A Quote by Pepe
Porto prepared me really well and this didn't go unnoticed in Spain, as before I went to Real Madrid the club were known as a graveyard for centre-backs. They had amazing centre-backs that had failed there.
Related Quotes
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.
If you've got Godin and Chiellini as your centre-backs, then you can have more attacking full-backs, as opposed to defensive ones.
Right backs now should be the highest paid players in every team! Strikers just have to score. Midfielders, they pass. Goalkeepers make saves. Full backs have to mark, cover centre backs and midfield, get forward and cross, take shots and provide the link to strikers.
I always say that I need competition, and I need competition every week, and in Spain, I was at an amazing club, but I had four matches a year: Barcelona v Real Madrid, Real Madrid v Barcelona, and after that, we'd win 4-0, 5-0, 4-1, 6-1.
When you make a mistake, and the team is not doing well in defence, then the centre-backs and the 'keeper suffer more than the others.
I had a wonderful time in Spain. I had the pleasure of being a league champion twice in a row and playing for a big club like Real Madrid, which gave me a higher profile.
When I was younger, I had some close friends who always loved European football, and Real Madrid at that time were the dominant force. I remember family holidays when we used to go to Spain, and we'd bring back replica shirts of Real Madrid and pretend to be the players when we played in the park.
Centre-backs with good technique can move the ball forward, even when under pressure.
I think it's a natural progression: a lot of centre-backs start wide when they're young and move inside.
Some of the centre-backs are 90 kg. I'm only 70-something kilos - so I need to be strong.
Real Madrid are an exemplary club. I would never have had the chance to play for this club for such a long period had I really been such a crazy, violent player.
There are those who condemn five in midfield as a negative tactic, but when a side's centre-backs are as hapless as Chris Perry and Hermann Hreidarsson were on Sunday, it is not nearly negative enough.
If I watch big games like the Champions League on TV then I'm definitely watching what different centre-backs are doing in certain situations.
In 2000, with Tardelli at the helm, I really thought about leaving Inter. I had an agreement with Real Madrid and everything was ready for me to move to Spain.
I'm a defender first and foremost, and if I'm playing right centre-half, I am even more of a defender than the wing-backs.
I suffer during games. We follow the action, kicking every ball, wondering if our centre-backs can stop the cross... In some ways, you enjoy it, but your heart is always thumping.
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