Paul Merson

“I played in an FA Cup final for Aston Villa and the manager went negative, sitting everyone behind the ball against Chelsea.”

“Hakim Ziyech has got a left foot that can open a can of worms, Timo Werner scores plenty of goals, Tammy Abraham looks like he's getting better and then there's Mason Mount. They've just got so much attacking talent.”

“I'll take the accolades when they are there and I'll take it on the chin when things aren't great.”

“Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, unbelievable centre-forwards - but you could not say to them: 'For the next three weeks I want you to play No 10 and thread the ball through the eye of a needle.'”

“I couldn't believe Wolves let Matt Doherty go. For the price Wolves let him go for, I didn't get that one at all.”

“Glenn could see I was bricking it and turned round to me as I sat there, gripping the armrests."You all right?" he said."I hate flying, Boss. I'm shitting myself.""Don't worry, Merse. It's going to be OK. We *won't* crash."I thought, "Thank God for that. Glenn's said we're going to be safe. Nothing's going to fuck with us now.”

“I've lost millions. The money's not the problem it's the sanity. You go insane. As soon as the bets on you are like 'what did I do that for?' You search and search for the bet and then you think 'why did I do it?' Then the self-worth comes in and you hate it.”

“Divock Origi isn't going to win Liverpool leagues, no disrespect. If he was better than Mohamed Salah or Roberto Firmino, he'd be playing every week.”

“There are not many players about who can go up front and be a target man, be strong, put his body in the way, score goals and then in the game, he can drop off and hit a 30-yard ball through the eye of a needle and knit play together.”

“I like Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud, they are good players, but are they going to win you the Premier League? No, and I say that because they are not going to be in the top five or six goal scorers in the league.”

“Being an addict is hard. It's something you have got for the rest of your life.”

“If you want to be successful, you need consistency and if you don't have it, you've got no chance.”

“It's alright people saying they get £100,000-a-week, they get paid well or whatever, but they want to play football.”

“If you have Robbie Williams and Elton John at Wembley in front of 100,000 people, it will be the best thing you've seen. They are entertainers, they fly off the adrenaline.”

“Agents in this day and age, they're not just agents. They're a parent, they're a best friend, they're a financial advisor, they book holidays, they go away with each other.”

“You have to get your goalscorers on the pitch when you have to win.”

“To work under Brendan Rodgers would certainly be a good move for Ainsley Maitland-Niles but the most important thing for the player is to go somewhere he can play in his preferred position, which is in midfield.”

“I never worry what people think about me anymore. Just go out and say what you need to say. People worry about people so much.”

“I'm an addictive person. If I open a bag of sweets, I won't just eat one or two, I'll eat the lot. If I go and play on my computer, it won't be just for an hour, it'll be for five hours.”

“We grew up in an age of playing reserve team football at the stadium. If the first team were playing away, you'd be playing at home, at Highbury, and there would be one man and his dog there. Even though you'd psych yourself up, you still don't get that push.”