Home of football statistics and historyFormer Arsenal star Nigel Winterburn has claimed that the modern way of defending in the Premier League is not all it is cracked up to be.
The last few years has seen a shift towards a more possession-based style of play, with teams encouraging their defenders to build moves from the back.
This has benefited clubs such as Manchester City and Liverpool, who have the resources to go out and buy the best players to implement the system.
Arsenal have attempted to follow the trend under manager Mikel Arteta, with the Spaniard keen to see his team play an expansive style of football.
However, following the trend has not delivered the desired results as most of Arsenal’s defensive options lack the necessary skills to play this way.
For Nigel Winterburn the new ideas are an alien concept after being part of one of the most famed defensive units in Arsenal’s history.
In a recent interview with Betway Insider, the ex-Gunners left-back discussed how then-manager George Graham used to work on defensive shape.
“I think if we were to go out and walk through some of the training sessions that George put on for our back four with a modern player, they might look at you in disbelief,” said Winterburn.
“We used to go out a couple of times a week and it would just be the back four with the manager on the training pitch. There wouldn’t even be a goalkeeper and we wouldn’t have the ball on the floor.
“He would be jogging through positions that we would have to react to, imagining there was a piece of rope in between each player so the lines always stayed the same and you move in sync.”
“There was a lot more discipline involved compared to now.”
Winterburn undoubtedly understood the art of defending as a player, helping Arsenal win seven major trophies during his time at the club.
He formed a formidable backline alongside Lee Dixon, Tony Adams and Steve Bould, with the latter eventually replaced by Martin Keown who picked up the baton.
His time as a coach was less successful, as Winterburn lasted just a few months at Blackburn Rovers after being brought in by Paul Ince to work with the defence.
He was deemed surplus to requirements when Sam Allardyce replaced Ince, and now focuses on his work as a pundit.
Despite this, Winterburn insists that the way he was told to defend was much better than how modern Premier League coaches instruct their teams to play.
“We were always judged by what we did defensively under George,” he added.
“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.”
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