
Manchester United vs Chelsea Predictions & Betting Tips
Sunday sees Manchester United host Chelsea in the 4:30pm kick-off in the Premier League. After…
Many times, when it comes to footballing glory, it is always the striker and the top goal scorer that gets the glory. However, behind many teams’ successes, it’s often the defender that is holding the team up by its breaches. There’s no good a striker scoring 2-3 goals if the defense is letting in more. Too often we celebrate the strikers, but as Colin Hendry knows too well, a good team needs a good defense. Every team needs confidence in its back four. Here, Colin Hendry takes us through his list of the best English League defenders since the 1980s.
In the 1980s, there were some defenders that stood out more than others – more often than not they played for the best teams of that time. Therefore, Colin Hendry has pulled up the best defenders from this time – stalwarts of the iconic teams, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal… .
The first Hendry gives us is Paul McGrath. McGrath is an Irish player that played as a Central Defender and a Defensive Midfielder, who is considered by many – as well as Hendry – as one of the greatest Irish players of all time. He played at both Aston Villa and Man United – and it’s Man United where Hendry believes his ability really shone.
McGrath joined Man U in 1982, managed by Roy Atkinson. He was on the side lines for a while, but eventually took over from Gordon McQueen to partner Kevin Moran in central defense. It didn’t take much to make a name for himself, named man of the match with the in the FA Cup Final win against Everton in 1985. Hendry stated “At this time, Man U was pretty mediocre by their standards, but McGrath stood out.
Despite Man U having some great games, with the help of regular McGrath, they only managed 4th in the league in the 1985/86 season due to injury problems. Atkinson was sacked and Ferguson came in, but his place on the team wasn’t threatened. He finished his career with United in 1989 and moved to Villa, where he spent another 8 season, playing regularly in the first team. In total, he made 592 club appearances in his career, scored 30 goals and made his name as one of the greatest ever English League defenders.
In his career, he walked around with several accolades, including the FA Cup win with Man U, the League Cup twice with Aston Villa and individually he won several awards including PFAI Players’ Player of the Year; FAI Senior International Player of the Year; PFA Players’ Player of the Year; and Football League 100 Legends.