big highway with lots of traffic.”
“I cannot just do things without thinking. I have a wife and daughter to think of at all times now.”
“People claimed I refused to play. But that is not true and a complete lie.”
“I turned from a fan favourite to a player they hated in no time.”
“If I was a normal player at West Ham and wanted to join a Chinese club, nobody would have said anything. But since I was a leader at West Ham and thought about that offer, I was suddenly a bad man.”
“No matter which defenders are in front of me, they better be scared because of me.”
“I cannot rule anything out but my goal is to stay in England. I feel very comfortable there and I’ve performed well. There I would be accepted. In Germany it was a bit different and I had ups and downs.”
“I promised my mother that I’d be a famous footballer one day after seeing players such as Croatia’s Davor Suker and Serbia’s Predrag Mijatovic shine in France.”
“When I was in Enschende, beside my apartment there was a field with cows grazing in it. Then, I’m in Milan and discover Fashion Week, the restaurants, the clubs and only beautiful women.”
“I have a big responsibility as a father. That helps me to be more sensible.”
“It’s better I keep my mouth shut. Let my feet do the talking.”
“The difference between Germany and Italy? I think in Serie A there is more quality and the game is quicker, but in Germany it’s similar.”
“Twente have probably the best fans in the Netherlands and the fans stay behind their team in both good and bad times.”
“I’ve changed a lot because I am a father.”
“I’ve grown up a lot in England.”
“It’s clear that I want to compete with the best players.”
“I love this club and I will always love this club no matter what. You have decisions you have to make in life, but I say from now it doesn’t matter what happens I will always love West Ham and it will always be a big part in my life.”
“I get paid to play football and show everything I’ve got.”
“I love it when people criticise me. There is no better feeling than when you make them quiet.”
“The defenders make me very angry. They are kicking, or they are pinching or they say things to me that I don’t like. They try to do everything to take me out of the game. I learned to keep my mouth shut, to keep my hands down, just try to put the ball in the net. This is the best answer.”
“I rate Dave Luiz as a top defender. He’s very clever. But I don’t know if he’s as quick as me. And if he kicks me, he kicks me. It’s fine. I can’t react to anything.”
“It feels special to me to be a West Ham player.”
“I had a lot of friends who were also football players. Some of them ended up in prison, some of them had injuries. I think of my group of friends, I am the only one who is a professional footballer.”
“Before, back in the day when I was young, when you had some problems, you dealt with it with your hands. No one had a knife.”
“When I see those kids out there, how they play, how they train, how they look up to us, it makes me feel happy.”
“I just want to give advice to everyone to go the right way. It is important for me. The most important thing is to listen to your family.”
“I respect Mark Hughes and what he’s done for me but I heard some things when he was talking about me and they were not good things.”
“I try to score in every game and I don’t feel sorry for anybody: If we win and I score that’s fine, nothing else matters.”
“I’m only doing my job, and if I score against Mark Hughes’ team, it’s nothing personal.”
“I work hard every week and when I come off the pitch after each game I like to think I’ve done everything possible to help my team.”
“I want to stay at Stoke and play for Stoke.”
“My business is to perform on the pitch, to put in performances and that is what I want to do.”
“You have one captain but, for me, it should be everyone who says something and help each other, then you can be a great team.”
“I’ve always been quiet in the dressing room before the game. I try to focus and give everything.”
“I just don’t want to do well, I want the team to do well.”
“For me I don’t care if I don’t score or assist if we win the game.”
“I’ve grown up a lot in England since I arrived at Stoke.”
“You can’t keep losing and say nothing in the dressing room.”
“I don’t like to praise myself – that I am the quickest, that I am the strongest, that I am the most technical guy – I never do that.”
“When you get support and you are in the box there is no better feeling than to score goals and make assists.”
“I had a slow start at West Ham, that’s right. I came here and expectations were high because the fans were not quite happy with it. But as football players we have to deal with the pressure.”
“Money is not everything.”
“Everyone thinks that footballers go on the pitch and they have so much money that they think about themselves. But I am not like that.”
“Of course, you try to achieve some things to provide for you and your family, and your club can pay you whatever they pay you. But, for me, it’s important to be healthy, stay on the pitch and give everything to make performances. This is priority number one for me.”
“I didn’t care about anyone or listen to nobody, only my father or mother. I would fight my coaches and say: ‘Who are you to scream or shout at me? Are you my dad? Talk to me normally.’”
“When you are on the street, if someone walks towards you it’s better to look down. But we were always looking at people in the eye to try to provoke something.”
“You have some defenders who don’t like you and you don’t like them. And you know from the first minute, they’re going to do everything to take you out of the game.”
“I learned to keep my mouth shut, to keep my hands down, just try to put the ball in the net. That is the best answer.”
“I am not a person who wants to hurt people.”
“The only thing that bothers me is that I am in good health and that I am able to play football.”
“People look at Instagram and say they want money, they want this, they want that.”
“The media talks a lot. The media, they don’t know. They are not in the team, they are not training with me, they are not playing with me, but they are talking a lot about me in Europe.”
“My whole life I took challenges, I took pressure.”
“I am a guy who gives everything for his team – I defend my team, my whole club.”
“Chicharito has had a very good career. He was at Man United and then when he left, he went to Real Madrid and then Leverkusen. He is the perfect striker.”
“I’m a football player and I have respect for every opponent, every defender and every team, but I’m not afraid of anyone and I’m not afraid to take them on and to make things happen.”
“I played at Anfield twice when I was with Stoke and it’s a hard place to go, we all know that Liverpool is one of the best teams in the Premier League.”
“Of course when I was young, I was a little bit crazy.”
“I try to enjoy my football, this is what I live for.”
“I’m quiet.”
“I was young at Inter and did things I wouldn’t do again.”
“In Austria, everything is my fault when we lose. Whatever I do it’s not enough.”
“I’ve played in Serie A, the Bundesliga, Holland and now the Premier League. They are all different.”
“The problem is that people think once and talk 10 times. It’s better to think 10 times before you talk once.”
“The German police were actually after me when I was first in Stoke. They had put pictures of my face on the trees in Bremen and said: ‘Find this guy.’ They said I had an â¬80 fine to pay or something. But I spoke to my lawyer and I didn’t owe anything.”
“Everywhere I went, Rapid Vienna or Austria Vienna, there was always a problem. I just wanted a coach who said: ‘Just go out and win us the game.’”
“I want my kids to be proud of their dad and not to go to school and hear abuse. One day they will read many things about me and I would like it to be about football.”
“The thing is, Stoke City pulled me out of a situation where I was not playing, where I was not happy, and that was in Germany. They have breathed new life into me.”
“You don’t mess with Pablo Zabaleta. He is not just looking hard, he is hard.”
“I used to do taekwondo when I was small but I don’t like to fight, I like to have fun.”
“I like to dance, I love music and sometimes in the changing room I am dancing.”
“A lot of times I have fans asking for pictures and they say ‘smile,’ but I can’t. It’s not because I’m a mean person or don’t want to be in the picture but I just can’t do it when you say ‘go, smile.’”
“I respect what Gary Neville achieved as a player. He was brilliant at Manchester United and hats off to him.”
“I am not saying Gary Neville is a nobody. He has accomplished a lot in his life, he is a legend. But as a coach? Let him stay on the TV.”
“I know how strong I am mentally, how I work on myself.”
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