Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Quotes

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

Scoring lots of goals in Italy is much more difficult: they are experts in defending.

In Spain, you get seven clear chances a game to receive the ball and shoot. In Italy, you get very few clear balls, and you have to fight everyone to score; that makes you improve and develop.

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

In '82 Brazil showed that you can't win the World Cup without a solid defense.

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.

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.

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

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

If someone is going to spend a whole game marking you, then there may be games when I will have to sacrifice myself for the team and take them away and create space for a team-mate.

Italy was the hardest league to score goals in. Those guys just love defending.

The defenders in Italy are stronger, and that makes me better. Serie A is played in a different way to other leagues.

Italy are a very difficult team to play against. They have good defensive qualities.

The most important thing is to help the team to come in front of the goal with one-two passes, I drop down, or I give them space, because for defenders, it's always difficult to have a false nine because they don't have a direct player against them, so they don't know exactly what to do.

When we have a defensive situation in which we are conceding too many goals, it is not just a problem in the defense but the entire team, starting with the coach.

Casemiro has to cover the gaps left by everyone. That's balance for me; to make sure the game doesn't go mad.

Scouting is important. You just want to know whom you are playing against and how to play them well within the team's defense.

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.

No single player can stop Antoine Griezmann on his own.

I've become accustomed to playing against four defenders throughout my career, but in Italy, I have to play against five.

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

It's difficult when you play the best teams in the world. You have to be strong as a team and defend and get clean sheets.

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.

Always, even with the U17s in Spain, U19s, we play from the back, and we try to improve on that a lot. So I always enjoy having the ball at my feet.

Good players win you games, good formations stop you losing them.