Paul McGrath was good enough to play in the great teams of any decade, including Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, according to Kenny Cunningham.
The former Republic of Ireland international was at Off The Ball’s Cheltenham and Football Roadshow in The Camden and spoke about the legendary defender.
While McGrath’s talent is well known, Cunningham felt that it is hard to understand just how good he was without seeing him play regularly.
“Paul was exceptional. I don’t think we actually value [him]. A lot of people talk about how good he was and how he was one of the best of his generation. He really was. Paul could’ve played in any era,” Cunningham said.
Comparisons with Virgil van Dijk
The former Wimbledon player likened McGrath to Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and believed that the Dutch defender possesses no extra talent than that of McGrath.
“If you think of the best centre-halves now - van Dijk for example. He would be considered the best of his type at the moment. The best central defender in the world.
“But van Dijk wouldn’t have too many attributes for me in terms of his physicality, his athleticism and his technical ability. None of them would be head and shoulders above what Paul had as a player.
“Paul, in my opinion, would be the equal of van Dijk in a lot of respects. He actually wouldn’t have that arrogance which van Dijk has on the pitch which actually serves him very well. But it can actually catch van Dijk out on occasion.
“That kind of God-like feeling that he has, the way he carries himself on the pitch. He has a little bit of overconfidence at times I think. Paul never had that because of the humility that he had.
Paul McGrathwith the Olympic Flame during the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay through the streets of Dublin.“He never possessed that. But in terms of his skill set Paul was up there, for me anywhere, he’s on a very similar level to van Dijk.
“Maybe people of a certain generation don’t appreciate it. They hear how good he was but if you saw Paul play on a regular basis - he was an absolutely phenomenal football player,” Cunningham commented.
McGrath retired back in 1998, after having long and successful careers with Manchester United, Aston Villa and Ireland.
However, while he has been out of the game for over 20 years, Cunningham was confident that McGrath would have been capable of playing for today’s greatest sides at his best.
“He could have played in any era in any of the greatest teams. Whether that’s the Milan team, the Barcelona team under Guardiola of the last 10 years.
“Any of those teams Paul was good enough to play in. He was that good,” Cunningham said.
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