Frank Rijkaard Quotes

For me, it is very important to control a situation in defence. You can always score goals, but you have to add stability in the defence.

If we don't start playing better on defense, it's going to be hard. We can't just sit there and win shootouts.

I'm a defender first and foremost, and if I'm playing right centre-half, I am even more of a defender than the wing-backs.

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.

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

I'm a defender, and my first job is to make the team secure at the back; that's my primary responsibility.

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

My view is that you show Messi one side or the other, and if he goes past you, he goes past you. But if he slips it through your legs, then you have to obstruct him and take the foul. Just don't ever let yourself be nutmegged.

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

You have to play defense, that's how you win.

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

I like every aspect of defense; I enjoy shutting down the offense.

Nobody criticised me when we qualified for the World Cup when I decided that the best shape for us going forward was three men at the back and stretching the pitch width-wise, which gives you options.

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

There's two sides to the game, and you have to do the ugly side as well. If you're getting beat, and you're conceding the goals that we're getting beaten by, then it's because you're not defending and shutting people down well enough.

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

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

I think as a central defender you grow as a player.

I think it's all machismo - 'Come on, you've got to guard your guy, man. If you can't guard your guy, then you can't play defence.' A lot of it is accountability, where you say, 'Hey, you're matched up with him. Go do your job.' The zone kind of sometimes moves a lot of pieces around.

I feel like I've improved immensely in terms of my defending, not only in one-versus-ones but also with my positioning.

I try to control my box. I always think the goalkeeper has to be the chief of the box: it's his area, and he has to defend it.

That's how you get better on defense; not just 'oh, man, my guy beat me,' but you have to think about, 'okay, my man beat me, so I either have to pick up the next man, or I'm going to give somebody a foul.

I'm really trying to work on my defensive positioning.

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

If you have a defensive concept, you're going to play defense. If you don't have a defensive concept, and you have an offensive concept, then you're going to play offense.