Strachan on icon McAllister and legendary quartet
For Leeds fans, little more needs saying about the legendary quartet that remain at the forefront of minds. Gary McAllister, the younger of the two Scotsmen, is featured in a new series of BBC Scotland's Icons of Football, with an episode focusing on his career for club and country. Strachan, the eldest of the four, reckons McAllister is right up there with the best technical midfielders.
[Getty Images] Strachan, McAllister, Batty, Speed. For Leeds fans, little more needs saying about the legendary quartet that remain at the forefront of minds. Gary McAllister, the younger of the two Scotsmen, is featured in a new series of BBC Scotland's Icons of Football, with an episode focusing on his career for club and country.
Strachan, the eldest of the four, reckons McAllister is right up there with the best technical midfielders. "Technically, he was so gifted. He had such a lovely touch - his touch was phenomenal," Strachan says of his former team-mate.
"First of all, he had a vision to go forward all the time, which is sadly missing in a lot of football now. "His first thought was how to get the ball forward, whether it be a 10-yard pass, a 25-yard pass or a diagonal ball to get somebody in. "He had this built-in instinct of: how do I go forward first?
Nowadays it's: how do I not lose possession, I'll pass it on to somebody else to take responsibility. "Gary not only did that, he took responsibility on himself, even at a very early age. " The midfield four that won Leeds the league in 1992 was hailed for its tenacity, dynamism and skill.