Gareth Southgate

“Whenever people speak, you give the opposition the opportunity to use those words as they see fit.”

“I am extremely proud to be appointed England manager. However, I am also conscious getting the job is one thing; now I want to do the job successfully.”

“I think I've made decisions for the right reasons, and I've always communicated them in a respectful way. As a manager, you can't do any more than that. I sit comfortably with that. But I've not enjoyed it.”

“More expectation is a healthy thing and something we have to embrace.”

“If Brexit happens, there will have to be change - whether people want it or not - around work permits. It won't be freedom of movement for European players, so that landscape will change.”

“I've got to think through all of those things - competition for places, players who need match minutes, and keeping the unity of the squad.”

“Whenever you name a team and whenever you pick a squad, that is when you have to make the most difficult calls. To tell a player, 'I'm not selecting you, and these are the reasons why...' it's tough.”

“Ultimately, playing at international level, at all age groups, is good for a player's development, and that is good for clubs, too.”

“If you are not constantly improving and learning, then you are going to be stuck and not progress.”

“I'm slightly concerned, because as a centre-half who took a lot of knocks to the head I'm not normally synonymous with being a fashion icon.”

“I manage every player as well as I possibly can, regardless of which club they're from, what their roots are.”

“I'm sure at some point in my life, I'll want to go back to club football because people will say, 'Oh well, he did OK as an international manager, but he didn't work as a club manager.'”

“The quality of our academy system is very high, as good as anything in the world. Around the country, lots of people in youth development are keen to get together and find a solution to that 17-to-21 age bracket and how we get those players playing.”

“For me, it is all about the bigger picture and what is right for England. I haven't enjoyed watching us play in all our games, but away in Germany, against Spain and Germany at home, I've enjoyed the performance.”

“A lot of teams who go on to win trophies lose in quarter-finals or semi-finals first.”

“We want to win every game of football we go into. I don't know how we would go into a game not wanting to win and not wanting to play well.”

“My job is to allow people to dream. Make the impossible seem possible.”

“I think it's always difficult to go against people with big match experience in finals.”

“Good teams, whatever the circumstances or the atmosphere or the pitch, find a way of playing.”