Matt Le Tissier

Matt Le Tissier is undoubtedly one of the greatest legends of the Southampton FC team, more than talented, he will have marked the history of the Premier League without even having won it.

Trophy

212

Goals

565

Games

1986/2002 Southampton (ENG) 540 games, 209 goals

(English Premier League: 443 games, 160 goals)

(English Cup: 33 games, 12 goals)

(English League Cup: 52 games, 27 goals)

(Full Members Cup: 12 games, 9 goals)

2002/03 Eastleigh (ENG) 17 games, 3 goals

With the National Team :

8 caps

(Friendly matches: 6 caps)

(World Cup qualifiers: 2 caps)

1st cap: March 9, 1994 against Denmark (1-0)

Last selection: February 12, 1997 against Italy (0-1)

B: 6 selections, 3 goals

U21: 21 selections, 3 goals

Matthew Paul Le Tissier

Born October 14, 1968 in Saint-Pierre-Port (ENG)

English, Attacking-midfielder, Left-midfielder, Right-midfielder, 1m87

Nicknames: Matt, The God

One of England's best young players

Matt Le Tissier was born on October 14, 1968 in Saint-Pierre-Port in England. He began his professional career in 1986 under the colors of the Southampton Saints at the age of 17. Despite being a supporter of the Tottenham Spurs, he fell in love with his first club.

4 years later, he won the title of best young player of the year in the Premier League after a crazy season of 35 games and 20 goals scored in the championship while playing mainly as a left-midfielder. In total, he signed an incredible season with 24 goals in 39 games. Southampton thus reached 7th place in the English championship.

A dazzling talent

The craze around the young English star saw the biggest clubs in the country wanting to recruit the player, but this would never happen, because the player would remain loyal to Southampton throughout his career, becoming the captain and the legendary number 7. His talent was phenomenal, he was among the best players in the English championship alongside Shearer, Cantona, Wright and Waddle.

In addition to piling up goals, he scored goals that almost no one could imitate, he scored spectacular goals from long-range shots or crazy dribbles. Very little known internationally because he had only played 8 games for England, he is certainly one of the best players in the history of the Premier League.

He is also considered one of the players who changed the rough style of the Premier League towards a technical and thoughtful game. He liked to have the ball, dribble past his opponents and then pass at the right time or go straight to score.

Southampton FC's greatest legend

Playing to stay up throughout his career, he never had the chance to play in European Cup matches. If we are to believe the rumors, the player was contacted by Michel Platini when he was coach of the French national team to offer the possibility of naturalization of the player to play with the French team, which he refused.

In the era of the Premier League, he is the first midfielder to reach the symbolic bar of 100 goals scored. He will score the best goal of his career against Newcastle, fluidly chaining pigeon wing, sombrero kick and flat foot on the volley. Another specialty of the player, penalties, during his career he will have scored 48 out of 49 attempted, making him certainly the best penalty taker in history.

Matt Le Tissier finally retired in 2003, having left Southampton FC in 2002 at the age of 34. He played for the club for 16 years, making 540 appearances and scoring 209 goals.