Football Discipline Quotes

The way I was brought up by my parents and guided through my football life by the influences of various managers means that in some ways I am black and white.

There will be internal discipline, but I can envisage both of them playing for Newcastle again. They're top-class players and they don't come along very often.

To me, discipline in football occurs on the field, not off it.

For sure, my parents knew what I had to eat and how to prepare for training sessions and what behaviour was needed in order to be serious about my football. But they weren't pushy, like you had to be a certain way.

I was an attacking full-back but was told by Hope Powell to just sit back when we played U.S.A. in the 2007 World Cup. It's hard to rein yourself in, but the team comes first.

If you get into a fight, don't take your helmet off. We're looking for smart football players, not dumb ones.

You make mistakes at the results end of football and you can be out on your ear pretty quickly.

I've picked up quite a few yellow cards in the last few years - a few reds, too. That was the case as a youth player as it is now. But I don't see it as a problem. That's how I play. If you take that away, then I wouldn't be where I am now. So I don't think the yellow cards or the red cards are too big of an issue.