Joe Gomez Quotes

In football, time and space are the same thing.

If my play is not to run and chase the ball, if my play is to stay backside, then I've got to stay backside. I've got to be disciplined. I can't run across the field and chase stuff that's not mine.

Firstly, I am somebody who plays in a defensive role, and we need to start with that, but then I need to bring the ball forward and help the attack.

It is an important part of the role of a centre-back to focus on building up the game and initiating moves.

Centre-backs usually get criticised for clearing the ball long, but it's easier doing this than risking a pass. If you lose the ball at the back, it's almost a goal. Most centre-backs don't risk this kind of game, depending on the holding midfielder in front.

Defending isn't just about tackling and heading, it's also about getting the ball down and playing - starting the attack from the back.

I would prefer to play for and against an attacking team, but I am now used to playing against defensive teams.

When we lose the ball, I don't want to win it back directly. I act smarter now, have better anticipation, and also start earlier when somebody tries to lob the ball over me.

As a young centre-back at Ajax, I played with Wim Jansen, and of course you learn a huge amount. I made some mistakes, because we Dutchmen want to solve situations by playing football. So we look at the ball, try to judge where it will come.

At Ajax, they are strict when it comes to using the ball as a defender.

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

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.

That's something you want to preach throughout the whole defense - getting the ball back to the offense.

I will have to play as a goalkeeper and sometimes like a centre-back and play with my feet. I like that system and I feel comfortable in it.

I think a goalkeeper has to participate at the back of the defence and come off the line to play.

The more carries you get, the better you see the field, see the way that the defense is playing you.

While it's great for a quarterback to have athletic ability, his goal is to get the ball out of his hand, orchestrate the offense and not allow his ability to stand in the way of the offense running efficiently.

You don't want to give the defensive back any signals about what route you're going to run.

I haven't played a lot as a centre-back, but in those games, I feel like I did well.

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

I don't go into a game thinking I'm going to run more than I'm going to pass. So it just depends on what the defense is going to bring in the situation of the game and what happens that play.

Attacking is the tough part in football; defending is relatively easy.

That's the intelligence of football: to see when to be compact, when to counter-attack, or, if you see that you're in the opposite half, you try and win the ball.

Keeping up your concentration is one of the hardest tasks when you're a centre-back because a team like Bayern tend to dominate and can give you sense of false security.

You're always supposed to follow-up any cross or whatever towards the goalkeeper.