I first remember Wayne Rooney from a game at Old Trafford in 2002 when he came on as a late substitute for Everton and, in a brilliant 15-minute performance, skipped past me on a couple of occasions.
Obviously, I don't want to be a sub, so I will just keep working hard in training. It's not that easy for me as a sub to come on with tempo.
If I've got a good pinch-hitter, I hate to have him stay on the bench with men on the bases in an early inning. He may end the game right there.
Coming off the bench behind a fine young center like Alonzo Mourning fits my style.
I think when you come off the bench, you know you're going to play, but you don't know really when, what time in the game, what quarter, so it's kind of different.
It was a big-time change, coming off the bench.
Coming off the bench, I'm able to view the game, see how their bigs are playing. And what I bring to the table is energy. The starters go in and run their bigs for a bit. When I check in it's time to punch the clock and play hard.
As a sub, you just want to help your team in whatever way you can.
When you're a sub, it's a game of more than 11 players starting the game.
Everyone on the bench stands for the man coming out of the game.
If I'm on the bench in a Premier League game, I'm thinking, 'What can I do coming off the bench?'
I don't like it if I'm not part of the starting 11.
The greatly anticipated 2009 Masters was like going to a Broadway hit and finding out that the star, Sir Tiger Woods, was off that night, and his replacement was the cab driver who dropped you off at the theater.
Dembele is a player who has been playing regularly, from the bench or the start, and he has quality. When he comes off the bench, he can change a game, and that's a quality that is undervalued in football. Not everybody has that quality.
It's hard to come off the bench and be ready all the time.
To be a supersub is mentally hard.
I was a goalkeeper, but through my career, I spent almost as much time sitting on the bench as I did playing.
It's not a ton of fun being a backup quarterback.
Me as a backup center? Hell no.
Guys get... benched, replaced. They get injured; another guy comes in and becomes the starter. That happens all the time.
Like every player, I want to start more matches rather than be used as a substitute.
It's not always easy to come to the national team and be on the bench.
I don't want to be known as a super sub. But you have got to be ready to come off the bench and make an impact if you're not in the starting team.
It's no good if you are at a so-called best team, but you sit on a bench.
Coming off the bench was an adjustment for me.
