Chris Smalling Quotes

I love competition because I've always run faster when somebody was running next to me.

Competition gives me energy. It keeps me focused.

I'm hungrier than those other guys out there. Every rebound is a personal challenge.

When you've won a gold medal and you're at the top of your sport, everyone's trying to beat you. I find that incredibly motivating.

There is still a lot of football in me and I enjoy watching the players go out there and be the best players they can possibly be.

Of course, rivals do affect athletes mentally, but if you are competing with top-notch athletes, you will push each other, you will encourage each other.

When I was playing for tips in college, I felt a fire in my soul. I had the same principle of focus that I had learned playing football.

Rio in four years; I've got more inspiration in the last two, three weeks. I'm sure I'm going to get more in the Paralympics in the next coming weeks, so by the end of this season, I'm going to take a month off, and then the next four years is going to be good.

Only one guy can be world champion, and so if everyone else thought they were failures you'd have no one left on the grid.

When I played against Chelsea, there was always a big motivation because it was a special game; it was always one of the biggest games of the season. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to join Chelsea: because I want to be part of this kind of team.

What keeps athletes going is the optimism we are going to be able to compete again.

Competing makes me that much more driven and, honestly, I perform better under pressure.

You always need the hunger to play in the first team.

I want to be on a team that's got a chance. That's what's fun. That's what you play the game for.

I'm nowhere near Barry Sanders. But that doesn't take anything away from my game.

PSG has moulded me into becoming a fighter and that player who has the hunger to come to a new club and fight for a position.

Nothing fires me up like losing. It certainly makes you want to go that extra bit.

I've still got the hunger and yeah, a point to prove. Everybody loves playing in the Premier League, don't they?

I think you are wrong if you play a Champions League game, and you don't find motivation.

When one performs well, the others are automatically motivated to give their best.

We always play better when we play with emotion.

If I didn't have competition and I didn't have people trying to take my spot, then it can make someone lazy. So it does the exact opposite. It motivates me.

We might have, with Hockey Canada, an Aero Bar, a chocolate bar. 'Okay we're going to play for this chocolate bar.' Here you have guys who made millions of dollars, they're professional athletes, and they will fight tooth and nail to win. It's not necessarily for the chocolate bar. It's the competitive spirit.

Guys who aren't going to be brought down on first contact, they'll get you fired up. When you see guys spinning away and getting extra yards, it fires you up.

People don't see the determination behind getting on the pitch every week.