Andrea Pirlo Quotes

I would always treat my attacking game as the more natural part. With defence, you have to get yourself in positions to understand the game and understand situations and that might not be as natural a thing.

When I don't have control of the ball, what do I do? I press to get it back. It's a way of defending. But more important is that I like to have the ball. That's why I believe in individual coaching sessions to prepare players properly.

When someone like Lukaku gets you in the position where he's holding you off it is key to try and nick it in front of him.

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.

I think I have that ability to win the ball back quickly when we lose it.

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.

Playing in midfield is a different ball game. You have to be on the half-turn all the time, have a different picture in your head of what is behind you and in front of you. Playing at right-back is different again.

I know when I step into midfield I have to sharpen my feet up and be more aware of what's around me, at centre back it's more about timing, positioning and communication.

When I don't have control of the ball, what do I do? I press to get it back. It's a way of defending.

I want the ball for 90 minutes. When I don't have the ball, I go high pressing because I want the ball.

You've gotta play a head game; especially blocking shots, you've gotta make it hard. You're playing against the best of the best: they're not gonna go straight to the basket, do a layup. You've gotta lure them into some shots.

It is up to me to adapt and to continue to surprise with my positioning, the timing of my runs, the trajectories, when I call for the ball.

Before, sometimes if the ball was played over my head I wouldn't know where I was but now I feel a lot more comfortable. Sometimes I would be going forward when it really wasn't the right time to go too, but now I'm picking my moments better.

What I want is to recover the ball as near to the other box as we can, and when we have the ball, play.

As a defender, how much ground I cover isn't up to me. I'm defending against a forward, so her movement determines my movement.

To be honest, it was only when I was first in the French Ligue 1 that my manager and other people started to say, 'Okay, N'Golo recovers a lot of balls.' Before that, I didn't consider it to be my job in the team.

I prefer defensive midfielder because I know my job when I play there. More things are in front of you.

The important thing to understand, from my point of view, is if the opponents break our lines and they are attacking our box, something has gone wrong, and it is me who has to fix it. But fouls in football are normal. You have to do it sometimes.

The interaction between the goalkeeper and the back four has to be top to compete in the Premier League.

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.

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.

Playing defense, it was a tough job, but it was pretty simple: When the ball came off, get in the backfield and create havoc and find the ball carrier.

I need to keep improving tactically, defensively and offensively for the last pass, the last shot.

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.