Matty Cash hails former Aston Villa star as ‘one of the best the Premier League has ever seen’

Matty Cash is winning his own plaudits this season but he knows a good full-back when he sees one too.

Aston Villa have already played against and beaten the player Cash named as ‘one of the best full-backs the Premier League has ever seen’ in a recent interview.

With 157 Premier League appearances and 22 international caps under his belt and on his head, the 28-year-old former Nottingham Forest winger has played with and against a few.

“As a full-back now, you have to be ready to change your roles and play as a deeper full-back at times when you’re playing against teams who play with quick wingers and stay high up, and you need to be more wary of them rather than doing your own thing,” the Polish international told TNT Sports.

‘What the manager has done is fantastic’

“You also have to make wingers worried about you as a full-back because there are times when you can attack, overlap and join the play,” said Cash.

“Tactically at Villa, what the manager has done is fantastic, where we have roles and responsibilities, and we adjust tactically to who and when we’re playing.

“I love watching full-backs and study their game a lot in different scenarios – it could be one-v-one defending or how they engage wingers – and I try and add that to my game.”

Cash, who’s been in excellent form for Villa this season and was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for October, isn’t shy about naming names.

He paid tribute to three England defenders including one with a short spell at Villa on his CV.

“I love watching Reece James because I think he is a fantastic footballer, and he’s an unbelievable defender as well,” he said. “I also like watching Trent [Alexander-Arnold] but I think Kyle Walker has been one of the best full-backs that the Premier League has ever seen.”

Kyle Walker at Villa

Now at Burnley, Walker joined Villa on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in January 2011, playing 15 times in the Premier League and making three appearances in the FA Cup, scoring once in each.

The future England international impressed at Villa under the late Gérard Houllier and understudy Gary McAllister in the second half of the 2010/11 season.

Villa were far from brilliant that season. There were stylistic positives and vague hints at a more sustainable tactical and financial approach, but they flirted with the relegation battle throughout the season.

Walker left at the end of the season after helping Villa to lift themselves into the top half with a pair of wins against Arsenal and Liverpool in the last two matches.

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