Ernesto Valverde Quotes

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

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

Sometimes it is difficult to play against teams who just drop back and try to defend.

It starts on the defensive end, but it's also just the ball movement and holding everyone accountable.

A compact defense has always been the basis of Italy's team.

Young quarterbacks do well because they have a great defense.

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.

The Italians are very strong defensively. They showed in Euro 2000 how good defensively they are.

My mental approach is totally different. My coach predicated everything on defense. He always talked about defense, defense, defense. I took it to heart that if you play defense, you can take the heart from an offensive player.

Not only the attackers, but the defenders - it's on the attackers to prepare themselves to break through the strong defense.

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

What is important is to have a positive intent right from the start, and positive intent doesn't always mean looking for the big shots. Positive intention when it comes to defending a ball or looking for a single.

The best way to attack is to defend well.

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

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.

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.

My first mind-set when I am out on the field is to defend well and not concede.

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.

Defense is so important for helping your team win games and for the game in general.

You have to defend properly.

What Liverpool do really well is they try to get you inside but then close you down.

Whoever I'm playing against, I go in and try to stop their best scorer and try to get myself going on the offensive end.

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

I like consistency in defenders.

Really what we've done is establish a tradition in Carolina of playing defense.