It’s well known that Az wasn’t always a right-back. I used him as a winger on either side, and even then, at 16, he had wonderful defensive responsibility – it was just his end product we were trying to work on. He was a great defensive midfield player too. He had these long legs, so when you think you’ve got past him, he’d tackle you when you thought you’d gotten away. It was absolutely incredible. These go-go-gadget legs come from nowhere, just when you think you’ve got past him. Bang. He’s got you.



Like any club, we’d send the boys up to train with the first team, so Azza had been training in and around the seniors for about a year before what turned out to be a pivotal day in his career.



He was up against Wilf Zaha and Andros Townsend, two horribly tricky, fast, tough opponents, but he did absolutely brilliantly. People have spoken publicly about how impressive Azza was in that session. Afterwards, Kevin Keen, who had been taking training, came up to me and Dave to chat about Aaron and suggested that we try playing him at full-back. We had a cup of tea and a discussion, and we played Aaron at right-back against Charlton in our next game.



You could say that one of the goals we conceded was Aaron’s fault. Early on, he was caught out, the ball was played inside him and suddenly we were 1-0 down. We fought back to draw 2-2, but after that game, in a different environment, that might have been the end of Aaron’s career as a full-back. There are a lot of people in the development business for results and nothing more, so some coaches might have played him at right-back, decided that he’d cost the team a goal, abandoned the idea and gone out to get another right-back on loan to make up the numbers. It drives me mad and I’m so passionate about this results-driven culture in the academy system. That actually happens. It’s not all about results, it’s about developing players. If you can get results along the way and train in a happy environment, then of course it helps. I’m not going to deny that, but I’m in development for development. The job is to develop individual talent within that group.



We played Aaron at right-back, drew some games, lost some games and he wasn’t always at his best. So what? Who cares? That’s the only way he’s going to learn.



As well as testing him in the pressure of games, me and Dave would take him out in the mornings, in the afternoons and he’d work on his heading, work on punching balls up to the forwards, work on positioning… we just kept working. The more we kept working, the better he got.



Just before his first team debut, there had been talk of Az going out on loan. He phoned me up to chat about it. I told him to go and see the manager, so he went to see Roy Hodgson. Roy said no, firstly because the squad had some injuries, but also because I think the manager saw something in Az that we’d also seen. A lot of managers might have got a senior player to fill in at right-back, so Roy takes massive credit as well for having the foresight to back Aaron to do a job.



By God, did he do a job.



I remember his first games in the first team, against Spurs, United and Chelsea. They were his first three games – what a baptism – but he was sensational. Me and Dave would be on the phone to each other during the games, chatting about how Azza was getting on. We’d be giggling like little kids at the stuff he was doing.



He was outstanding against United, absolutely brilliant. Playing at Selhurst Park under lights is a special feeling, and watching him do it took me back to my own career, made me think that it didn’t feel too long since I’d been doing it. It was brilliant to watch.



From there, his career took off. Look where he is now.