Ashley Cole

“As players, whenever the manager gets the sack, you have to look in the mirror and say it's not always the manager. It's down to the players.”

“I'm a normal person. I'm just like you and just like everyone else - I have feelings and thoughts.”

“I'm not a diva, I'm not an egotistical guy that comes and thinks he's bigger than anyone.”

“Soccer players in L.A. can kind of just walk the streets. They have bigger people to take pictures of. They see Sylvester Stallone walking down the street, I don't think they are going to want an Ashley Cole picture, to be honest.”

“I don't like to speak. I like to keep myself to myself - quiet.”

“Of course you don't want to hear racist chants, but sometimes, as a player, you have to take it.”

“I want to continue to win things, hopefully something with England, and if I can score the winning goal at the World Cup, then maybe they will like me again.”

“When you've got certain people like Jay-Z wanting to work with me, then it makes you think people do love me.”

“I watch football sometimes at home, but in my downtime, I play pool with my friends. Darts - I enjoy darts now, and when there is a game not coming up, I enjoy playing golf as well. I'm not very good at golf, but I enjoy being able to relax.”

“I'm so lucky to have had the career I've had and play with so many amazing players.”

“I've always loved Jay-Z's music and loved what he's done.”

“I just play my football, and if I can help people, then I help people.”

“Sometimes in the Champions League, I don't think it's always the best team that wins it. It depends on how you play on a certain day.”

“All I can do is try to show people that I can play well and try to change their opinion.”

“My dad's from Barbados, but I lived with my mum. She brought me up; my uncle took me to the football. I grew up in a white family, I'd say.”

“I just love football. I've always enjoyed doing it - being outside with my mates, getting really muddy and dirty and smelly. It's something I always loved.”

“I have made mistakes and just have to live with it, but at the end of the day, I just want to play football.”

“I wake up every morning new, free as a bird.”

“I don't look too far ahead, to be honest.”

“When I first came to Chelsea, I couldn't kick the ball, and it was pointless, me playing, really. But I tried to play through the pain for the manager who bought me.”