Football: The Best Defences And Why

There is no doubt that having a good defensive set-up helps you win trophies as every great team that has dominated the Premier League has had a solid back line. The brilliant Manchester United sides always had top-class defenders like Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville while Chelsea had John Terry and Ashley Cole. Without a solid defence even the best attacking teams struggle to win the league – you just need to look at Liverpool’s recent failed title chases to understand the importance of defending as a unit.

So who has got the goods, defensively?

Spurs

Spurs are one of the few teams in the Premier League with a host of world-class defenders. Hugo Lloris is also a key figure as the France number one has been a consistent performer with an exceptional ability to save long-range efforts.

Throw in his commanding manner in the penalty area and he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the league. Ahead of him sits the league’s finest centre-back, Toby Alderweireld. The Belgium international has been a sensational signing for Mauricio Pochettino due to his leadership, great range of passing and his expertise in one-on-one situations.

The final part of a good defence is a dominant holding midfielder and Spurs has one of the best in the league in Eric Dier. The England midfielder was actually a defender before Pochettino moved him to a more advanced role and his tactical awareness in terms of dropping in deep to support his central defenders is unrivalled in the Premier League. He plays like a quarterback and often goes unnoticed but without him The Lilywhites would not have such a secure defence.

West Brom

Some teams are designed to defend from top to bottom including their forwards and one of those is West Brom.

Tony Pulis has a strict defensive mindset with a high demand on fullbacks to sit deep alongside the two central defenders while two holding midfielders play pretty much on top of the defence and Pulis’s strikers play as attacking midfielders.

They stop teams having any space in between the lines to play passes and suffocate the opposition within their own half by not allowing any areas to play into with ease.

West Brom is statistically the least attacking team in the league but the squad has an average height of 6’ 1”, highlighting the Baggies strategy of trying to win games through set pieces and balls into the box. It’s not the nicest football to watch but it’s one way to survive in the toughest league in the world of you can’t spend a ton of money on new signings.

Chelsea

If you were to combine the way Spurs and West Brom defend you’d find yourself at Chelsea. The Blues have a perfect combination of a classy, good footballing defence and a rigid attitude that makes them horrible to play against. Chelsea also has one of the world’s best goalkeepers in Thibaut Courtois.

The back three consists of defenders who can all play out from the back and are all physically adequate and relatively quick.

They are supported by two wing-backs who have absolutely no problems defending but are both deadly in the final third too.

Like Spurs, Chelsea has one of the best in the world in N’Golo Kante in front of the back line and the amount of ground he covers in and around the defence makes it a lot easier for the back line to dominate the way they do. If you want to shape a defence to be as close as possible to perfect from both a defending and attacking sense, Chelsea is the one you want to try to imitate.

 

by Nubaid Haroon

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