Sam Allardyce builds his perfect footballer

Premier League managerial legend Sam Allardyce spent some time looking back on his career, creating his perfect footballer from the array of talents he has coached.

Having managed at eight different Premier League clubs, Big Sam was not short of options when thinking of which player he managed had the best attributes.

Allardyce combined the players with the best skill, attitude, brain, fitness and much more to build his perfect footballer.

Great players such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Nicolas Anelka and Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro were just some of the names Big Sam threw out.

Right foot: “He could bend it with the outside or inside of his foot, he could flick it over somebody’s head, through somebody’s legs. He could do anything with his right foot. A master of his craft.”

Left foot: “He can do a lot of stuff with his left foot. He can pass it out, he can pass it long, short. He could take a penalty if he wanted to, no doubt about that.”

Heading: “He was a key element to our success. There’s nothing better than someone with aerial power and dominance, and he had that. We could play off him and he could bring other players into the game with his heading ability.”

Fitness: “A 35-year-old who ran like a 23-year-old. He knew when to make the run. He could go from box-to-box week in and week out and make a big difference.”

Footballing brain: “Genius on the ball – up on a level of Paul Scholes, maybe even better. Such an intelligent guy, and I don’t think I’ve tried harder to keep a player.”

Skill: “Touch, vision, goalscoring. Even though the legs were a little bit slower than what they used to be, his brain was right up there with his ability.”

Attitude: “Love and dedication to the football club. He just loved the club and dedicated his entire playing career to them.”

Goalscoring: “I’ve not experienced anything like it as a manager, working with a man who rarely misses a chance.”