Former Arsenal striker Niall Quinn who played with Bould while at Sunderland claims that what we witnessed at the Etihad was all Bould’s work after manager Arsene Wenger finally let him off the leash.
“When Steve Bould came to Sunderland he turned our dressing room inside out at the age of 36,” he said while calling in on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show.
“He played for two years with us and turned us into a team which finished in seventh in the Premier League table, two years in a row. He established this great defensive art between the young players who hadn’t learnt it before.
“He can bring that defensive stability Arsenal were always famous for. When you look back on the Arsenal teams over the years they have always been built on the likes of Tony Adams, Sol Campbell, George Graham and David O’Leary.
“There was always steel about them that got Arsenal to where they wanted to be.
“The collective desire [to defend well] has been missing recently. Bould may have just been allowed to say to the players, ‘defending is now an important factor’.
“From the outside it looks like Steve wasn’t given the complete go-ahead to restructure and redefine the Arsenal defence when he came in as Arsene’s number two.
“Now though it looks like he’s doing a good job. It all looks positive for the club going forward.”
