Yes, I realised that. He was without doubt one of the best left backs around.
I think a case can also be made for Gerrard, Lampard, Rio and Terry. They were all among the best in the world at their positions, box-to-box midfielder and CB of their respective types. I don't think their successes can be attributed to just being fillers on teams where they were surrounded by talented foreigners, they were integral parts of successful teams. Rio and Terry formed one of the best CB partnerships around. England's problem was that no suitable partner was found for Gerrard or Lampard.