Ian Wright says former Arsenal defender was absolutely ‘crazy’ in training and used to wear sharp studs

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Ian Wright has named the Arsenal teammate who would be crazy to face in training – and would even wear sharp studs.

Ian Wright had an incredible spell at Highbury following his arrival in 1991. By the time he left the club in 1998, he had become the Gunners’ all-time leading goalscorer.

But he was far from being the only Premier League great in the Arsenal ranks in that time. Of course, the Gunners played their part in arguably the greatest rivalry the league has seen since 1992, with Arsene Wenger winning three league titles.

But they were also known for being one of the hardest teams to beat, with one of the most reliable backlines the Premier League has ever seen.

The likes of David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn and Tony Adams all played with Wright more than 200 times for Arsenal (via Transfermarkt). But there was another defender at the club who clearly had a distinct way to push Wright on the training ground.

Ian Wright says Martin Keown was ‘crazy’ to face

Martin Keown made almost 450 appearances for the club across two spells. The Englishman was known for his no-nonsense style. And it seems that he did not let up when up against his own teammates.

Speaking on Stick to Football, Wright shared how tough it was to face Keown in training.

“It helped being with Martin Keown because if you have someone like Martin who is marking you every day in training you have to do something to get away from him,” he said.

“And even if you did get away from him, he’d still scratch you, still catch you, it doesn’t make it an easy thing to get away.

“He used to wear sharp studs in training. He was crazy. It was a good thing to be marked by someone that aggressive.

“It was really strange, before I signed for Arsenal he was really tough to play against, but when you play against him every day you learn certain things and when you get marked by a player that tight, it’s up to service.”

A brilliant period for Arsenal

Some players simply had to train how they would play. And clearly, Keown was one of those who needed to replicate a match environment.

It clearly did not do Arsenal much harm. Wright never made fewer than 30 league appearances in a single season until his final year in North London. So Keown obviously did not go too far at any stage.

There is a fine line between demanding the standards are high and going too far and being reckless.

Given the career Keown had, and the way Arsenal progressed again as the 1990s went on, you have to say that the centre-back probably got the balance spot on – even if Wright may not have always felt that way at the time.