Of course there are better defenders in England, where did I say there aren't? But it's certainly not half of them. If you think that the Smalings and the Evans' and the Koscielnys of this league are better players (who are starts in big clubs mind you) then you definitely have a need to constantly undervalue our own players.
And I said that he should be a back-up. How is that putting him on a pedestal?