Gianfranco Zola
I went from being a player who had received just a few yellow cards in his career to a red card in a World Cup. It was a devastating moment for me. It was my first game in the World Cup, so I was excited and thankful for the opportunity. Being sent off was a big blow.Collection: Thankful
People think because I'm a nice person I'm a weak person. But I don't think being nice means you don't know how to take tough decisions.
They are both fantastic players. But I like Messi. Ronaldo is a fantastic goalscorer but I don't think he is as good as Messi when it comes to creating chances for others.'
I remember that when I was learning to play football, kicking a ball for example, I used to do it 300-400 times a day at least. There were moments when I got tired but I needed to do it repeatedly because if I wanted it to become a part of me, this was the process I needed to go through.
Of course you cannot make a Messi or a Maradona. But even players who are not considered very skilful, if you coach them in a certain way you can make them better.
Chelsea is in my heart and I was so proud to achieve so much for the club.
In football, even when you do your best on the pitch, you can win or lose. That is the nature of the game.
Maradona? You couldn't match him, but you could learn a lot from him. I did not play much, but I did learn plenty from him at Napoli. He was the best striker in the world and I was so lucky to have played with him. Some of the things he used to do you couldn't even dream about. It was absurd.
I don't think John Terry would have been the player he was if he hadn't had Marcel Desailly or Frank Leboeuf in front of him with us at Chelsea.
The memories obviously of playing with Maradona are fantastic memories, he's probably the most important part of my career.
When I was making myself known I learnt a lot from him. I definitely regard him as the greatest, although it's difficult to say that and also unfair because there are players from different eras that have been so important and Maradona was one of them, but certainly he was an unbelievable player and I'm so glad I met him.
It's very difficult and unfair probably to compare players from different eras, because they were able to reach excellence in their time and they have to be rewarded for that.
Sometimes you need to get bored but when you get bored you persist in what you're doing and you get better.
Working for a top club with a top coach has been good for me.
I was head coach before and my main ambition is to return to that. But to work for Maurizio and Chelsea was a great opportunity.
Some leaders speak a lot in the dressing room, on the field and others do it with actions contributing important things in games, deciding big games.
Eden is the type of player who can make a big difference when he comes on, even for 20 minutes.
It is a pleasure for whoever loves football to enjoy watching Hazard.
It is not true that Sarri did not defend, indeed all of his work starts from there. But it's a different way to defend, in a much more advanced area of the pitch.
I went to West Ham without ever having coached and I know what that means.
You don't have to just work on your game, you have to work on yourself. This is the last step to becoming a big, big player.
With Jorginho it depends what type of football you want to play. If you want to play possession where you have the ball all the time and you play a lot of passes, there are not many as good as him around. If you ask Jorginho to cover 50 metres of pitch in width and get all the balls back, it's going to be difficult.
Jorginho is not a player that has a lot of physicality and mobility but he is very intelligent and is always in the right place. If you have someone who can help him, he can make a big difference. It's just about getting the best out of him.
Eden Hazard's definitely at the very top. He's such an unbelievable player. The more I've spent time with him the more I appreciate him as a player, but also as a boy.
He was so influential on every aspect of my game. I promise you - I would have been another Gianfranco Zola if I hadn't trained and played with Maradona every day.
What makes you better is not playing every single game in a modest championship. What makes you better is playing 10 games in a very competitive league.
Because of players like myself, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and so many others, the game in England is at such a high level.
There is a common mistake people make. They say, 'We need to play the young English boys.' Of course, but only if they are good. How can you measure that? If they are playing with good players and if they can fit into the level of the good players. That's why, because of the level of the Premier League, England has so many talented players.
Chelsea is a very demanding club. They need to be in the Champions League and they need to win trophies because that is what the club has been doing for some time.
The Premier League is very competitive and you have to be prepared for that.
Carlo Ancelotti is a good coach and a good man. I worked with him for just three months at Parma, before I left for Chelsea, although I had worked with him before with the national team. In my first game for the national team I played with him.
Sometimes good work is done with passion, enthusiasm - presence can be as valuable as many millions of pounds.
Some players mature at 18. Others at 28.
My love for the game is massive. That won't change.
It's normal that you have good moments and bad moments - it is how you deal with it.
People expect a lot from the number nine at Chelsea. They expect a lot of goals and good performances.
It is obviously pleasing to see your name associated with La Nazionale.
In life you have to be ambitious, you have to look forward all the time.
I am the first one to believe that if a player is happy in what he is doing he performs much more.
I played many times as a player in European competition and I know how it can make a player better to play those kind of games.
The majority of supporters admire Barcelona because of their fantastic football and for the type of players they have.
If someone can make a team champions, it is Tevez.
No, I didn't expect Mancini to become a manager, because of the type of player he was - he was an intelligent player, of course, but I didn't think he had the desire to become a manager. But I guess if you speak to some of my team-mates they'd probably say they didn't expect me to either. I certainly didn't expect it.
I'm sure there are some people who still think I'm too much of a nice guy to be a manager but I'm certain that's not an issue.
I want the players to enjoy their football as much as I did in my career and to make it enjoyable for those who come and see it.
Maybe some people were surprised that I came here to Watford. But, after three or four months here, it's the best choice I could have made.
I was very tired when I left West Ham, but that's my character really. I gave everything. It can be bad, that, because you need to be at your best when you manage a football team. The players take it on board and see how you are.
I stopped playing football. And life wasn't easy without football.
When I was playing football it was 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So I said to myself when I stopped that I wanted to dedicate myself to things I'd never done before. I even had a list.
I love the game and I have a fair approach to it.