Idling thinking about how Wayne Bridge’s career has petered out got me thinking about how well we’ve filled that position over the last 20/30 years:
David Peach
Mick Mills
Mark Dennis
Francis Benali (!)
Wayne Bridge
Gareth Bale
Luke Shaw
Ryan Bertrand
Matty Targett
Clearly some players had greater longevity in that position than others - but overall that’s a pretty impressive roll call. And that’s by no means a continuous timeline of players but strong all the same.
Jesus - nearly forgot one of my childhood heroes.
I know he played in both midfield and defence but forgetting Nick Holmes is almost inexcusable.
Originally posted by @TheCholulaKid
Jesus - nearly forgot one of my childhood heroes.
That guy worked miracles at Left back.
Steve Mills was also a top class Left Back who made his debut in 1974…suffered after a car accident.
Subsequently passed away from Leukaemia…A ward at Southampton General was named after him.
I watched this lad through Hampshire Schools into Saints A and Reserves into the first team at 18 years.
He was a tremendous young full back.
Ah yeah - bit before my time. Was tipped as future full international IIRC.
We’ve had some very decent players in the central striker’s position in the years since I started watching, most of whom have resented their country.
Off the top of my head; probably forgotten some and not necessarily their usual position:
Martin Chivers
Ron Davies
Mick Channon
Peter Osgood
Charlie George
Ted McDougall
Phil Boyer
Steve Moran
Kevin Keegan
Frank Worthington
Joe Jordan
Colin Clark
Paul Rideout
Alan Shearer
Matt Le Tissier
Marian Pahars
James Beattie
Kevin Phillips
Peter Crouch
Rickie Lambert
Graziano Pelle
Btw, Ottery, I know Steve Mills occasionally played LB but I think he played the majority of his games at RB.
Derek Statham
Danny Fox.
Er, goalkeeper. Eric Martin was good when I was growing up, but certainly since Shilton they’ve mostly been internationals
Tim Flowers/ Dave Beasant/ Paul Jones/ Antii Niemi/ Kelvin Davis/ Artur Boruc/ Fraser Forster is a pretty good run
[Bletch stands on soapbox]
Here’s the thing about identifying specific players as being especially competent in specific positions; it all depends on what the team was doing to accommodate the player at the time.
Wayne Bridge is the poster-boy for my soap-box theory because it was largely Chris Marsden that allowed Bridger to shine.
That’s not to say that Bridge wasn’t an excellent player for us, because he was. But Chris Marsden’s discipline, which presumably came from manager’s instructions, allowed Bridge to penetrate much more than he would have done if he’d been partnered with Fabrice Fernandez for example.
Lovren stood out because he was protected so well by our DMs. Chambers stood out because of the defensive formation, and creative midfield around him that allowed him to be more adventurous. Luke Shaw? Well, I do happen to think that he’s physically gifted, but the same might be able to be said about him.
Apply the spotlight to these players in a different environment and they once again look like really decent pros, but perhaps not exceptional ones.
[Bletch climbs off soapbox]
Agree with the OP’s point, though, we’ve been freakishly good at turning out excellent left-backs.
Yes, very good point, Bletch - you should get that soap-box out more often 
.
Football’s a team game and, within that team, partnerships are extremely important, imo. Finding complimenting partnerships - all over the pitch - is one of the arts of good management, I reckon.
Ah Chris Marsden, football genius. One of the best value for money buys ever.
Frannie Benali bless him. I could never understand how he got a game for us and I dont think anyone else ever wanted to buy him, but he was loyal and did improve towards the end of his career.
I was at this game and could not believe what I was seeing!
If you think about it we have had some pretty good centre backs, but if the whole defence does not work as a unit, you are screwed (this counts the midfield as well).
It is such a team sport that it is hard to to give an answer to the OP.
I think that players like Beattie and Sir Ricky took pressure off the defence with their hard work up top. The whole team and balance over the last few seasons has been pretty spot on, the majority of the time.