Saturday 05 March 2016, 07:36

The Week in Quotes

“The best word I can say to describe this is: ‘Boom!'" An enthusiastic Jurgen Klopp** on Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Manchester City, coming only three days after losing to Manuel Pellegrini’s side in the English League Cup final on penalties "I know what it means to love football and follow a team. Football without the fans is nothing. We need the players and we need the fans, and I think these two elements have been neglected for too long. Now it’s time to change this. It’s time to bring them in and involve them in all that we do." *FIFA President Gianni Infantino in his first interview with FIFA.com* "No, it's unfair." *A succinct Vincent Kompany** when asked if penalties is "the best way to win a final?" after capturing the English League Cup

  • "There's only one Kobe Bryant and one king, it's Kobe Bryant! If there's a spot, I will take it, of course! (laughs)" *LA Galaxy attacking midfielder Giovani Dos Santos on the prospect of replacing NBA great Kobe Bryant as the city's next sports star

  • "I’m not going to be needing it at the end of my life, No. 1. And hopefully, what can be learned is, can doctors and scientists and neuroscientists look at the brain of someone like me, who has been playing soccer a majority of my life, and really dissect the brain and say, ‘Here’s where we see it beginning?’ Could we then use that information to help say that before the age of 14, it’s not a good idea to head the ball?” *USA FIFA Women’s World Cup™ winner Brandi Chastain** speaking about her decision to donate her brain for concussion research

  • "There’s no magic potion. I suppose it’s got something to do with my genes, so it’s my parents I should be thanking. There’s also the fact that I really enjoy what I do. That’s the biggest secret.” *Athletic Bilbao front man Aritz Aduriz explains to FIFA.com about his success after the age of 30

  • "I'd take Messi's left foot, with all due respect to Cristiano, because my right foot is pretty handy too." ***Neymar on hypothetically choosing to inherit team-mate Lionel Messi’s left peg instead of Ronaldo’s right

  • "(Last year) They were just better than us. This year's going to be different!" *New York City FC midfielder Frank Lampard on rivalry with New York Red Bulls ahead of MLS 2016 opening

  • "Just being able to go out to dinner at the trendiest restaurants — in Italy, I can’t do that.” *Andrea Pirlo **admits to enjoying his relative anonymity in New York City

  • "I didn't know Leicester. In France we didn't really because they were in the Championship. I thought they were a rugby club." ***Riyad Mahrez on learning the Foxes had a football team

  • "You obviously need confidence in yourself to bring out your best attributes on the pitch, but I don’t think there’s a need to be arrogant or self-centred to be a great player." *Scotland star Kim Little tells FIFA.com her opinion on what makes a top level footballer

  • "There’s a discreet escalation." M*ainz defender Leon Balogun** after their 2-1 win at Bayern Munich when asked about the atmosphere in the locker room following the victory

  • "Very simple: ‘Pow, pow, pow!” ***Claudio Pizarro when asked how he scored three goals in Werder Bremen’s 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen

"I am not a clown. I am Louis van Gaal, I am a human being and a manager." The Manchester United tactician offering an explanation after falling down in his technical area to making a point to the fourth official about diving during the Red Devils’ 3-2 win against Arsenal

  • "I’ve scored a lot of beautiful goals. What I dream of doing is being able to score after beating all 11 opponents. It’s a PlayStation goal, I think it’s almost impossible to do, but we’ll see.” Real Madrid and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo describes his ideal goal

"NYCFC and DC don't want nothing with us, so it's up to them to change everything. It's not really a rivalry yet, since I've been here." New York Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan on rivalry with New York City FC and DC United ahead of MLS 2016 opening weekend ** "I tell them, 'Dilly ding, dilly dong!' From the beginning when something was wrong, I said, 'Hey, dilly ding, dilly dong! Wake up!' And during all the training sessions sometimes I say, 'Dilly ding, dilly dong' and then for Christmas day, I brought all the players and staff, everybody, a little bell just to joke. It was a funny thing." Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri gives some insight into one of his motivational techniques**