John Stones Quotes

I'm a defender, and my first job is to make the team secure at the back; that's my primary responsibility.

I'm a defender first and foremost - blocks, headers, vital tackles, or even just the communication side of it, which is massive but doesn't really get recognised.

For me, it is very important to control a situation in defence. You can always score goals, but you have to add stability in the defence.

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

I enjoy those physical battles and I've been on record saying Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in the world.

Any good attacker will always beat a defender who's face-marking you.

I am not a player who goes on mazy runs - I like to defend. I like to do a job for the team.

I do like to play and pass the ball. But first and foremost I see myself as a defender: blocking, tackling, heading.

I feel like I've improved immensely in terms of my defending, not only in one-versus-ones but also with my positioning.

I'm a defender first and foremost, and if I'm playing right centre-half, I am even more of a defender than the wing-backs.

Especially going from an attacking player to a defensive player, your whole mindset has to change. You have to work on one-v-one defending versus one-v-one attacking.

Anyone who wants to be a centre-half would have to say that John Terry is a role model. Every centre-half in the game would agree with that. It is the way he leads the team and the way he reads the game.

Everyone thinks I'm looking for attacking football all the time. But the foundation is how you defend - keep a clean sheet, and you have a decent chance to win a game of football.

I like consistency in defenders.

I think I'm a great defender, to be honest.

At the end of the day, I'm a good defensive football coach.

As much as you want to improve or help the team, as a centre-back your job is to go under the radar and keep the ball out of the net. If you do that and let the strikers get all the adulation and the headlines, then you're probably doing your job.

Regardless of how well you can be offensively, if you have a great defense, you can deal with any offense.

I need to work on defensive play and being consistent.

Concentrate on defense because the offense will come.

As a defender I try to keep clean sheets.

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.

Normally, I play in midfield where I'm challenging the players and trying to take the ball.

You have to win the title with a strong team and a strong defence, but I don't only like to talk about the four defenders and the goalkeeper when you concede goals. It's about the team.

I think if you're not conceding so many goals, it gives you a great platform to win games.