I may not have made the grade today - Le Tiss (From Daily Echo)

I may not have made the grade today - Le Tiss

11:02am Tuesday 9th October 2007 in News

Saints legend Matt Le Tissier fears he may not have even made a Premiership first team footballer had he been a professional now.

The man revered by Saints fans for his incredible performances over 16 years at the club believes that, due to his lack of natural athleticism, he may not have even been considered for a top level side now.

He said: "If I was coming through the ranks now I would probably have to be a lot fitter than I was.

"I wasn't the fittest bloke in the squad but I was fairly fit. I was not unfit. The fitness side of things was very difficult for me. I did not have a great lung capacity naturally.

"I am not sure I would even make it through to a first team because I wasn't an athlete, because I could not do the 100 metres in under 11.5 seconds and it would be very difficult to break through on talent alone. It is horrific, but that is the way it is going.

"I had a look at the Portsmouth team last week.

They had about seven players over six foot, all lightning quick, all big, strong athletes, and in this day and age that is what managers are looking for.

"You could get away with building a team around a player like me now perhaps at a smaller club, but the managers with pressure on them to win trophies very quickly would not make an allowance in a team for a Matt Le Tissier.

"And that is why I did not win many England caps, because managers were under pressure to get results quickly and they felt they could not trust me because I was not an athlete.

"My best years were when Alan Ball built a team around me. He was in charge for 66 games. I was injured for one and suspended for another, I played 64 games in behind the front two and I scored 45 goals and in that time Venables still dropped me from the England team."

Le Tissier, who scored 209 goals in 540 games for Saints, but won only eight England caps, added: "In my eyes, winning eight caps for England while at Southampton was the equivalent of winning 50 while at Manchester United.

"That is the way English managers choose the national team. They look at players playing for the big clubs first and then they go down the list to the lesser teams.

"I have no regrets about the decisions I made in my career. I scored 25 goals and 30 goals in successive seasons, not playing as a centre forward, and I barely got a sniff of an England cap. If that is not enough credentials to convince an England manager that actually I am quite a good player, then that is his problem and not mine."

For full story see today's Daily Echo.