During his playing career, John Giles would have come up against some of the world's best players.
Tonight on Off The Ball, the Ireland legend was discussing changing tactical trends and back threes when talk turned to the sweepers and defenders he came up against like England World Cup winner Bobby Moore and Germany and Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer.
Listen to the full chat on the podcast player
"Beckenbauer, I played against him a couple of times and he was absolutely brilliant. He started off as a midfield player and how he was so great was because he was extremely quick and could read the game well. He had great control and great passing ability. So when he moved into the back four, he was a really good defender but he could come out at the right time into the middle of the field and he would never give the ball away," John reminisced.
As for Moore, he also had memories of the ex-England and West Ham's skipper's style.
Franz Beckenbauer lifts the World Cup in 1974 ©INPHO/Getty
"Bobby wasn't quick. He was actually a bit slow but he read the game so well. A lovely distributor of the ball. I'd go for Beckenbauer over Bobby Moore. Beckenbauer was unbelievably quick. [Moore] very seldom ventured into the middle of the field whereas Beckenbauer could."
He also revealed that he played alongside Moore just the once in a 1973 EU friendly game and said that on a week to week basis he would put his former Leeds team-mate Norman Hunter over Moore, although the roles would be reversed on the big occasion.
"When it came to the cup finals and World Cup matches, he had that extra class that Norman didn't. But Norman was the best defender I played with."
John also praised the "outstanding" Tottenham forward Harry Kane who he believes will get an England call-up soon and said that he would have loved him to play for Ireland. He also thinks QPR top scorer Charlie Austin is benefiting from his unique and relatively late entry into professional football.
John also recalled how he always got the same present every Christmas as a child - not that he was complaining.
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