Counter-Attacking Quotes

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.

Liverpool are known for this 'rock and roll' football. I think I've adapted well to this even if, as a player, I like to hold onto the ball longer.

Manchester United are always a team that try to play football, try to play football from the back.

I think Barcelona and the Spanish national team have been good for soccer because there are a lot of teams that come up playing from the back: with the goalie, the defense, moving up a defender to midfield, playing attacking soccer. I think fans want to see that. They want to see beautiful soccer, a spectacle, and Barcelona does that.

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.

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.

At Chelsea, there's more focus on team shape, a lot of work on tactics.

The football in Spain is more about skill and technique. Every team tries to play good football. The physical side, with plenty of running and hard tackling, plays more of a role in the Bundesliga.

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.

Robert Lewandowski is a player who plays in front of the opposing goal, especially with his back to the opponent. He is always attacked, and this is one of the big strength of a striker who plays in this position.

A powerful idea communicates some of its power to the man who contradicts it. Partaking of the universal community of minds, it infiltrates, grafts itself on to, the mind of him who it refutes, among other contiguous ideas, with the aid of which, counter-attacking, he complements and corrects it; so that the final verdict is always to some extent the work of both parties to a discussion.

We will go back to playing like Manchester United.

Once Celtic got their equaliser, they played a sort of anti-football.

At United, we like to have wingers who give the team width and pace.

I didn't really adapt to Scottish football well, but I enjoyed my time there. The physical nature and the pace of the game was a big thing, and many of the teams defended really deep against Celtic so there was not so much space to run in behind. That's a big part of my game, so that was one thing as well.

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

When teams train now, it is about what they do with the ball and, if they lose it, how quickly they press to win it back.

I always tried to defend high up the pitch, to be in the opposition's half and play the game there.

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

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.

My perfect formation would be 4-3-3 with one holding and then the two going forward. I would be one of the ones going forward.

I like the idea of playing with a bit more tactical freedom, either in a deeper role or supporting the strikers more often.

When you play against a Spanish team, especially Madrid, it is quite an open game.

The way Guardiola plays suits me. It enables me to get into space in attacking positions.

It's a different playing style than at Monaco; there were two of us in midfield there, and here at Liverpool, there's three.