Do you remember Brendan Rodgers’ famous quote about defence after his Liverpool side “slipped up” against Chelsea FC and threw away the Premier League title last year?

Just in case a reminder is needed, he said it’s “not difficult to coach to play defensive“.

By the end of that season Liverpool had conceded 50 Premier League goals in 38 games. Not too bad some might say, but when you consider that it was only the 8th best in the league, it was mid-table mediocrity personified!

Maybe he should have paid more attention to the art of defending whilst under Jose Mourinho’s tutelage for 3 years!

Defending is an art form. It can be as exciting as any attacking intent, and very often it is more effective at winning trophies. Just ask Barcelona and Bayern Munich how effective Chelsea were at defending in 2012!

In my opinion there are 2 basic requirements of successful defending ……