Arsenal legend Tony Adams has hit out at right-back Hector Bellerin as he says he still needs to learn the full-back position and do his job as a defender better than he has been.
Bellerin has often been a key player for the Gunners, but tends to be better going forward than he is at the back, and it’s clear Adams has been left unimpressed by him.
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The Spain international was the target of his criticism as he spoke after Arsenal’s defeat to Tottenham in the weekend’s North London Derby.
Adams compared Bellerin’s natural ability to that of club legend Lee Dixon, but admits that even Dixon had to fine-tune his game to become a more solid defender after initially playing more like a winger.
Even though attacking is an increasingly important part of the full-back’s role in the modern game, Adams has laid into Bellerin and insisted that more work is put in on his defensive game.
“Don’t get him on the right wing, say sit there morning and afternoon with the kid and make him a full-back,” Adams told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro.
“He’s no better or no worse than Lee Dixon when he came to the club, Hector Bellerin.
“We had little Lee Dixon, he was up that right wing playing like a right winger. I went, ‘Oi Dicko, come here. Sit here, learn your job. First and foremost, stop that ball going in that back of the net’.
“Where was Hector when the first goal went in? He was up the pitch!
“Do your job first. Learn how to be a good defender, keep clean sheets and take it from there.”
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— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) December 7, 2020