34 Quotes by Jaap Stam

It wasn't until I was about 16 that I began to grow and develop as a player.

I always watched professional football and my father played at an amateur level, but I didn't think I wanted to become a pro.

For me, a late start was a good thing. A lot of kids who start too early get bored. I'd done all the things I wanted to do, I'd enjoyed myself, having fun and playing as an amateur and that was important.

It's not always the player that's talking in the dressing room that becomes a good manager. It's a feeling that you need to develop, it's a feeling that needs to grow on you.

Of course, when you play football yourself you can think you want to become a manager but it does not make you a good manager.

It sounds strange, maybe, because I have played with a lot of big players but I never thought: 'OK, they're going to go into management.' Maybe there was only one, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, because he was always talking about football but I did not have a feeling with the other players.

As a manager, you need to have your own vision and what you want to do with the team.

I'm sure I can work the Premier League, maybe my style of play is better suited to the Premier League than in the Championship.

It was a great time working at Reading, especially the first season getting very close to going to the Premier League.