Former Stoke City defender Mike Pejic has claimed Chelsea ace Gary Cahill is one of the worst defenders he has ever seen in one-on-one situations.
Pejic’s comments on the 31-year-old centre-back came after he said he felt sorry for Jack Butland, who had to play behind him in England’s 3-2 friendly defeat to France earlier this week.
Pejic highlighted Cahill’s defensive deficiencies in his column in the Stoke Sentinel.
“The one big positive for us was the re-appearance of Jack Butland for his country after more than a year away through injury,” he said.
“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.”
Pejic also commented that Chelsea manager Antonio Conte deserved a medal for realising that Cahill would be best played in a back-three so quickly.
The 31-year-old was a mainstay of the Blues’ title-winning back line last term, making 43 appearances in all competitions.
He was also somewhat of a goal scoring threat netting eight goals, six of which coming in the Premier League.
Cahill arrived at Stamford Bridge in January 2012 in a £7million switch from Bolton, and he has since played 238 league and cup games for the club.
The experienced defender has been capped by England on 55 occasions, and he featured for 90 minutes in the aforementioned 3-2 friendly defeat to France.