Manuel Pellegrini Quotes

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

United's history was built on attacking football, which does not always mean that the team kept clean sheets or did not concede chances.

I don't say we are a defensive team. I say we are a strong team in defensive terms, but at the same time lacking sufficient fluidity in attack because that will take time to come.

In England and Germany, perhaps, there is more of a focus on the physical side of the game, in breaking down the opposition's play, especially against the lower placed sides.

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

We try and play football in a positive way. Any team has to be defensively organised, but you have to look at the attributes of the players and play to their strengths.

Having a lot of attacking players on the field and a good balance at the back is the foundation of victory.

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

If you can play effective counter-attacking football, as you see in the Premier League, it's very effective.

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.

Charlton are a team who play well on the ball, but they found it hard to break us down, they didn't really have an out and out chance in front of our goal.

If I was to play on the left, I'd rather play there if there was three in midfield.

Power is the main difference; it's more powerful in England. Referees are less strict than in France, teams like to play low and in counter-attack, and defenders in general are stronger than in France.

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.

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

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

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.

Maybe Klopp is the best manager in the world at creating teams who attack the back four with so many players, from almost anywhere on the pitch. They have an intensity with the ball and without the ball, and it is not easy to do that.

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

Liverpool are a team that is essentially very defensive; caution is at the heart of their game.

I stay in the middle and my team-mates can go to attack.

I love to see goals and attacking play; I want us to be entertaining. But it's no good if you're shipping goals.

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.

Pochettino likes to play from the back, with the buildup, have the ball.