Arsene Wenger: In the market for defensive leaders

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he is in the market for old fashioned defenders during the January transfer window.

Wenger admits he has a "few names" on his list of defensive targets and has pinpointed Chelsea's central defensive partnership of Gary Cahill and skipper John Terry as examples of the dying breed of defenders he is looking to buy.

"John Terry is a coach on the pitch," he said.

John Terry is a coach on the pitch, he's a Tony Adams, basically, organising the team because he has huge experience. Arsene Wenger

"He's a Tony Adams, basically, organising the team because he has huge experience now and reads the game well.

"Maybe (Gary) Cahill in five, six, seven years will be like that as well. He is the right age and you do not find many any more. You had more before than you do today.

"With people coming in from different countries, communication has gone from the back four, much more than before and you see less people who talk.

"They do not always speak the same language, they do not respond to situations in the same way. That has gone a little bit from our game."

Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon were Wenger's mainstays early on in his tenure at Arsenal and he has also highlighted the back four who featured in Arsenal's unbeaten season of 2003/04 as another outstanding unit.

Wenger also believes there are a lack of aggressive-minded players playing in the modern game in England.

"Certainly you had more before, yes," he said when asked if there were less leaders in the game today.

"If you look at the evolution of English football, when I arrived here I had the back four and all were English. But they were not only English, they communicated because they had the same culture, the same way to see the game,

they were educated together and communication is an important part.

"We had a great defence after that, nobody spoke about them. The 'Invincibles' team were physically fantastic. Lauren, Kolo (Toure), Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole - that was a top back four.

"I believe as well that the young boys practise well on quality pitches, whereas before it was muddy and you could throw your body in - it created opportunities for defenders to work naturally on their defensive technique.

"Today it's all more about standing up (to opponents) and there is less physical commitment because the quality of the pitches is much better.

"Maybe, as well, because our societies are less aggressive, in the football education system you cultivate less that desire, it is more about the quality of the technique and maybe that creates less defenders."