Southampton legend and Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier claims that he is left more than impressed by Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand than Tottenham’s Danny Rose. The latter has been receiving a lot of plaudits in the opening few weeks of the campaign. Even though it may be a direct coincidence of Spurs doing well so far, it is an undeniable fact that he has made a lot of progress since joining Spurs from Leeds United back in 2007. Bertrand, meanwhile, came through the ranks at Chelsea before joining Southampton in 2015.
Both players have a lot of elements in common – they play at left back, they have been on loan at various clubs before finding a permanent home, and they are at the peak of their careers.
It is hard to accept that England have been without a top left back ever since Ashley Cole went into the sunset. Any team will struggle to replace a player of Cole’s stature and England are no different. Rose and Bertrand, though, are probably the best of the bunch England have at their disposal. The strong start to the season made by Tottenham, and Rose, have led to calls for the 26-year-old to become the permanent fixture at left back for England. Matt Le Tissier, though, regards Bertrand to offer a wholesome package than Rose.
Both players have been included in the current England squad as the two left backs, and both will want to give their best in order to enhance their starting line-up chances under a new manager. England are hopeful of appointing a replacement for Sam Allardyce in the next few months. One of the big calls the new manager has to take will be choosing between Bertrand and Rose.
Le Tissier says that he would take Bertrand ahead of Rose primarily because the former is a better defender. He said:
“I think Cahill is a little bit out of sorts at the moment and Stones and Smalling deserve to be starting ahead of him, while I still think Bertrand is a better defender than Rose.”
Rose is much more flamboyant and can help the team immensely when it comes to going forward. A passing accuracy of 71% – for a defender – speaks volumes about the risks taken by Rose. He has made 14 tackles in four league games. These are healthy statistics, but Bertrand has been one of the underrated performers so far. He has hardly put a foot wrong this season as demonstrated by the passing accuracy of 87%. He also has a 9% accuracy when it comes to finding his teammates with crosses. It is a lot better than Rose, who has a 0% crossing accuracy.
Stats taken from Squawka.com
