Defending is the art of decreasing time, space and options available to your opponents...... whether it be a pass, dribble, shot or denying them the ultimate, a goal.Defending should occur all over the pitch and this should be a primary objective of all your team players when your team is not in possession of the ball.For your team, individual and collective defending will be required. Players should possess technical and tactical qualities as well as being able to demonstrate patience, concentration and a great deal of self discipline. Every position on the pitch requires your players to be able to break up or slow the play down by putting in a challenge. There are three primary objectives in defending:Preventing the opposition from turning with the ball and keeping possession.Keeping the play in front of your defenders.Directing the play, even if your team is not in possession they can dictate where they will allow play to develop.Yup that was taken from a youth coaching site... Anyway for me personally even if you're not strong technically the key thing in defending is effort and positional discipline. And cover for each other, thats all. Seeing Cannavaro win the FIFA WORLD player of the year made me recall his defensive exploits in the World cup, which in turn inspired me to read more about defending.

Hope it lasts, =)

Nasz