Graeme LE SAUX

The arrival of Terry Venables to the job of England coach immediately yielded an international career for Blackburn Rovers left back Graeme Le Saux, whose attacking instincts fitted Venables' masterplan of putting together an entirely versatile England outfield, based on possession of the ball while able to defend when required. Le Saux, an intelligent, combative but occasionally hot-tempered player, slotted in at left back ahead of Stuart Pearce for the opening eight of Venables' games in charge, with Pearce only occasionally featuring as a substitute. With no qualification campaign to consider, thanks to England's automatic entry for the 1996 European Championships as hosts, judgement on the decision to omit the patriotic Pearce and his experience was reserved, despite one or two less enlightened media individuals wondering about Le Saux's credentials as an Englishman thanks to his Jersey roots and French middle name and surname. The first game Graeme missed under Venables was the first match of the 1995 Umbro Tournament - Venables choosing Pearce's know how to compensate for the three debutants who made up the rest of the defence - but Le Saux regained the left back slot for the final two matches, scoring England's goal in a 3-1 defeat by Brazil at Wembley thanks to a stunning chest-down and volley from 30 yards after a corner was half-cleared to him.

As 1995 progressed, Graeme featured in friendlies against Colombia and Portugal - both drawn games - but then suffered a horrific ankle injury which ruled him out of Blackburn's season and England's preparation for the European Championships, ultimately declaring his unavailability for the tournament with weeks still to spare. Pearce returned to the spot he had occupied with such aplomb for the previous seven years and Le Saux never played for Venables again due to his departure from the job shortly after the tournament ended. Graeme returned to fitness for England at the beginning of 1997, playing as a wing back in Glenn Hoddle's refreshed England team which took on Italy at Wembley in a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup. Hoddle saw Le Saux as a success in the role and he stayed there for the rest of the year, as Hoddle chopped and changed his three centre backs to allow for his decision to take Pearce out of the England equation. This meant that Graeme, who moved back to his first club Chelsea during this period, could still guarantee himself a role in the side if Hoddle needed to switch to a flat back four, but he flourished in a confident young England side which, under Hoddle, fought back from the Italy defeat to win their remaining qualifiers leading up to the return in Rome where the 0-0 draw guaranteed England a place in France and Le Saux played an active role in the preparation games, attaining his 25th cap in the final warm-up against Belgium before England set up camp and prepared for their group. (Matthew Rudd)

Graeme Le Saux lined up as the wing back on the left flank as a confident England defeated group whipping boys Tunisia 2-0 in Marseille (the main photo above is during the game :15 June 1998), then relocated to Toulouse for a game against Romania. It was a night to forget though for Graeme, the Chelsea man tarnishing his impeccable England reputation when he was slow to react to Romania midfielder - and Chelsea clubmate - Dan Petrescu as he bore down on goal with a minute left and the scores level at 1-1. Petrescu's shot evaded Le Saux and went through keeper David Seaman's legs, leaving England defeated and needing to win against Colombia to progress. Hoddle made alterations to the midfield but kept Le Saux on the left as England won 2-0 and went through to face Argentina in the second round (the inset picture is during the game). In a game best remembered for David Beckham's sending off, England fought valiantly, playing with ten men for 73 minutes, before suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat on penalties. Hoddle kept faith with Le Saux when the qualification campaign for the 2000 European Championships got underway, starting with him in the opening defeat in Sweden. Hoddle then used both Andy Hinchcliffe and Phil Neville in subsequent qualifiers against Bulgaria and Luxembourg before recalling Graeme for his 32nd cap in a friendly against the Czech Republic.

However, Hoddle then left the job in a farcical manner after one controversial viewpoint too many, and Kevin Keegan came in. Le Saux started a pair of qualififers at Wembley - a 3-1 win against Poland and a 0-0 draw with Sweden - but Keegan also used Phil Neville and called up Sunderland's Michael Gray to intensify the fight for positions, especially as the wing back role at which Le Saux was by far England's outstanding player had been obliterated by Keegan's preference for a flat back four. It got worse for Le Saux when he suffered another serious injury playing for Chelsea and Keegan sent for 36 year old Pearce for an emergency brace of Indian summer caps. England qualified for the finals in Holland and Belgium after a play-off win on aggregate over Scotland, but Le Saux found himself unavailable through injury for the second European Championships in a row. He was called back afterwards for the ill-fated 1-0 defeat to Germany in the opening qualifier for the 2002 World Cup which heralded the end for both Wembley as an England venue and Keegan as an England coach, and successor Sven Goran Eriksson, after initially looking at Charlton's Chris Powell (who was less than a year younger than Graeme), saw the youthful potential in Ashley Cole which rendered both Powell and a 32 year old Le Saux unworthy of further international recognition. (Matthew Rudd)