Happy Birthday Matt Le Tissier

[Paulwantsapint81]

Matt Le Tissier 52 today

Forget the recent controversy the greatest player I ever saw play for saints

How would have he have done in a era of better players (no disrespect to his teammates)?

Think he would have adapted to Poch, Koeman & Ralph teams because the pressing would have meant winning the ball with runners awaiting a pass

 

 

 

[Sarnia Cherie]

I am biased towards Matt because we were born on the same little island. That aside he was a great footballer. Not the nippiest in the world as he would be the first to admit but, boy, could he score goals from nothing. Plus, he was loyal to Southampton, something in short supply in today's football. 

[Noodles34]

Think he might have struggled in todays game. Not sure any manager would have the time or patience to play him consistently. His work rate was pretty shocking back in the day but it didn’t matter so much then, you didn’t rely on the team defending as a unit, you relied on the likes of Jimmy Case and left Matt to get the ball and set up (wasn’t known as assist back then) or score. I think Grealish is the nearest we have today but he also works for the team. 
Glad to have seen him back in the day, he was exceptional and lost count of the number of non saints fans that would also drool over him and the rounds of applause he would get from oppo supporters. 

[Piran]

6 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

Think he might have struggled in todays game. Not sure any manager would have the time or patience to play him consistently. His work rate was pretty shocking back in the day but it didn’t matter so much then, you didn’t rely on the team defending as a unit, you relied on the likes of Jimmy Case and left Matt to get the ball and set up (wasn’t known as assist back then) or score. I think Grealish is the nearest we have today but he also works for the team. 
Glad to have seen him back in the day, he was exceptional and lost count of the number of non saints fans that would also drool over him and the rounds of applause he would get from oppo supporters. 

I disagree. You're talking about talent here. Any manager who couldn't get their talent to perform in their team ain't a very good manager, in my view. Similar things have been said over the years about Stanley Matthews, Dixie Dean, Tommy Lawton, George Best and so on. Do we just want to watch athletic work-horses who fit into a team ethic? I don't think MLT was that much of a slouch, anyway. I watched him score at Chelsea once, racing away from the defence to slot home. I expect most of those Chelsea defenders would beat him in a 50 yard sprint, but Matt's speed was in his thinking and execution. And, as you say, many oppo supporters were quick to appreciate him, a rare event, though that may have stemmed from the realisation that while he was brilliant, the team around him often didn't threaten their own team.

[Barsiem]

Yeah he definitely would have been great today as well.  I also think he could and would have adapted to the right manager and worked well in a high press team

[CamSaint]

A couple of years ago I went on a 'Legends' tour of the Emirates Stadium hosted by Charlie George. In the Q&A session at the end, I asked him if he thought he would have been able to deal with the fitness levels needed in the modern game. He said that, growing up, all he ever wanted to do was play for Arsenal and he would have done whatever it took took to try to achieve that ambition. If that meant improving fitness he would have worked at it. I imagine MLT would have been the same - despite his incredible skill,  I guess he would worked to reach whatever fitness levels were needed to play at the highest level. It might not have been at Ralph's standard of fitness, of course!

Incidentally, Charlie George was a superb host for the tour - he's a real character and was very entertaining. He made an effort to speak to everyone individually as we went round. The tour happened to take place one Saturday lunchtime when Arsenal were playing at White Hart Lane in a 12.00 KO & he kept checking his phone for the score updates - he wasn't a happy bunny as Arsenal lost 2-0!

[sadoldgit]

13 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

Think he might have struggled in todays game. Not sure any manager would have the time or patience to play him consistently. His work rate was pretty shocking back in the day but it didn’t matter so much then, you didn’t rely on the team defending as a unit, you relied on the likes of Jimmy Case and left Matt to get the ball and set up (wasn’t known as assist back then) or score. I think Grealish is the nearest we have today but he also works for the team. 
Glad to have seen him back in the day, he was exceptional and lost count of the number of non saints fans that would also drool over him and the rounds of applause he would get from oppo supporters. 

I thought the same thing when I heard that Ozil had been left out of the Arsenal Prem squad. It isn’t enough to be a gifted footballer nowadays, you need to be able to run for 95 minutes and tackle too. If Matt did find a place in a Premiership club I have a feeling he would have spent a lot more time on the bench.

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, sadoldgit said:

I thought the same thing when I heard that Ozil had been left out of the Arsenal Prem squad. It isn’t enough to be a gifted footballer nowadays, you need to be able to run for 95 minutes and tackle too. If Matt did find a place in a Premiership club I have a feeling he would have spent a lot more time on the bench.

What a load of pony. I didn’t see Tadic running around for 95 mins, didn’t see him flying into many tackles. 

[Gingeletiss]

Wasn't there a quote once, from Pele, who said, that MLT was the only Englishman who would of got into a Brazilian team. 

[Turkish]

12 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of pony. I didn’t see Tadic running around for 95 mins, didn’t see him flying into many tackles. 

Lambert wasn't exactly a workhorse either. Although our i remember our great fans screaming to "run Lambert you lazy c*nt" a few times 

[BallBoy]

Thanks for all the wonderful memories Matt. Bally got the tactics right. "Just give him the ball".

[Sarnia Cherie]

1 hour ago, BallBoy said:

Thanks for all the wonderful memories Matt. Bally got the tactics right. "Just give him the ball".

One of our better managers, Alan Ball and, heaven help us, we have had some right turkeys in our time.

[sadoldgit]

On 22/10/2020 at 21:23, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of pony. I didn’t see Tadic running around for 95 mins, didn’t see him flying into many tackles. 

Exactly Duckie, which is probably why he is currently plying his trade in the Eredivisie and not the Premier League.

[Lord Duckhunter]

On 22/10/2020 at 21:23, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of pony. I didn’t see Tadic running around for 95 mins, didn’t see him flying into many tackles. 

 

10 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

Exactly Duckie, which is probably why he is currently plying his trade in the Eredivisie and not the Premier League.

I “didn’t” , as opposed to I “don’t”. 
 

Are you trying  to claim Tadic wasn’t good enough for The Premier League and that’s why he went to Holland? 
 

[sadoldgit]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

 

I “didn’t” , as opposed to I “don’t”. 
 

Are you trying  to claim Tadic wasn’t good enough for The Premier League and that’s why he went to Holland? 
 

 Not at all. But if you recall we were talking about how work rate has become just as important as skill (hence Ozil being dumped from the Arsenal squad) and whether MLT would have got so much match time nowadays). I think Tadic is a quality player but as you say, his off the ball work was not so good. Grealish clearly combines the two well, but the days where you can field a flare player just for his skill alone seem to be long gone, certainly in the Premier league anyway, with its emphasis on the high press. Can you imagine MLT chasing and harrying? 

[Toussaint]

Only on Saintsweb could  wishing someone a happy birthday degenerate into a squabble! 🤣