Proof that Steve Bould DOES do a good job with Arsenal defenders

There have been many Arsenal rumours this summer saying that Hector Bellerin does want to return to his hometown of Barcelona, but he has now come out and done an interview on the official Arsenal website about his early years at the club. He may only be 22 now, but he arrived along with Jon Toral in 2011 at the tender age of 16, and he has revealed that he found the training sessions hard at the beginning. “We were blowing, we had no breath whatsoever,” he told Arsenal.com. “We were thinking ‘what have we got ourselves into? This is not what we came here to do!” But then in the afternoon we played some football.

“That was what struck us the most though. When we were back at Barcelona everything was with the ball, even every single physical activity, it always involved the ball.

“So it was a bit different to us but by the second season I wasn’t one of the last players in the runs, I was one of the first, so you could see the improvement I had made physically.

“That’s certainly the thing that struck me the most at first.”

Hector then went on to name the people who influenced him the most in his realier years, and surprisingly the biggest football influence was Wenger’s assistant Steve Bould who was surely brought in to help Wenger with the defensive side of training. “I could name a lot of people but if I had to say one on the pitch, then obviously Steve Bould was one of my biggest mentors, I’ve always said that,” Bellerin continued. “He’s probably the one I learnt the most from here at Arsenal.

“But as well Dennis Rockall was our kit man, and he really made us feel at home from the very first day. He got us into English culture, and even taught us some cockney rhyming slang. A load of that stuff, he told us all sorts about where to go on holiday here in the UK, all random things like that, but it was good for our knowledge and helped us settle in.

“He was a very welcoming person and was always taking care of the foreign guys. He retired a couple of years ago and it was sad, because you always like to see those sort of people around the club.

“It’s the same with Vic Akers in the first-team dressing room. I could name a lot of people who helped me at the start at Arsenal – my landlady and family that I lived with – everyone made me feel at home.”

Many fans complain about Bouldy, because the only time they ever see him is chewing gum on the touchline during games, but it would appear that he has definitely been doing his job behind the scenes with the young defenders. But after reading this interview, do you think Bellerin sounds like he wants to go back to Barcelona? Or is he very grateful to the whole Arsenal setup, especially Bouldy, for making him into a star?

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6 Comments

  1. Bellerin is arsenals’ property with his long contract so it won’t be easy for him to force a move to Barca and for Boody everyone seems to underrate is job behind the scene,so much abuse as being directed at him

  2. Arsenal has fans with OCD. They need to be entertained constantly. Few bad games and it is an end of the world. The entire stadium filled with depressive, angry and hopeless faces. With all negative atmosphere and few vigilant pundits, who write anything for money trying to fuel more the fire, the stadium lacks any supporters. And in the competition like Premier League, being positive and healthy atmosphere is the key. Arsenal Fans should learn from the success of Tottenham and Liverpool. Lack of proper titles has got into their heads. Anything less than a Premier League title in a competation of 6 equally capable teams, is a disgrace to them.

    Either stop being a fan to be happy. Or keep a reasonable expectation for the season.

    1. If you were born during the glory years like say 1990 you’d understand.

      Winning was our culture. It was all about winning.

      These days of yours now is about the money. Greedy, lizard businessmen had hijacked our Beloved club.

      If you want an organization with perfect financial structure do you mind supporting Microsoft inc. or better still Mcdonna.

      ARSENAL is a football club.

      Oh good old days!

  3. If Bould is doing such a good job why are we still playing zonal defense?!?
    I’ll tell you why – because anyone who disagrees with our cancer of a manger will be left without a job. I wish SB would grow a pair with Wenger but I understand his predicament.

    I gurentee Bouldy wouldn’t have us playing weak-ass zonal if it were up to him. He was a beast back in the day, he was all over the opposition.
    And the stats don’t lie – we’re shocking when it comes to defending set-pieces. Does Wenger make necessary changes – does he f**k! The only reason we changed to three at the back was half the stadium walked out toward the end of the season.

    Wenger out! Boycott untill he’s sacked!

  4. The criticism we read/hear of Bould and a lot of the criticism of individual defenders is misplaced and probably mostly coming from fans, who really doesn’t understand organization of a team.
    Our problem under Wenger has always been, that our offensive players haven’t been taught to defend, and he hasn’t organized the whole team defensively. So opponents are able to run through our midfield like they are plastic cones, and the pressure on the defense is simply too big.
    That is our problem and unless that is solved, we can have the best defenders in the world playing for us, and still lose too many games.

  5. our defenders are excellent at the way we play.
    our defenders go forward and back. they do not sit as a wall in front of the keeper. it is our style of playing and that is why I love the club.
    of course we will leak goals, but why would you wanna restrict holding, bellerin, monreal even Koscielny to a box role. they are not purely 100% defenders

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