AFP SPORT PICKS 10 stand-out quotes from the Premier League season, which drew to a close on Sunday:
“We may be a bit underrated, we may go under the radar. I hope there’s a small flame flickering here that can hopefully grow into a blazing inferno.”
- Chelsea’s new manager Antonio Conte outlines his vision for the club’s season, with uncanny clairvoyance
“(The bottom of the table) is where they’ve been every other year for the past four years, so why would it suddenly change?”
- Sunderland manager David Moyes sets the tone for his side’s demoralising campaign, which will end with relegation
“I am not always laughing like crazy. I am a normal person. I am not a clown — even though a few people think I am.”
- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists there is more to him than touchline tantrums and press conference cackles
“Until the moment they have a manager that wins four Premier Leagues for them, I’m the number one. Until then, ‘Judas’ is number one.”
- Jose Mourinho takes exception to the barracking he receives from fans of his former club Chelsea upon his return to Stamford Bridge with Manchester United
“In my situation at a big club, I’m sacked. I’m out, for sure. Definitely. At Barca or Bayern Munich, there you have to win by a lot. If not, they don’t give you a second chance. Here they gave me a second chance and we will try to do better.”
- Pep Guardiola on the extent to which he feels he has been indulged by Manchester City
“He is a big talent, but he was a bit wild. It is like when you have a wild horse and you need to put it in a box and domesticate it.”
- Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino on his fiery midfield star Dele Alli
“When you say fans, who do you mean? The rich ones?”
- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, when asked for his reaction to a plane trailing a banner calling on him to go chartered by fans that flew overhead during his side’s 4-1 win at Stoke City
“They won 13 games in a row. Not bad. Can you imagine how annoying it is when you win 13 games in a row and there is still one team only six points behind?”
- Klopp (unsuccessfully) tries to turn up the heat on Chelsea
“You took me into your hearts from day one and loved me. I love you too. No one can ever take away what we achieved together and I hope you think about it and smile every day the way I always will.”
- Claudio Ranieri pays tribute to Leicester City’s fans following his shock dismissal as manager
“You were just getting a wee bit naughty at the end there, so just watch yourself. You still might get a slap even though you’re a woman. Careful the next time you come in.”
- Moyes gets himself in trouble after being caught on tape apparently threatening to slap a female reporter. He subsequently apologised and was charged by the Football Association
