Former Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy was an unusual player, given that he grew up as a right-footer before spending his career in his position.
Clichy joined Arsenal as a youngster and replaced Giovani van Bronckhorst as Ashley Cole’s understudy, before eventually breaking into the side as a left-back.
Although ambidextrous or inverted players are seemingly more common at full-back nowadays, with Takehiro Tomiyasu often playing on the left given his strength on both feet, despite being stronger on his right foot, Clichy was an enigma when he was in his prime.
The former France defender is now a coach with the French under-21 side alongside Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, and he has now explained that players comfortable on both feet, like himself, are now more common, but he had encountered just two players who were entirely natural with both legs.
Gael Clichy praises Santi Cazorla’s ability with both feet
Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football, Clichy claimed that former Arsenal hero Santi Cazorla, and current Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele, were completely natural on both feet, and that his own strengths in this department came as a result of training.
“My dad was my first coach and he was giving me challenges, I was the best player when I was young like many of us, and basically goals were not allowed if I was scoring with my strong foot, so then I developed some kind of way of playing with my weaker foot,” Clichy explained of his own abilities.
“I wouldn’t class myself as a two footed player, like someone like Santi Cazorla or Dembele from PSG. It helps you, because obviously, if I block your right foot and you don’t have your left foot, then I’ve got an advantage on you.
“I’m now working with children in the under-21s, and we played a friendly game against Korea, and I’m watching their games and analysing the last five games, and I can see five players that can play both feet like Cazorla.
Gael Clichy explains advantage Santi Cazorla gave Arsenal
Clichy went on to explain why this was such a valuable, and rare skill that the Spaniard possessed.
“After 22 years of my career I only met two players that are able to perform like this. When we played them after the game, I went to speak to one of their coaches.
“He told us, ‘From a very young age, we don’t ask them to play both feet, we force them to play it,’ so they have a way of making sure players can be balanced, and I find this very fascinating.
“That’s a hell of an advantage. Definitely you can see it with Cazorla, set pieces, right, left, you close his left foot and he will go on the right, you close his right because you know he has a good shot, that he would chop it and and use his left.
“I think that’s something that we should encourage during the Academy because that’s very valuable.”
Cazorla became a cult hero at Arsenal before his career was interrupted by a long-term injury, and a big part of what made the Spaniard special was his ability on both feet.
The midfielder could take set-pieces comfortably with either foot, and this skill also made him an incredibly valuable option in deep midfield to build-up play on the ball and evade high pressure.
In modern football, it now appears that more players are training both feet from a young age, like Clichy did, to develop this rare skill that Cazorla had, but it remains to be seen how many players may become as successful as the popular Arsenal icon, who has been named by many former teammates as one of the most talented players they have seen.
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