“Yes, Liverpool is a great club with a fantastic history but, equally, West Ham have produced people like Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds over the years. If West Ham was good enough for those guys, then it’s good enough for me.
“If people want to insult my decision to play for West Ham, then they are insulting some of the greatest players the game has produced, including the three men who led England to the World Cup in 1966.”
And with that, Lucas Neill played his ever-so-smooth Public Relations card as he turned down the opportunity to join Liverpool two seasons ago.
Patronizing was one word that might have been used to describe the comments at the time, particularly in light of the fact that Neill had not yet worn the famous claret and blue of the East London club.
How dare a man whose move was supposedly motivated by finances – Neill begged and still begs to differ – echo the sacred names of Moore, Hurst and Peters?
Defendants of the player will of course point to the fact that Reds boss Rafael Benitez never quite saw Neill as a first-choice defender and that the Australia international was thinking of first-team football rather than pounds in opting for a move to the English capital.
It is an argument which, given ‘Rafael’s’ propensity at the time for a game-by-game rotation policy, certainly has a legitimacy to it.
Whether it negates the financial aspect of the move is another question altogether.
Two seasons later and not much has changed for the 31 year-old, who should really have been nailing down a meticulous pre-season barely 12 months out from a return to football’s show-piece event.
Yet, the Socceroos captain was instead making headlines for monetary reasons, refusing to re-negotiate his contract with West Ham despite their well documented financial difficulties.
No mention of the great Bobby Moore this off-season, understandably...
After being linked to a host of clubs, he finally settled on an anti-climatic season-long contract with a struggling Everton outfit, arguably not much of an improvement over Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham in a stylistic sense – and, ultimately, for a substantial pay-cut.
Some might say Neill gambled, lost and ultimately embarrassed himself.
There’s no doubting the player’s reputation both at home and abroad has been damaged after an unnecessarily long period of indecision, suspicion about his motivations inevitable given the nature of his exit from a club where he was captain.
Yet, for all of the personal opinion on Neill, one can’t understate his importance to the Socceroos.
Australia quite simply needs Lucas Neill to be fit, in form, playing first-team football and happy.
Watching every one of Australia’s World Cup qualifiers over the past 18 months, his influence at the heart of the Socceroos’ defence has been conspicuous, the highlight a commanding performance away against Japan at the end of the campaign.
Whether it be the result of his passion for the national team or the fact that his gradually ageing legs are being exposed in a quickening English Premier League, Neill transforms when he wears the green and gold.
Too often has he been seen skinned by the latest fleet-footed winger whilst playing as a full-back in England.
For Australia though, his sense of position, aerial ability and tackling have been impeccable.
Perhaps the increase in his level of performance parallels a humility with respect to the continent that is a far cry from his predictions about Australia’s first ever Asian Cup back in 2007.
"I really think we've got a squad that can handle the conditions, enough of us have played on the biggest stage now that we won't be intimidated by the teams we're going to play against and I really see the standard we're expecting to set taking us all the way to the end," Neill said before the tournament.
"There might be a couple of games where they might not have to be 100 per cent fit or 100 per cent on their games,” he continued, speaking of an unfit Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill. “We might be able to get away with them being 90 or 95 per cent of their best."
Perhaps the swagger that allows Neill to dominate Australia’s back-line stems from this supposed arrogance off the pitch; there is no doubt that he looks one of the most assured and confident of Australia’s players whenever he takes to the field.
Scott Chipperfield and Craig Moore add experience but it is Neill who is the lynchpin of Pim Verbeek’s defensive system and he cannot be replaced.
Neill is ultimately an unspectacular and slightly one-dimensional player, bringing a physicality that is not matched by any technical ability or adventure (rarely is he seen successfully driving through the heart of midfield and out of defence).
The candidates to replace him though are few and far between: Jade North has recently struggled on the international and domestic stage, Mark Milligan remains relatively unproven, Patrick Kisnorbo susceptible, the talented Matthew Spiranovic lacking first-team football and Chris Coyne still adjusting to A-League life.
This ultimately places Neill in a privileged position and he is intelligent enough to recognize that fact; as is Pim Verbeek, who favours him immensely.
The Dutchman recognizes too the importance of Neill to his team’s chances in South Africa, the frailty of the Socceroos without him exposed gleefully by the Korea Republic in a recent friendly match.
Whatever his character flaws or thought processes, Lucas Neill generally performs at his best for Australia and given the absence of genuine match-winners across the park for the Socceroos, those performances are crucial.
Love him or loath him, Australia needs Lucas Neill.
