‘Cahill is one of worst defenders I’ve seen one-v-one’

Matt Stead

Gary Cahill is ‘one of the worst defenders I’ve seen in one-v-one situations’, according to former Stoke left-back Mike Pejic.

Cahill captained Chelsea to a second Premier League title in three years this past season, featuring as one of Antonio Conte’s first-choice defenders.

The 31-year-old has come in for criticism in recent weeks however, with his performance for England in defeat to 10-man France a particular low point.

Pejic, who played for Stoke from 1968 until 1976, has taken aim at the centre-half, saying that he ‘felt sorry for’ Potters keeper Jack Butland behind him.

‘The one big positive for us was the re-appearance of Butland for his country after more than a year away through injury,’ he wrote for the Stoke Sentinel.

‘But I felt sorry for him after he came on for the second half of that 3-2 defeat (against 10 men!) in Paris on Tuesday evening.

‘I felt sorry for him having to play behind a player like Gary Cahill, one of the worst defenders I’ve seen in one-v-one situations.

‘He gets so easily exposed and it was him, as much as David Luiz, who needed the protection of a three-man defence in that Chelsea rearguard last season.

‘Chelsea boss Antonio Conte deserves a medal – possibly Cahill’s title-winning medal – for spotting so quickly that Luiz AND Cahill needed such protection.’