Tommy Mooney / Tommy Mooney / 21 November 2008 /

Tommy Mooney nominates the best defenders he has played against, muses on the Spanish style and relives a goal which might give comfort to Watford fans in these dark hours.

Watching the two centre-halves scoring for England in the week got me thinking about some of the toughest defenders I've come up against.

It's the really clever ones who are harder to play against. Don't get me wrong, the likes of John Terry, Sol Campbell etc. are great players, but it's the lads who have that power but also great movement too.

A couple of seasons back, I played for Wycombe against Chelsea in the League Cup semi-final - it was the first time I'd played against Ricardo Carvalho.

He's such a great reader of the game that I had the feeling wherever I was, he was as well. It wasn't that he was necessarily man-marking me, just that he was pre-empting the play and always seemed to be that crucial step ahead.

The trademark defending in the lower divisions out here is to man-mark, and mark in the literal sense; they're not frightened to leave a few on you. Better that than incur the wrath of a furious coach for not sticking tight enough.

The movement of English strikers is something the centre-halves out here aren't used to, you can tell. So they'll quite happily grab hold and keep hold of your shirt until the ref intervenes. If you do get away from them, you've got a good chance. They're so busy focused on the man that they've got true awareness of where the ball is or where the play might develop.

Teams set up zonally here when it comes to protecting their own goal at set-pieces. But in free play, it's very much a man-marking game for one with the other centre-half dealing with the ball - because one up front is the norm.

But I've always been about putting them in the net, not stopping them. I remember as a kid I was a Liverpool supporter and I'd have given anything to walk out of the Anfield tunnel in a red shirt with 'You'll Never Walk Alone' being bellowed out by the crowd.

I did the next best thing, when I scored a goal at Anfield...in front of The Kop as well. That was back in 1999 with Watford when we managed to hang on for an away win that would be our only one of that season!

As for more recent times, with those thoughts at the back of your mind, I've always considered it my job to focus on the here and now, not to think what will be or could have been happening in a year or five years' time.

You do view those sorts of dream-like scenarios differently once football becomes your occupation - although a the boys at Marbella are always arguing about whether they'd play for Madrid or Barca if the chance ever came their way.

I suppose, just by moving clubs, I've actually changed my son Kelsey's allegiance a few times. He's a Chelsea lad at heart, but Walsall were his favourite side last season and now it's Marbella. There's definitely a link somewhere there!

Something I'm not a fan of on the pitch, regardless of the colour of the shirt, is feigning injury. That and talented footballers not making the most of what they've got are my two biggest pet hates.

Out here, the stretcher comes on every week - it's almost fashionable to let everyone know you're hurt. Even the bigger lads are at it!

I'm a bit old-school but I've always cracked on. I prefer not to let my opponent know he's hurt me, that's one up to him in my book.

As for the wasters, the boys who've got a natural talent but never put it together with a bit of application, I look enviously on for a moment because I'd love to have had the natural ability some of the youngsters today have got.

I still see a lot of young players with outsanding ability, but no real passion or determination to make it count.

The Champions League starts again next week and I've been looking at the outright prices to win the tournament. I have to say I think it'll go to an English team again. They've done very well in recent years and can see that continuing. It's not going to be the big two out here; I don't think they're set up to win it this season.

My selection is Chelsea, at odds of roughly [6.0] to back. I don't think they've really been at full strength just yet, however Big Phil Scolari is getting them playing some great stuff and trying to put teams to the sword.

They've got some fabulous players about, some of which when they do come back from injury - like Michael Essien - will feel like new signings and be really fresh.

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