Football is about dreams, about feeling a special sensation, giving a surprise, and inspiring joy.
— Claudio Ranieri
What I have to say, I say face to face.
If I am angry, I am angry. If I am angry, then I have to be calm, and to be calm, I have to tell you to your face what I think about you. If we don't agree, then okay, 'Bye!' It's no problem.
Am I too loyal to my players? I could be, could be.
It is important to understand what your team can do.
Football is open; it is not only keeping possession of the ball and making more passes.
When you are in the big competition for the first time, you grow, and then you lose something when you go back into your own competition.
Over the years I've learned that, to be a good manager, you need to have passion, and you need to have a strong character. Without those things, the job is very, very difficult.
If you go in Spain, you have to play with another style. The English culture is the English culture. If you come here, you have to play in this style.
In London, you can eat your way around the world - Lebanese one night, Indian the next.
They call me The Tinkerman. Wherever I go people say 'Ah ha, there is The Tinkerman.'
I do not have much time for relaxation, but when I can, I like to read.
I love the English spirit because when I was a player, I was an Englishman: I was fighting, and you had to kill me if you wanted to win.
I have won trophies around Europe, but never the title. Three times, I was runner-up. Leicester and the fans will be in my heart for all of my life.
All managers are under pressure. It's our life, always. It's about how we manage the pressure, the victory, we have to manage everything, even me - the bookmakers put me under pressure every time!
I am the Thinkerman, not Tinkerman!
If I continue to work as a coach, it is because my passion and love for football, for the players, is still there.
I have to thank Leicester City Football Club. The adventure was amazing and will live with me forever.
I am a serious man, a loyal man.
I am very clear and very honest. I can say one thing, and you look at my face, and it is clear.
We must respect the referee every time.
What is important is to find the best solution for your players.
You use up a lot of mental energy in the Champions League.
I'm from Italy, the home of Vivaldi, Rossini, Puccini. When I stopped playing and became a manager, football became like a beautiful piece of music to me - and the players, an orchestra.
There is too much unhappiness in football, no?
Every country is different, every league is different - all the culture.
With Chelsea, the job was this: move up to the top, get into Europe. And I did that - fourth place in the Premier League and then into the Champions League, the season before Abramovich and all the money arrived.
I want to buy pizza, but my players don't want pizza; maybe they don't love pizza. Because I said when we make a clean sheet, I will buy everybody a pizza. Maybe they wait until I say, 'Okay, a good dinner.' I told them, the clean sheet, I buy everybody a pizza. I think they wait until I improve my offer: 'Okay, a pizza and a hot dog.'
Rebuilding has always been one of my specialities from the time I started with young players at Cagliari.
Everyone's second team in Italy is Leicester. In Thailand, the first team is Leicester. I've received letters from Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil - everywhere 'Leicester, Leicester, what a legend.'
When we won the title, I received gifts and cards, bottles of wine, and Champagne. When I was sacked, my house was full.
Mourinho is a fantastic manager, intelligent, clever. He is OK.
Words are fine, but the most important thing is what happens on the pitch.
It is very important to be humble but to maintain the conviction that we can do something good.
I am not a man who wants revenge.
I think everyone is the perfect owner.
I am a lucky man because when I was young, I wanted to be a footballer. Suddenly, around 30 years old, I thought, 'I want to try to be a manager because it's different.'
Inside me there are two people. One is a very aggressive - I want to win; I won the Premier League, but now I want to win on Saturday. I want to win next season - and is never satisfied.
It's not important how many mistakes you make; it's about how many chances you create and how many goals you score. That is my philosophy.
When you play in the Champions League, you are switched on - very, very smart and focused on every situation.
It is with passion that I love my job. But it is with character that I am able to keep looking forward. Not just beyond criticism or bad results, but also beyond the good moments, too. Everything has to be a balance.
I don't believe bookmakers.
You really can eat well in England - if you have the money.
Wherever I go, the club is never to stay on the same square on the board: they have to move up. I don't know if it's coincidence, some calling, or destiny - but whatever it is, it's the story of my life.
I hear what they're saying. I ask my English tutor, 'What is this word 'tinkerer?''
My wife is the expert, but I like art particularly. I like Van Gogh.
I won the most important league in Europe, I think - not just Europe but the world - the Premier League.
I am a loyal man.
We work so hard. Everyone does, but only one can win.
The love the people of Leicester showed towards me was incredible. Even more than winning the Premier League.
