Dossena: No Catenaccio At Anfield

Liverpool’s new signing from Udinese, Andrea Dossena, has told the club’s fans they needn’t fear an outbreak of Italian-style catenaccio defence next season.

Italian football sets the benchmark by which defensive excellence is measured, with the catenaccio blanket-style defence perfected in the 1960s as the bedrock of the 1-0 win and forever associated with Serie A, even though things have evolved and been refined since then.

It is a highly effective tactical approach, though not necessarily conducive to the most entertaining football; and Andrea Dossena, the new left-back at Anfield following his £8 million move from Udinese this summer, is not a great catenaccio fan.

Indeed, he positively dislikes it, and told Liverpool‘s fans not to expect it at Anfield next season.

"I am not a fan of catenaccio, it's not for me," Dossena told the club‘s official LFC Magazine. "I don't like it when teams just try to pass the ball around to waste time.

"If you concede a goal in the last minute of a game, it could be that all your efforts have been wasted. I don't really like the talk about Italian football being all about the defence and attacking on the break.

"Of course, I see myself as a defender but I like to be flexible too. If there is a chance to attack I am very happy to go forward. I am not the type of player who is happy to settle for a 1-0 win.

"I believe in always playing to win and trying to score more goals."