Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United on Smart Defending

In a recent interview Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United gave his thoughts on the thinking side of playing defense at a high level.  Here are six topics and his advice on each.

1.  Stay calm and assured
"I played midfield as a kid so going back into defense I was always relaxed on the ball.  If you show panic when the ball comes to you, that panics your teammates.  It's good to stay as calm as you can and just pass the ball to a player on your team.  Body language goes a long way.  If you can make people around you feel more confident and relaxed, then your team has got a better chance of winning."

2. Know your surroundings
"When the ball comes to you, you have got to have a picture in your head of what's around you.  You have to know where players are on the field, not just because it is the way the team plays, but if the ball comes to you and you haven't got an idea of where your midfielders, fullbacks or forwards are, then where are you going to pass it.  When the ball comes to me I like to know in my head where the next pass is going to be.  Some like Scholes probably knows a couple of passes ahead of everyone else."

3. Get your head up
"Sometimes the ball comes to you and your head goes down.  That's trigger for the forward to put pressure on you.  You get your head back up and he is only two yards away from you.  When the ball is coming in, get your head up and look around at where people are moving to.  By the time the ball gets to me I know whether I have time to take a touch or whether I have to release it first time."

4. All eyes on the enemy
"When there's a ball over the top and you are chasing it down facing your own goal, you've got to work out where the player applying pressure is.  If he is goalkeeper side, sometimes I fake to play it to the keeper and he'll take a step or two towards the keeper, which gives me another yard when I turn the other way.  Then I've got an extra second on the ball to pick out a pass.  The person who is chasing me makes my mind up as to where I am going to play the ball."

5.  Dictate the play
"If you're playing against a really quick, skillful player, make sure you are within touching distance on his first touch.  If you let him get into his stride and start running at you, you're in big trouble.  On the other hand, you get a physical striker who loves contact. Try to do different things to get him off his game that he is not used to.  People that are big and physical are not as good if they haven't got contact with you.  If they an't back into you they don't know where you are.  Try to keep them guessing."

6. Nudge, nudge
"If you're marking a player at a set piece, the best thing you can do is be touch-tight.  You can't hold shirts and stuff like that, but as the ball is coming in, you can nudge them and get them off-balance.  If you let someone who is good in the air get a run on you and you're standing waiting on the ball, you're never going to win it.  It's important that you go toe-to-toe with them and wherever they run, you run and attack the ball."