Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Le God may not have made the first team
Matthew Le Tissier was so good at Southampton he was nicknamed “Le God”, but he claims that if his career started now, he might never even make the first team at an English club because of the current focus on fitness.
“If I was coming through the ranks now I would probably have to be a lot fitter than I was,” he said.
“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 11½ seconds and it would be very difficult to break through on talent alone. It is horrific, but that is the way it is going.
“If I was coming through the ranks now I would probably have to be a lot fitter than I was,” he said.
“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 11½ seconds and it would be very difficult to break through on talent alone. It is horrific, but that is the way it is going.
