Luděk Mikloško, best know for his time at West Ham, has revealed it wasn’t pleasant for him to face the likes of Leeds United, Wimbledon and Millwall during his time in England.
The Czech spent eight years with the Hammers between 1990 and 1998, making 374 appearances in the process. He left them for Queens Park Rangers.
Following his retirement, the 59-year-old returned to West Ham to take up a coaching role, before leaving again in March 2010.
Today’s edition of Czech newspaper Mladá fronta DNES has a long interview with the former custodian, during which he detailed how modern goalkeepers have evolved.
When talking about himself, Mikloško said: “Everything was slower. When West Ham bought me, I was almost thirty and my game with my legs wasn’t great.
“Sure, I could hit it all over the pitch, it flew out of my hand during the kick-offs, but I wasn’t accurate. You will be surprised, but I perfected the technique as a goalkeeper coach.”
“I didn’t mind, football was like that, I had to adapt. Today, every tackle from the side or back is whistled, the forward pins against the goalkeeper… means at least yellow. You are right, we were not protected in the 90s,” he explained.
To explain further, Mikloško used the difficulties he faced when facing the likes of Leeds United, Wimbledon and Millwall. He even detailed an incident with former Leeds striker Brian Deane.
“Especially games with Wimbledon, Millwall or Leeds, it used to be a massacre. They were played by thugs who were not afraid of anything. It was rugby, not football. I went home with a broken nose, blue ribs,” Mikloško stressed.
“For example, Brian Deane from Leeds hit me with his elbow during a jump so that he buried his eye in the middle of my head. Haunting pain. The pressure tore the skin from my nose to my eye. Ten minutes until the break, so I told the doctor, put Vaseline on it so it doesn’t bleed. It was halfway through, but I kept catching.
“It wouldn’t happen [now], but in the modern sense I miss the real goalkeeper courage.”
