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| Le Tissier spent his entire career at Southampton |
Le Tissier is one of those players whose
records speak for the man. He is the first ever midfielder in the history of
the English Premier League to reach 100 goals; a figure that was unheard of
till the 90s for a midfielder in the then EPL, now BPL. He was a footballer of
exceeding abilities, which was not hard to determine from his dribbling prowess,
spot kick and free kick abilities, and short bursts of runs despite the heavy
built. In fact, he served as a role model for all those slightly heavy players
who aspired to make it big as professional footballers.
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| The Englishman scored a famous hat-trick for England 'B' against Russia 'B' in the run up to the 1998 World Cup but was still overlooked for the senior side by then manager Glen Hoddle. The expert penalty taker that he was, England were to go out on penalties to Argentina that year |
Interest from bigger clubs could have probably
put Le Tissier in the limelight and given him his due but he chose to stay with
Southampton where we won the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990, ahead of
players like Aston Villa legend David Platt, Spurs’ highest scorer of the
season Gary Lineker, Man United ace Mark Hughes and Liverpool star John Barnes.
While a lot of present Premier League fans might not recall his name, he can be
seen regularly on Sky Soccer Saturday as a football pundit.
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| Barcelona superstar Xavi once said of the legend," His talent was simply out of the norm. He could simply dribble past seven or eight players but without speed - he just walked past them. For me he was sensational" |
Matt Le Tissier has to his credit 209
goals from 540 appearances for the Saints, and his subsequent rejections for
offers from Spurs and Chelsea etched his name in the club’s books as one of the
greatest legends to have ever played for them. He is still revered by his fans
today as much as he was adored back then in the 1990s. After his retirement, Le
Tissier had one of the hospitality suites at St. Mary’s stadium named after him
and also an apartment block built on the old side of The Dell.
A footballer who didn’t wish to be named
quoted something that carries the essence of Le Tissier’s game: “The key to his
game was everything that is beautiful about it. He made it seem like an art
form – extravagant penalties, stunning free-kicks, beautiful long-range
efforts, attention to dribbling and skills that, frankly, aren’t seen often
enough in this country”.
P.S: If you love this game, you should
spare 5 minutes and watch Matthew Le Tissier’s wizardry! Mozart’s background
score only does justice to his moves!
Written by,
Kanhaiya Maheshwary
Kanhaiya writes for 18YB
Follow us at @18YB06
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