My players on defense must have a hand-up on every shot. If not, they run sprints.
You can play hard. You can play aggressive. You can give 120% but if one guy is out of position then someone is running through the line of scrimmage and he is going to gain a bunch of yards.
The only thing I wanted to change in the past was being a little bit more disciplined on the defensive end.
If you commit to the defensive end of the floor, you're going to have a chance to win every night. And if you're a great defensive team, you're going to go to the playoffs.
United's history was built on attacking football, which does not always mean that the team kept clean sheets or did not concede chances.
I need to work on defensive play and being consistent.
The beginning of everything is our defensive organisation. The clean sheet is always the first objective that we have in the game. Always.
Someone said that my coaching is a combination of Milan's defensive discipline and the Dutch propensity for attacking football, and I think that is a fair description.
Without a doubt, it is easier to produce a defensive soccer team, because it does not need you to have talent for it but simply to be well organised.
I've always liked taking the ball out of defence and I will carry on doing that but at the end of the day I'm a defender, and that's what I want to be known as - a defender, getting in the blocks and the headers that people don't recognise I do, the dirty stuff that every defender should do and should be good at.
If we don't start playing better on defense, it's going to be hard. We can't just sit there and win shootouts.
Defending isn't just about tackling and heading, it's also about getting the ball down and playing - starting the attack from the back.
I think I've shown I have the defensive discipline to play deep as the No.6 and start the build ups with my passing. I can also play higher up the pitch and make a difference in the opposition area. Being able to do both has helped me to play so many games.
Concentrate on defense because the offense will come.
I'm a defender first and foremost - blocks, headers, vital tackles, or even just the communication side of it, which is massive but doesn't really get recognised.
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.
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.
Now and again, you may be picking a pass or two in behind, making something happen, but when we're attacking - especially at Liverpool - I'm focusing on protection, being disciplined, being careful, worrying about counter-attacks, things like that.
I like consistency in defenders.
I love to see goals and attacking play; I want us to be entertaining. But it's no good if you're shipping goals.
As much as you want to improve or help the team, as a centre-back your job is to go under the radar and keep the ball out of the net. If you do that and let the strikers get all the adulation and the headlines, then you're probably doing your job.
It was a disaster. I need to play with freedom, and Hodgson didn't let me cross the halfway line.
As a defender, we take pride in getting clean sheets.
I'm a defender, and my first job is to make the team secure at the back; that's my primary responsibility.
