Kieran Trippier Quotes

When I've watched teams that play with five at the back and wing-backs, I've looked at their starting positions and positions out of possession because that comes a little bit more unnaturally to me.

When you play the top sides you cannot afford to be as open as 4-4-2 can leave you. Consequently teams adapt their formation.

I don't like getting pinned back with a line of four in midfield. You risk losing too much space.

To be useful in defence, to win back the ball, you don't always have to go sliding into the tackle. It's also about your positioning; sometimes all you have to do is take a step back.

When you get lots of players up front, sometimes a counter-attack can take you by surprise and lead to a chance for the opposition.

In football, there has always been this idea of having a left-footer and a right-footer in central defence.

Rafa Benitez was keen on defending - all dropping back together if you lose the ball.

You can't play man to man against Liverpool and out-pass them. You have to keep your shape and stop them.

I like to play attacking football, but I think the big difference is that we expect a lot more from our strikers, to do more pressing and to keep compact. We like to play a high line defensively and press the ball.

Most of the clubs who have had success against Barcelona have relied on a highly organised and disciplined defence.

What Liverpool do really well is they try to get you inside but then close you down.

Now and again, you may be picking a pass or two in behind, making something happen, but when we're attacking - especially at Liverpool - I'm focusing on protection, being disciplined, being careful, worrying about counter-attacks, things like that.

Some big teams prefer to be very strong defensively and have two, three, four counter-attacking players.

Positional awareness comes with experience, so getting game time helps, but we also work a lot in training as a back-line and also on defensive shape.

When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average ... So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you're a good player or not.

Dominating the midfield is the most important thing in modern football. To succeed, you have to be good at everything.

I coach defending an awful lot but I don't think too many teams in the Premier League or in the world of football actually coach defending anymore, certainly not the full-backs.

You need to defend as a team to defend well.

I know if I'm playing centre-back, there are certain places where you don't give your full-back the ball - because I've been the full-back!

Italy do not only defend; they can attack, too. They have attacking qualities, and they create chances.

With a line of six in the defence and then three in front of that, it's not always easy to find the spaces to score the goals.

When we have a defensive situation in which we are conceding too many goals, it is not just a problem in the defense but the entire team, starting with the coach.

When there's pressure on the ball, you can go man-to-man on your striker; you've got the advantage because the ball pressure means it'll be a difficult pass to play.

The beginning of everything is our defensive organisation. The clean sheet is always the first objective that we have in the game. Always.

Most teams - whether they like it or not against Manchester City - you're going to find yourself quite often penned in your own half.