Matt Le Tissier is considered one of Southampton’s greatest ever players. This was due to his catalogue of outrageous goals that helped Southampton defy the odds and avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Over the course of 16 years on the south coast, Le Tissier scored 195 goals in 518 appearances. Such was his influence, he was affectionately known by Saints fans as Le God.
As one of the most gifted players in the Premier League era, Le Tissier was deadly on set pieces and from the spot, where he converted 47 of 48 career penalties. Le Tissier also played with some very capable players. With that in mind, he once named his all-time best XI of Southampton teammates.
Tim Flowers
Goalkeeper
Tim Flowers
Le Tissier came through the ranks at the Dell as Flowers was brought to the club from Wolves as a teenager. By the 1990s, Flowers had become part of Chris Nicholl's young and entertaining Southampton side. Le Tissier was full of glowing praise for his former goalkeeping colleague:
"An absolutely superb goalkeeper but also brilliant in the changing room. A real character. Always had great banter. Whenever you gave him a bit of stick, he’ll always come back with something funnier. I played with some great goalkeepers: Peter Shilton, Bruce Grobbelaar and Dave Beasant, but for me the best was Tim Flowers."
Derek Statham
Left-back
At left-back is perhaps a lesser-known name for football fans of today, with Le Tissier picking Derek Statham. The full-back played over 300 games for West Brom before joining Saints. It was rumoured Statham was to join Liverpool at the height of their 1980s powers, but he failed a medical due to scar tissue around his ankle. He proved any doubters wrong, winning the player of the year award in his first season with Saints. Le Tissier said:
"Derek was the best footballing left-back I played with. Wayne Bridge also came into consideration for this, but as a footballer I’ve never seen a defender who is so calm in situations around the box. He had a brilliant football brain and was a brilliant passer of the ball."
Jeff Kenna
Right-back
Jeff Kenna
Jeff Kenna was a tenacious defender for Saints, who was competent overlapping on the flank. After life at Southampton, he would go on to be part of the Blackburn Rovers side that won the 1995 Premier League title.
Although there was a fair churn of players during Le Tissier’s time at Southampton, he didn’t play with a huge number of right-backs. Le Tissier noted:
"I only really played with three right-backs in my whole career. Gerry Forrest was the first when I got in the side, then Jason Dodd and then Jeff. Going forward, he was brilliant and was just a little bit better as a defender than Jason.”
Mark Wright
Centre back
Mark Wright
Mark Wright played for England in the 1986 World Cup while a Saints player. He would go on to represent England four years later in Italy, but by then he was a Derby County player.
"Wrighty was a footballing centre-back. He came from Oxford and didn’t look much like a defender as he was stick thin but as a centre-back he read the game brilliantly well."
Le Tissier commented that Wright was more than capable of coming out of defence with the ball. Although he also claimed that when he once turned Wright inside out at Anfield, the defender wasn’t too pleased.
Dean Richards
Centre back
Dean Richards
Dean Richards played for very consistently for Southampton over a few seasons in the late 1990s and early 2000s. For Le Tissier, Richards gets the nod in his line-up just ahead of former Southampton and Norway international Claus Lundekvam:
"We got him from Wolves and there was question marks about his fitness, people said he had dodgy knees and sometimes he’d train you’d think ‘how is he going to get through a game on a Saturday?’ But he did and he was phenomenally consistent."
Tragically, Richards passed away in 2011 aged just 36. He was a towering presence in Southampton’s defence.
Danny Wallace
Right wing
Danny Wallace
Danny Wallace (pictured centre) was a fan favourite at the Dell in the 1980s and scored some spectacular goals. He also played alongside his brothers Ray and Rod. Le Tissier recognised Danny's incredible pace and ability to do something special:
"Danny was already in the first-team when I was an apprentice. He was one of those players I would go and watch the games and watch him. Whenever he got to within 30 yards of goal, as a spectator, you would think ‘what’s going to happen here?’ because he had that electric pace and could go past people at the drop of a hat."
Jimmy Case
Centre midfield
Jimmy Case
Le Tissier picked a four across the midfield, starting with Jimmy Case in the middle of the park. Case won six league titles and three European Cups during his time at Liverpool. His toughness and quality on the ball made him hugely popular with Southampton fans, as Le Tissier noted:
"He would go out of his way to give me the ball if I wasn’t involved in the game. He was a brilliant leader and you’d want him in your team. He was like our minder. If anyone took us out of the game he would give them one a couple of minutes later when the referee wasn’t watching."
Ronnie Ekelund
Centre midfield
Ronnie Ekleund
Le Tissier picked a lesser-known name to play alongside Jimmy Case. Ronnie Ekelund was brought to the Saints by Alan Ball from Barcelona. The Dane linked up sensationally with Le Tissier, before injuries took hold of his career. The two played together during the 1994/95 season - Le Tissier’s favourite of his career. He even claimed Ekelund was his 'most talented' teammate:
"From the very first training session, we were on the same wavelength. I’m not being disrespectful, but that didn’t happen very often. He almost though the same way that I thought and from day one we got on brilliantly. He was the most talented footballer I played with at Southampton."
Rod Wallace
Left wing
Rod Wallace
Rod Wallace had electric pace on the left and he teamed up beautifully with Le Tissier in attacking areas for Southampton. Wallace would go on to play for Leeds United when they won the old first division title. Le Tissier said:
"Rodney was one of the most underrated players I have played with. He should have been knocking on the door of the England squad. He made a lot of my passes look very good. He was so quick. Early in my career we would play as a front three with Rodney, me and Alan Shearer. We didn’t play as wingers, we would cut in all the time and me and Rodney would score all the goals, Alan would be the one crossing the balls."
Alan Shearer
Striker
alan shearer southampton
Next, Le Tissier picked one of the Premier League’s best players of the 1990s. England legend Alan Shearer to go up front. Shearer scored a Southampton hat-trick against Arsenal on his debut as a 17-year-old.
Although he wasn't as prolific at Southampton as he would later become. Mainly because Rod Wallace and Le Tissier would so often cut inside and shoot. He said:
"He got better when he left Southampton. He didn’t score a bagful of goals for us but when he left, they basically told him not to move outside the 18-yard box and Blackburn just supplied him with crosses. A phenomenal footballer."
Marian Pahars
Striker
Marian Pahars
Marian Pahars made an instant impact in the Premier League with Southampton. He proved himself to be an excellent finisher and helped Southampton maintain their Premier League status. Le Tissier compared him to an English icon, saying:
“The Latvian Michael Owen! None of us knew anything about him when he turned up but from the first training session we soon saw that this boy could play. I had never seen a player who was better than Peter Beagrie at checking back, but he was. He would turn defenders so quickly. He scored one at Old Trafford when he nutmegged Jaap Stam and then put one in the bottom corner.
Stats courtesy of Transfermarkt.