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Wayne Rooney: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Wayne Rooney desires a Cup of Joy.
Wayne Rooney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What he said:
“I could sit here saying I’ve got 200 caps and 100 goals for my country. But the ultimate is to win a trophy and that’s what we all want to do.”
Newly appointed skipper of the English national soccer side Wayne Rooney is quite sure of his place in history.
Rooney plays his 100th tie for England this Saturday when the Lions take on Slovenia on Saturday in an European Cup qualifier match-up.
Rooney is seven goals away from overtaking Sir Bobby Charlton as his country’s all-time leading scorer. Charlton has 49 goals from 106 appearances.
English: Sir Bobby Charlton at the British Council for School Environments (BCSE) on 9 November 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Rooney said:
“Obviously I’m not going to be as big a legend as Sir Bobby Charlton – he’s won the World Cup.To eclipse that I’d have to win the World Cup.”
What Rooney really meant:
“I wish playing for England were as easy as playing for Manchester United. At least, with them I win something. And we have a larger budget too.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I’ll take another Fair Play Award. We have a couple from the 90s.”
Emmanuel Adebayor: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Emmanuel Adebayor chased a ball for his first ever walk-about.
What he said:
“Anyway, I was in the church laying down and, around nine or 10 o’clock on the Sunday morning, I could hear children playing outside.Suddenly somebody kicked a ball into the church and the first person to stand up and run was me because I wanted to get that ball.”
Togolese footballer and Tottenham Hotspur forward Emmanuel Adebayor recounts how he was a late bloomer when it came to walking as a child. The young Adebayor had not toddled yet in his fourth year. His mother travelled all over the Dark Continent seeking a cure.
What he really meant:
“Believe it or not, I was meant for soccer and soccer for me. Ask my mother.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Actually, I couldn’t stand the long-winded sermon by the priest on the pulpit and I simply grabbed the first opportunity to go walk-about.”
Alex Ferguson: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Alex Ferguson updates his Manchester United legacy.
What he said:
“It is an insult to say that I left an ageing squad.Chelsea have seven players over 30 but nobody talks about them being an old team.”
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was promoting the revised version of his autobiography, “Alex Ferguson: My autobiography” at London’s Theatre Royal.
What he really meant:
“Hell, no one would have said a word if MU had continued their winning ways. Did I forget to mention that I did not quit midway?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Chelsea are handling the transition better. Well, somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose, right?”
Andrew Haldane: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Andrew Haldane is a front-foot proponent of back-foot play.
What he said:
“Three months on, it is time to update the batting averages. Ian Bell’s batting average has remained at 45 – the front foot recovery has remained on track. But over the same period, Joe Root’s has risen to 51. Cricket statisticians and financial markets are agreed. While still a close run thing, the statistics now appear to favour the back foot.”
Andrew Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England, appears to obfuscate while outlining the UK’s monetary policy outlook for the coming year.
He said:
“In June, when evaluating the UK’s monetary stance, I used the metaphor of a batsmen in cricket deciding whether to play off the front foot (raise rates) or the back foot (hold rates). And I compared the averages of two English batsmen, one who played from the front foot (Ian Bell), the other from the back (Joe Root), to illustrate the dilemma. At the time, Ian Bell averaged 45 to Joe Root’s 43. In other words, while it was a close run thing, the data narrowly favoured the front foot. Cricketing statistics are not the sole basis for my views on the appropriate stance for UK monetary policy. Nonetheless, on balance, I felt the same front-foot judgement was appropriate for UK interest rates at the time.”
English: Joe Root makes his Yorkshire debut at Headingley, against the Essex Eagles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He added:
“On balance, my judgement on the macro-economy has shifted the same way. I have tended to view the economy through a bi-modal lens. And recent evidence, in the UK and globally, has shifted my probability distribution towards the lower tail. Put in rather plainer English, I am gloomier. That reflects the mark-down in global growth, heightened geo-political and financial risks and the weak pipeline of inflationary pressures from wages internally and commodity prices externally. Taken together, this implies interest rates could remain lower for longer, certainly than I had expected three months ago, without endangering the inflation target.”
What he really meant:
“I follow cricket and its related statistics with as much interest as the economy. Maybe, it will help enliven my dry speech and perhaps have you wondering what in heavens am I meandering about so much so that you will ignore the gravity of the message conveyed. You see, I’m on the defensive and can only hope (unlike Joe Root) that things will work out for the British economy from here. This way I can backtrack on whatever I say should things turn worse and if things get better, it’ll simply be a case of ‘I told you so, didn’t I?'”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I’ll be catching up on the cricket this winter and next summer. Haven’t you received my memo? My arm-chair coaching should certainly help England regain the Ashes.”
Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Kevin Pietersen is utterly professional.
What he said:
“The IPL is professionalism taken to its logical extreme. All the bullshit and hypocrisy have been turned off.”
Kevin Pietersen has extremely positive things to say about Indian cricketer, Rahul Dravid, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in his autobiography, ‘KP: The Autobiography’.
Pietersen writes:
“Rahul was a great and heroic Indian batsman in his day. He is also a genius at dealing with spin bowlers. Our conversations and emails were a private masterclass from a genuine guru.
Rahul improved my cricket and helped me develop the way I think about the game. His generosity will stay with me always.”
Rahul Dravid, the former captain of the Indian cricket team also represents Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Dravid emailed him thus:
“KP, you are a really good player, you need to watch the ball and trust yourself… Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t play spin, I have seen you and you can!”
KP says:
“My playing of spin has gone up a number of levels since I’ve spent time in the IPL, and in particular, since I’ve spoken to Rahul Dravid…In England, batsmen get taught to play with the spin against spin bowlers. In India, the best players of spin get taught to play against it.”
On the IPL:
“The IPL is the future… I could talk about money and the IPL all day to you, but for the friendships alone I would play for free.
I’ve built all my relationships with foreign cricketers while in the IPL. That doesn’t help in the England dressing room… there are not many of those friendships.
There is a culture in India that appreciates if you double down and go for the big shot. It’s a game of cricket, not economics. Not life or death. Take a risk. IPL crowds don’t want to see you batting out singles as you pick and choose which balls to hit. Life is too short.”
What Pietersen really meant:
“All the bullshit and hypocrisy is turned off. Including mine. Or is that especially mine?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“The IPL players, coaches and specially the co-owners are professional in all respects, even the betting. Oye Sressanth, tell them.”
Roy Keane: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Roy Keane is unforgiving of critic Alex Ferguson.
What he said:
“… for him to criticise that when you think of what he made out of it. He made millions of pounds out of it. He got his statues. He got his stand named after him. To come back and criticise …”
What he really meant:
“Alex Ferguson is a great coach, he coached me. And he made millions. But so did I. Did I criticise him? Or his assistant coaches? And why isn’t a stand named after me?”
What he definitely didn’t:
“The reproval had nothing to do with me shooting off my mouth on MUTV about not staying with United before discussing it with Fergie. Definitely not.”
Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United F.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Swann bowling against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in the second Test. Scorecard. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Graeme Swann hopes to bury Kevin Pietersen and his autobiography 20,000 leagues under the sea.
What he said:
“I expected it to be the biggest work of fiction since Jules Verne and that seems to have happened.”
Graeme Swann has little time for Kevin Pietersen and his rantings. The former England off-spinner and KP’s ex-teammate dismissed his allegations of being a bully during his tenure with the squad.
“The one thing will say. I immediately realised it was codswallop when I read the character assassination of Matt Prior. Tragically I don’t think Kev realises the one person who fought tooth and nail to keep him in the side is the one person he is now assassinating: Matt Prior.
Kevin has been quite clever because the guys still playing he has left alone and he hopes to get back in again one day. He has picked on people who he thinks can’t answer back.”
He added:
“If that was the case a lot of people would have flagged it up before. We had a magnificent team ethos and team spirit until Mitchell Johnson took his blindfold off and then it all fell apart.
It was strange to watch my team-mates this summer, all those people I’d bullied all those years. I’d have loved to have been out there giving them Chinese burns.”
Paul Downton said:
“What I do know is there’s been no formal or informal complaint about bullying.”
Matt Prior tweeted:
https://twitter.com/MattPrior13/status/519041265036693504
What Swann really meant:
“No one really expected KP’s book to be complimentary of his teammates or the then-administration. Of course, I’m surprised by the allegations. But what did I lose out on? Nothing! So I’ll keep mum and say nothing about being a bit of a bully on the field. An atmosphere of fear? Ha! Not something to complain about when I’m the one held in awe.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I’m going to be attending a seminar by Mitchell Johnson ‘Bullying and harassment on the cricket field: How to confront and overcome it’.”
Zlatan Ibrahimović: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Zlatan Ibrahimović thrashes trash talk at his 33rd birthday bash.
What he said:
“Let’s go back 15 years and all I saw then has come true. Everybody who was trash-talking me? Now they are eating their words. This is my real trophy.”
Swedish striker and captain of the national side, Zlatan Ibrahimović, lets loose a fusillade of criticism at his many critics while blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.
He said:
“So how did this punk from Rosengard get all the way to where I am now? Nobody believed I could do it. Everybody was trash‑talking. They thought I will go away because I have a big mouth. They thought this guy’s vision is crazy. It will not happen. But I had these dreams of where I would end up. And now here I am.”
