The art of defending...

Just like any art, it takes time to get right and it requires patience and intelligence- which some people sorely

lack! Football is a game that is about attacking the opponent and out thinking them but also knowing when to sure up the backline and holding on, to some people it may seem boring ( fans of the EPL!) yet it is a vital part of the game. Just imagine if you were only good at one aspect of your job, you would find yourself getting replaced pretty soon, this is also true with football.

What people have to keep in mind is that the game is 90 minutes long and you have to pace yourself, if you're running like headless chickens for all that time, you'll find yourself out of breath rather quickly! I often hear people say, " if you have a good attacking force you don't have to worry about the defence", what then happens when your so called best players are injured or suspended and you don't have a good defence because you didn't think it was important? You end up losing the game.

Above everything some people may think, football is not just about scoring as many goals as you can, the game involve a lot of strategy like when to go forward and when to stay back and also seeing if you can exploit any weaknesses, it's a lot like chess- maybe that's a little to complicated for some people! I just have to think back to the Juve game against Fiorentina where the were up by 2 goals at half time but ended up losing by 4 goals. To some this may be a great game because there were plenty of goals, but what I see is a lot sadder, what I see is a lazy defense. But the good thing about this was that it was the slap in the face Juve needed to get back on track and currently they have had a string of clean sheets.

Another great attack that often gets mentioned is Barcelona FC. I have to admit, they are a phenomenon to watch- but with Messi, without him they've struggled.

In the EPL there are many examples of bad defending, the Arsenal- Man City game which ended 6-3 to Man City just made me question how bad Arsenal must be at defending, to concede 6 goals is just poor play. If they had focused more time on the basics they probably could have avoided that scoreline.

People who think that was a great game have no patience and just want instant gratification, well maybe those people should watch basketball instead!