Rafael van der Vaart Quotes

It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all.

Circumstances can force your hand. So think ahead!

Forethought spares afterthought.

I'm always looking to know what I'm going to do before I receive the ball in order to make my team play better.

When the ball isn't in my hands, I'm already scanning for where the next pass is going.

Thinking should be done before and after, not during photographing.

Think hard before you begin, then enter the work.

You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.

I have to think about the future because, not that I'm bored with it now, but I can't live now, it's not my place to live now. I've got to live ahead of myself.

Behind every kick of the ball there has to be a thought.

Foreknowledge is power.

Any plan is better than no plan.

Is anything, in all respects, so influential as consideration? Does it not, by a kindly anticipation, create the divisions of the active life itself, in a manner rehearsing and arranging beforehand what has to be done?

People say that the most difficult part is scoring the goal. But what I have to do is get the player there. If you focus on the goal instead of the how, then suddenly the chances start to decrease.

In chess, you gotta come up with a strategy. I made a lot of plans in my life. 'I'ma do this, I'ma do that, this is gonna happen, that's gonna happen.' And a lot of stuff don't go as planned. You really gotta act on events as they unfold. That's how I compare chess to life.

Before I receive the ball I already know how that play is developing so I'm able to give rhythm to that play.

Playing me in different positions helped me to get in the head of the others players: to know what they're thinking, where and how they are going to move.

I like to control the ball and analyse the game.

When I am on the pitch, I play on intuition, but I think a lot about the game as well.

I like to plan. I like to see the future.

When you're facing a different guy every at-bat, he's coming at you with his best stuff. There's no warm-up; there's no 'see a pitch.' You've got to be locked in from the very first pitch... The biggest thing is do your homework before the game starts.

It's all about controlling the huddle one play at a time and knowing my assignment, knowing my progression and where I've got to go with the ball.

Having the ball in my hand all the time and making plays, it was bound to come to a point where I knew where to get the ball to, who and when to give the ball to somebody. Just making the right decisions when I have it.

This is football, so you need to be clever to understand the moment and win games.