Southampton veteran Matt Le Tissier emphasised the importance of developing Indian coaches and how important it is for the managers to thrive alongside the players for Indian football. In recent days a lot of focus has been put into the grooming of Indian football coaches by the AIFF. Every ISL team is now mandated to have an Indian assistant coach in their team as well.

“The coaches from Southampton will impart their knowledge to the coaches here which they can impart to players which would improve the standards of the grassroots level and as the kids grow up they carry the standard with them and hopefully it will filter through to the Indian Super League,” former Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier told IANS.

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The partnership between India’s largest football academy, Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and Southampton Football Club will have emphasis on the education of coaches at the grassroots with the partnership hoping to create a steady pipeline of world-class coaches in the country.

The Saints will work closely with BBFS to implement their comprehensive coaching curriculum which will be tailored to the needs of Indian coaches, combining European football techniques with local dynamics. “The age is very important, I think if you can give tactical information to young players and get them to learn their positions well and they can develop their game which is important and hopefully that can enter into the national team as well,” he added.

Le Tissier who represented the Saints 270 times in his glorious career is considered to be one of the finest midfielders of his time. His outings and glorious goal-scoring ability made him one of the league’s finest at his time. He also was the first midfielder to score 100 goals in England’s top flight.

A true Premier League great of his time was further asked for his opinions on who he believes to be the greatest midfielder in the league currently. “It’s difficult to say as there are great midfielders in the Premier League but if I had to pick one then I’ll say Kevin De Bruyne is the best when he’s fit and firing,” he concluded.