Gennaro Gattuso Quotes

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.

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.

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

At Tottenham, we are just bombing on as wing-backs, but sometimes on the international stage, where there is so much quality, you need to be more careful about the distance between yourself and the right-sided centre-half.

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.

I often felt as a player in a 4-4-2, you end up being outnumbered in midfield and chasing the ball, so as a manager I liked wingbacks to push forward; it gives the midfield player on the ball three or four options.

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

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.

It's a different playing style than at Monaco; there were two of us in midfield there, and here at Liverpool, there's three.

When you play at home in European football, you've got to come up with a happy balance where you get on the front foot and try to win it without leaving yourself vulnerable.

United are capable of setting up a low block and making it difficult, but they're also capable of coming out and pressing high.

There is no Benitez 'method.' We try to be more solid in defense without losing the quality in attack.

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

I always tried to defend high up the pitch, to be in the opposition's half and play the game there.

A counter-attack can only arise when you make a mistake. That's why there are rules. A horizontal pass? Prohibited. In my line-up there are as many lines as possible. Because you must have the option to pass the ball forward, even if it's a meter. Because then I can still make up for the loss of possession. After a horizontal pass this is impossible.

I started the 1998 World Cup with Teddy Sheringham up front but always planned for Michael Owen to face Colombia in our final group game because they defended square and a quick striker would be able to exploit the space behind them.

There are a lot of teams that don't want to play, that only want to defend against Barcelona, and that makes it difficult. We're always looking for the open space. A lot of times we'll face six defenders and four midfielders.

It's not so easy for us when we play teams who have a different mindset, like Chelsea or Inter Milan, because they have the intention of trying to stop us rather than playing a game that is more attractive for the spectators to enjoy.

I like the idea of playing with a bit more tactical freedom, either in a deeper role or supporting the strikers more often.

The teams that defend well are as important as those that attack well. If you don't concede goals it is much easier to win but it is all about having balance.

As full-backs, we like to get high and wide. It's the style of football that I enjoy playing.

At Tottenham, I'm asked to take a lot of risks to keep maximum possession of the ball and build from the back.

Sometimes you can get sloppy and control the ball right at your feet, and that gives the defenders a chance.