Premier League Title Winner On The lost Art Of Defending

Nigel Winterburn's name is synonimous with Arsenal football club, which is enrirely understandable given that he played nearly 500 games for the Gunners, however he also played 94 games for West Ham after joining the club in 2000 before eventually retiring in 2003.

We in conjunction with Betway, spoke with Nigel about how it was to be a combative defender during his time as both a Gooner and a Hammer. In Nigel's time defenders had a different role to play than those of the current day, this is what he had to say“ The way that teams are playing out from the back, modern defenders and full-backs have got be very comfortable on the ball because they're often in advanced areas,” he continued.“But we were always judged by what we did defensively under George (Graham). “Down my side I could go and play, but you knew that Lee [Dixon] would have to tuck round alongside the other two centre halves and vice versa if Lee went.“Yes, we did play it out from the back at times when Arsene Wenger took over, but as soon as the goalkeeper got the ball, it’s up to the halfway line and you’d play from the knockdowns.I think the whole ethos of the game, particularly how quick it is, has changed.“When I first started, the game was a lot slower. You think about the conditions, very rarely would you get a green pitch after Christmas.”The quality of the pitches has certainly made a huge difference to defenders’ ability to play out from defence."

The nature of the challenges that defenders come up against has also changed, back in the day there were some 'brutal' exchanges that would be classified as 'horror storys' in the current climate. There was no such thing as a ‘false nine’ in the 90s, while it was normal practise for teams to line up with two strikers rather than one. Consequently defenders were in for a potential battering every time they stepped on the pitch. Players like Wimbledon's Fash The Bash and Mick Harford saw it as their duty to rough up centre halfs and intimidate them.

There are few, if any, 'full force' tackles that were 'commited' then that would be allowed today, indeed Hammers legend Billy Bonds was renowned for being able to send players way over the advertising hoardings and into the crowd as a 'welcoming' gesture, usually within the first few minutes of a game, how things have changed?

It's impossible to go back in time and although many fans view the past era through rose tinted classes as the halcyon days of the sport, they should remember how atrocious the pitches were AND how rampant hooliganism was as well as the endemic racism that was associated with the game at the time.

We miss the hard tackles, but not the career ending injuries, the Racism or the risk of getting a kicking on the way home from grounds, especially as a visiting supporter! - Ed