Michael Ballack

“You need a certain amount of inner aggression, a bit of anger about you and the others in order to give your maximum.”

“You want to win everything possible and you try it every year, but you can't win everything, we know this as well but we have to play good football, we have to get the best of our team.”

“You always need time to adapt to a new manager. But in football if you don't get a result, you are under pressure.”

“It's good for your career as a sportsman if you watch other professional sports - how they're behaving and how they react in difficult situations.”

“When you're young it's football, football, football. Then you get a family, kids come into things and you find you have a broader view of life. You get your inspiration from many different places.”

“Very good players have no problem moving to a different country.”

“In training, for example, when you feel your position on the team is in danger then you have to be fully focused.”

“To pass on your ideas and have an influence on a team really interests me.”

“I played at the highest level throughout my career and I'm happy about that.”

“If you are a top player in England, the cult around you is bigger than in Germany.”

“Ancelotti showed in the past, that he can work with different teams and different players.”

“I have said in the past that I would be happy to see out my career at Chelsea. I moved here to play in the best league in the world with one of the strongest teams.”

“For 17 years, I played at the highest level.”

“As it is, in football if you are on top and winning games everyone wants to play well against you, put in more effort and beat you.”

“Of course Lothar Matthaus is always going to be associated with the 1990 World Cup. But does everyone immediately remember what titles Gunter Netzer, Johan Cruyff or Luis Figo won? Or do they also think about how those players played their football and how they led their teams?”

“Mario Gotze is a great player, but one of my favourites is Marco Reus, who is a fantastic player, and one of the very best.”

“In 2006 I ended up at Chelsea on a free transfer, so Bayern did not see a euro for me.”

“I played in the Champions League constantly for 12 or 13 years in my career, and I reached only two finals. I know how difficult it is to get to that point.”

“We have to focus on ourselves and if we play the best we can we can win the league.”

“We should integrate the quality of ex-players at the highest level more in football, especially in the youth sector. That is absolutely crucial for me.”