A biography for Chris Suttonhasn’t been written yet.
“Eric Cantona used to stare at the goalkeeper when taking penalties. He'd wait for his opponent's knee to give away in the direction he was going, then duly stick the ball in the other side. It's an amazing skill to have and one Ivan Toney has very much mastered.”
“Rudiger loves a physical battle as much as any centre back I've ever seen. He will take that as a compliment, I'm sure, because he is one of those rugged defenders who takes great pride in doing the dirty work.”
“I love watching Saka. The ball is glued to his foot. Just when you think, 'nah, there's no way he gets out of this situation,' that's when he worms his way out to create a chance.”
“The best I played with? Alan Shearer and Henrik Larsson for being the most ruthless. Shearer had that mindset, that greed - in a good way.”
“That's what young players have to do: grab the opportunity with both hands and don't let go.”
“My dad, Mike, died, after a decade of living with dementia - I say 'living,' but it was no life for him.”
“Where we see Premier League defenders, Salah sees those little orange cones that you use on the training field.”
“It is incredible to be the top scorer for your country.”
“I know I played with head injuries. My career finished with one. I wish there had been a procedure in place to look after my wellbeing when we played but there was not and we have to learn.”
“Nagelsmann's brand of football is possession-based, as seen at RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich.”
“Clubs buy strikers to win trophies.”
“You can be confident in your fortress, but if your team are not going to match that intensity when away, you're in bother.”
“If you want to win a World Cup, you cannot only rely on one striker to do the business. When Italy won it in 2006, they had 10 different scorers to England's three. When Germany won it in 2014, they had eight different scorers to England's two.”
“There has never been a better time for a footballer to come out and say 'I am gay.' Fellow footballers would certainly be supportive. It will be the best thing that happens to the homophobia debate.”
“I had a difficult debut season in a Chelsea shirt. And yet, Gianluca was so good to me. Some managers might have shunned me, criticised me in their press conferences, called me a waste of money.”
“I tried the odd overhead kick in my time. Of course I did. But I knew my limitations as a striker. I'd sooner head home than pretend I was some sort of trapeze artist.”
“Postecoglou has an aura about him. He's bullish. He's strong. He has his specific way of playing and he sticks to it.”
“If a team-mate is an introvert, he is unlikely to bear the brunt of the ribbing. It would be the same if a player was gay. Gentle teasing might be as far as it went. Anything else would be bullying and team-mates would step in and stop it. That's how it works.”
“Postecoglou is all about hard work, intensity, bravery on the ball and trusting the process - his process.”
“Hitting the ball when it is coming across your body and dropping from height is one of the most difficult techniques in the game.”