James Milner Quotes

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

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

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.

We know it's impossible sometimes to have good defending against Cristiano Ronaldo but we want to keep the ball, with good possession, as then he can do nothing in attack.

Against Chelsea, you will have periods in the game when you are right up against it, when they keep the ball. They are pretty solid the way they set their team up.

If you look at Barcelona and the way they press high, or Bayern Munich, the way they press high... that's what makes them the best teams, because when they lose the ball, in the first three seconds, that's when they get the ball back, really, really high.

The last thing you want as a striker is the opposing team putting all 10 players behind the ball.

It is vital to maintain possession and to win it back as soon as possible, because if we win it high up, then the opposition has to run 70 metres.

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.

I always like the players to be within 10 to 15 metres of each other. When the attacking players try what I am asking them to do, and it breaks down, there are players close enough to then go and win the ball back and counter press the game.

You put a lot of pressure on your defenders to be able to hold the fort when you go forward.

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.

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.

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

We believe defending is very much a team job, and we can't just rely on a back four and a goalkeeper.

I'm a coach who likes to have the ball, but what I really think is, 'How can you be in charge of the game?' I think, but maybe I am the only one, that the defensive process can take care of the game. Why is that? Because teams wait to defend. If you create something where you go to defend, to steal the ball where you want, it's different.

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

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.

The way we play at Liverpool is with high-intensity football, pressing high up the pitch, winning the ball back quickly, and counter-pressing.

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.

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.

I don't like getting pinned back with a line of four in midfield. You risk losing too much space.

I coach defending an awful lot but I don't think too many teams in the Premier League or in the world of football actually coach defending anymore, certainly not the full-backs.

I like to play attacking football, but I think the big difference is that we expect a lot more from our strikers, to do more pressing and to keep compact. We like to play a high line defensively and press the ball.