You take someone like Gareth Bale out of your team, and you are going to miss that.

It doesn't help me to burn bridges, but I'm not going to sit back and be given blame when I don't deserve it.

I'm a believer that you're as good as your best game because that's the level that you can get to.

Ability-wise, when you see the best of Aaron Ramsey... at his best, is he good enough for Barcelona? Yes he is, at his best.

Everybody fails.

Getting the best out of your best players gets the best out of the team.

I've had more failures than I've had success, but I'm not afraid to fail.

Don't be afraid to have dreams.

It's difficult when you're young and you're not playing for your club.

Where do you go from Real Madrid that's better? There's one or two clubs up there but none better.

You work all your life to get the top; you don't want to give that up.

I think, from our point of view, my opinion is that La Liga, the tempo and physicality is completely different to the Premier League. Technically, some of the teams there are absolutely tip top.

The dressing room is not the place where you show emotion.

Players hold a lot of their emotions in.

Tournament football is unlike anything else. The campaign can be great, but a finals is a different challenge.

You have to do a lot of planning, certainly in football. We watch the opposition three or four times before we play them.

You can only ask someone of their best. That's it. If you lose, and you've given your best, that's how it goes.

The biggest word in football, and it's a dirty word - no one likes to use it - is accountability.

You can't manufacture team spirit; it doesn't come from having a good night out and a laugh.

Concentration and focus - they are very important, just as important as in anything, I suppose, if you're going to succeed. I've seen a lot of good players on the training ground, but when it comes to the game, they can't keep the same levels up on a Saturday.

For me, the training has to be a mixture of hard work - it has to have a good structure, a good base - but also, I don't want all my players to be like machines.

With success comes complacency if you let it happen. It is human nature; there is that urge to think about how well you have done.

Champions League football in the Premier League - you're talking about the top, big, massive clubs, and it's not something I think I'd get linked with.

I don't like talking past the next game. It's never served me right in the past.