Defence – An Analysis

23 Mac, 2016


Think about football players certain names immediately come to mind, namely Messi, Neymar, Suarez, and Ronaldo, among countless others. These players are, without a doubt, the very best on the planet, but it is hardly surprising that all the aforementioned names are playing in a forward position. They’ve excelled at their jobs, with countless goals to each of their names, and it is this that has them grabbing all the headlines in the media. Names like Pique, Puyol, Ramos, Terry etc. all seem to get only secondary mention, because with all the forwards grabbing the headlines (goals are important, that’s for sure), it’s easy to neglect another crucial aspect of every football team – defence. Preventing the opponent from scoring goals is an important, yet often unappreciated, part of football. Here, we take a general look about the importance of defence and its’ place in football.

Anyone can tell you that having a strong defence is key to a successful team, but how important is it really, especially if your front line is scoring goals at will? I’ll use Liverpool’s ultimately unsuccessful 2013-14 Premier League season as an example. The Reds were conquering all who stood before them that season, and it seemed inevitable that the title was headed to Anfield for the first time since 1990. Then came the clash with Chelsea at Anfield. That famous Steven Gerrard slip may have been the biggest talking point of that 2-0 home loss, but the best defence in the league that season coming away with a clean sheet from a ground as daunting as Anfield was no fluke. Jose Mourinho’s men were criticised throughout the season for using ‘park the bus’ tactics, but in this case, they got the 3 points they were after – a cruel reminder that justice does not exist in sport.


Liverpool’s misery didn’t end there. That damaging loss derailed their title bid, and in the next match, an away game against Crystal Palace, Brendan Rodgers’ charges surrendered a 3-0 lead in the final 11 minutes to draw 3-3, a result that left their star striker Luis Suarez in tears after the final whistle, and gifted eventual champions Manchester City the opportunity to pull 2 points clear of Liverpool in the standings, which they did with a 4-0 rout of Aston Villa. Liverpool’s incredible goal-scoring prowess papered over their defensive frailties all season, and in the end, it would come back to bite them as it cost them the title. In truth, even if Liverpool had not capitulated against Palace, City would still have won the title on goal difference. Both teams scored over a century of goals (Liverpool with 101 and City with 102), but The Citizens conceded just 37 goals compared to a dreadful 50 by Liverpool. That means that if Liverpool had won the match against Palace and other fixtures’ results stayed the same, they would have finished level on points with City, but behind them in the standings thanks to the Reds’ inferior goal difference. Had their defence been more resilient all season, the league trophy might very well have been theirs’ to take home.

Now we know that defence is important even with a strong front line, but can defence actually win trophies? Over in Spain that same season, it was a similar yet different story for Atlético Madrid. Los Rojiblancos were also enjoying a stellar league campaign, defying all expectations as they became the first side other than Real Madrid and Barcelona to win La Liga since Valencia in the 2003-04 campaign. Their 77 league goals, however, were dwarfed by their rivals’ supremacy in front of goal, with Barca and Real scoring 100 and 104 goals respectively. Their triumph that season was largely down to their defence (which was the most resilient in the league), shipping a mere 26 goals compared to 33 by Barca and 38 by Real. The sturdiness of their defence enabled them to grind out plenty of ‘ugly’ wins i.e. by a small scoreline, especially towards the end of the season when fatigue began to take its’ toll on the squad.

This goes to show that, for all the success that a good attack can bring, one cannot afford to neglect the defensive aspect of football. It is easy to forget that by keeping a clean sheet, it is not possible to lose a match, and this becomes important in competitions where a draw can at least earn a point. If the opponent’s defence holds firm against one’s attack, shutting out the opponent will, at least, prevent them from claiming the win. Even then, winning by a 1-0 score line isn’t pretty, but it’s a win nonetheless. While it is true that defending superbly won’t win matches if the front line is ineffective, the defence can certainly can make the difference between a victory, draw, or loss.

Nevertheless, problems arise when teams play overly defensive football. Especially against dominant, high-scoring sides, teams sometimes resort to extremely defensive tactics to get a result, sitting deep in their own half then hitting the opponent hard and fast on the counter. In some cases, teams take this to the extreme when they start playing aggressively physical, such as committing fouls just to break the opponents’ rhythm. This is often seen as playing anti-football – being more committed to preventing the opponent from scoring rather than actively trying to win the game. Winning ugly is one thing, doing it over and over again through the use of anti-football tactics is another. Understandably, and perhaps rightly so, teams playing like this attract plenty of criticism. Not every team can score goals at will, but everyone certainly expects a team to go all out to win every match. This brings up the question – what makes the perfect team? One of the many answers, perhaps, is strength in both attack and defence.

Take Barcelona’s 2014-15 treble success as an example. The Blaugrana scored 110 goals in the league, the 2nd highest that season, but also finished with the best defence, conceding just 21 goals en route to the title. Scoring plenty of goals while conceding relatively little, Luis Enrique’s men overcame all the hurdles before them as they swept to the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and UEFA Champions League that season. This is a quality of all the most successful teams. Scoring plenty of goals and defending well so as to win by a comfortable margin. They play each game with the intention of winning, and only win ugly when necessary, e.g. forwards are off-form, the opponent is playing anti-football etc. It is this ability that sets apart the elite clubs from the rest of the pack. And it is this ability, too, that wins trophies.


Attack and defence complement and depend on each other – a good defence will not win games if the team does not score, but at the same time, a good attack can be rendered useless by a leaky defence; outscoring the opponent can bail out a weak defence, just as shutting out the opponent prevents one from losing the match. The truth is, neither is more important than the other, and saying otherwise is a huge disrespect to all the footballers out there excelling at their roles – everyone in football knows that. Take Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets. The Spaniard might not be a prolific forward, and he used to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, but his excellence in his role as a defensive midfielder makes him an absolutely important player for both club and country. And needless to say, without their feared ‘MSN’ trident, Barca would not have been banging in goals from left, right and centre throughout last season (and the current one too). It’s down to the fact that the goals and assists usually go to the forwards or offensive midfielders, hence most of the credit, headlines and publicity goes to said players instead of those tasked with doing the team’s dirty work. Defenders usually only garner praise when their performances kept the defence safe in nervy encounters or ugly wins, but when their team wins by a big margin, it is the forwards who grab the headlines, even though the defenders might have put in an excellent performance.

Even during my school days, when the boys played football during PE class, the less skilled players would always be assigned to the defence, while the more technically skilled ones play up front or in a creative role. From there, the presumption arises that defence is ‘fodder work’. It is not. In professional football, much is expected of a defender, namely attributes such as heading, strength, and aerial ability among many others. They shoulder much of the blame when a team loses, though it might not be entirely their fault, and a good defender has to have the mental character and toughness to deal with and get over such things. Though it may seem like defending is for losers, it certainly isn’t a job that just anyone can do. The defence is by no means expendable – it’s just that defenders and their work is, generally, underappreciated. So fret not, defenders – you’re more important than you think, and your contribution to the team is very much valued no matter what!

We can certainly conclude that neither defence nor attack is more crucial than the other, but one thing’s for sure – a winning team will be firing on both fronts so it is absolutely necessary to get both right to be successful.

Source - An analysis written by Beng Jin, Planet Bola