Arsene Wenger believes the art of defending has changed because football has become more technical.
Arsenal kept their first clean sheet for eight games in last weekend’s FA Cup victory over Hull City, and the manager feels that defenders are taught differently now because the quality of training pitches has improved.
“The game has become more technical, because you find more players who have a good technique,” Wenger said. “Maybe it’s because our society is less aggressive.
"Today it’s more about standing up and less physical commitment because the quality of the pitches is much better"
“In the educational football system you cultivate that intense desire less, there’s more focus on quality of the technique and maybe you create less defenders.
“I believe the young boys practice more on quality pitches. Before it was more about tackling - you could throw your body in and it created opportunities for the defenders to work naturally on their defensive techniques.
“Today it’s more about standing up and less physical commitment because the quality of the pitches is much better.
“If you look at the evolution of English football, when I arrived here the back four was English.
“They were not only English, but they communicated because they had the same culture, same way of seeing the game and they had been educated together. There was a big communication and communication is a big part of it.
“With people coming in from different countries, I think communication has gone in the back four much more than before.”
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