On criticism driving him forward:
“Yeah, yeah. That’s my hunger. If I start to relax and I lose that then I had better stop my football. I need that hunger. I still feel I need to do things 10 times better than other players. Just to be accepted and to improve myself.”
On a documentary ‘From Rosengard With More Than One Goal‘ charting his meteoric rise from oblivion:
“It was emotional and the documentary took six months. I’m used to having a camera in my face but not a camera following me. When I did the book [the layered, cocky, poignant and very funny I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic] one guy followed me. This time it’s a camera crew. But I did it because I want to show everyone how my life is different from the inside and how I went all the way from Rosengard to the national team record. It’s also personal. You get to know my father.”
On being different:
“If you are different, or you have minimum possibilities, you can still succeed. I am living proof of that. I didn’t have that ‘wow’ life. I was not a ‘wow’ person. Those around me were not ‘wow’ people. I didn’t live in a ‘wow’ area. So my message to those who feel different, or unlucky, is that if you believe in yourself you will also make it. There is always a possibility. Everything depends on you.”
On the four goals he scored against England in November 2012:
“If you don’t score against the English teams you are not good enough. It’s always been like that. Whenever I played against the English I didn’t score. So they said I am not good enough. Next game, same thing. Oh, see, he’s not good enough. But this triggers me. This gives me adrenalin. People think they might break me but I am the opposite. I get more anger to demonstrate who I am.
I take risks in the way I play so sometimes it doesn’t look ‘wow’. But then came England. They were saying the same thing about me but I just said it will be fantastic – the first match in our new stadium. The first goal came and I was happy. When the second came I was crazy. And when the third went in I looked around. ‘OK, what will you say now?’ With the fourth, the bicycle kick, I thought: ‘That’s it. I don’t know what more I can do.’ Even if you live in England I have to say it gave me an extra-special feeling.”
On fatherhood and discipline:
“They would be totally punished (if they stole a bike, like he did when he was a kid). Yes, I did it but I was not controlled. We were on our own but it’s not the right way to act.
For me, now, discipline and respect is everything. Once they are 18 my boys can do what they want. But until then they are under my roof and it’s my rules. I want to be their father even as they begin to understand who Ibrahimovic is. You know? Zlatan. It’s not a picture I want them to have of me. Even when they joke and call me Zlatan I don’t like it. They must call me Pappa. For me that’s very sensible.
I don’t want them to see their father like my supporters see me. Wherever I go people recognise me. They want a picture of me. But at home I want to be Pappa. I don’t want to be Zlatan. When I go out I represent my club and myself, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but at home I’m 100% a family person.”
What he really meant:
“I’m 33. I’m a footballing legend. It’s been a journey, a wonderful one. My critics? They can eat their hats while I feast on my birthday cake.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“I have a thick skin. ‘Stoicism‘ is my middle name.”
Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Kevin Pietersen promises to shoot from the hip in his autobiography, ‘KP: The Autobiography‘.
What he said:
Kevin Pietersen was the scapegoat for the Ashes debacle Down Under. Is that still news?
It is when you are promoting your version of events in your ghost-written biography. Hagiography, perhaps?
Pietersen publicized his to-be-released book with a series of one-on-one interviews beginning with the Daily Telegraph.
What he really meant:
“I was not the only non-performer on the Ashes tour. But I was the one with a history of run-ins with the authorities in the past. It was a convenient excuse for them and they went to town with it.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“Am I the GOAT or what?”
Louis Van Gaal: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/156509877
Louis Van Gaal
What he said:
“It’s very important for a club such as Manchester United to have guardians of its culture.”
Manchester United’s new coach, Louis Van Gaal, hopes that the culture of the club will be retained with the introduction of fresh blood—youngsters—who have the ethos of the club ingrained in their DNA.
“Every youth player who comes through can be a guardian. The ‘Class of 92’ [Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Neville and Scholes] were guardians of the club’s culture. You need very good youth education so you have always more players who can become guardians.
Wayne Rooney is also a guardian of this culture now as captain and he can transfer this culture to his fellow players.”
Van Gaal intends to repeat his success in creating fresh cores at his former clubs with United.
He said:
“I did it with Barcelona where I gave debuts to Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [Carles] Puyol and [Victor] Valdes. At Bayern Munich, we had [Holger] Badstuber, [Thomas] Muller and [David] Alaba who can guard the culture. I also want to do that here but the youth players have to take their chance when they receive it.”
What he really meant:
“Organizational culture cannot be created overnight. It is a gradual process and MU’s vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits will be imbibed by the players and affect the way they perceive, think and even feel.”
What he definitely didn’t:
“In simpler terms, I need easily influenced youth who I can then brainwash.”
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