Pat Nevin joined Off The Ball on Wednesday for The Football Show, where he spoke about a subject close to his heart; wing-play.
Off The Ball presenter Joe Molloy recounted a story that the former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon told Joe himself on a recent edition of Off The Ball, where Dixon described the silence of Ryan Giggs on the pitch as a tactic to spook defenders.
Nevin spoke about how he would never have been able to use that trick as he "wanted the ball all the time" and didn't have players quite as good as David Beckham to ping it to him.
However, while playing at Everton, Nevin did concede that one of Ireland's Italia '90 heroes Kevin Sheedy would always find him.
"The best thing to do is get the hand up, that's it," according to Nevin, before continuing "you can shout and scream as much as you want when there's 35,000 people there. They are not going to hear you."
Chelsea's Pat Nevin (centre) is chased by Nottingham Forest's Brian Rice (left) and Stuart Pearce."Every tiny little trick like that you can possibly use, you do. One of my favourite ones over the years was saying you were injured, calling over to the manager 'oh, my leg is gone. I'm knackered' and then the next time the ball comes, PING! and off you go!"
"Just to get inside the guys head, thinking 'I thought you were injured' kind of thing. So any little trick, gamesmanship, you absolutely use it.
"I like that one by Ryan Giggs is one I would not have considered using (regularly)."
Psychology
Nevin did have one opponent where he and his marker both remained silent throughout. "My silent one was always against Pearce," recalls the former Chelsea and Everton winger.
"I always wanted the ball"
Pat Nevin on why he wasn't like Ryan Giggs on tonight's Football Show@paddypowerhttps://t.co/1yHTQ5AM2H pic.twitter.com/ZhfH97puPV— Off The Ball (@offtheball) April 29, 2020
"Stuart Pearce, pure silence, I got the same from him, nothing and gave nothing away. Maybe that psychology thing was something I needed to work on."
Ryan Giggs's silence on the pitch is not unique, as he's quiet off the pitch too, according to Nevin.
"The other thing about Giggs is, he is quiet, really quiet. It's kinda hard to get anything out of him when you spend time with him.
"It's really hard to get him talking, especially within the confines of a football ground or a training ground. so getting him to talk is not that easy."
