Gerrard's dribbling around United's area for defensive players (10)

I believe the answer is:

rearguards

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'gerrard's dribbling around united's area' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'defensive players' is the wordplay.
'defensive' becomes 'rearguard' (I've seen this before).
'players' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rearguard'+'s'='REARGUARDS'

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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