For me the biggest thing with that quote is when he says "... or didn't put the effort in like these do there would be fist flying at half time with each other", i.e. people would be angry and upset for players letting the rest of the team down and ruining what they're collectively trying to achieve. I can't see that happening now.
Looking at today's line up, player for player, I think most of them do actually try pretty hard normally, but there's an extra, vital, 5-10% to be gained by being a real team, fighting for each other, not just 11 individuals put together. For a while Adkins even selected his team just by looking at who was biggest, strongest and toughest, but it didn't work long term, partly because you need more than that and partly because you need a strong team morale, not just 11 guys with a decent set of competetive attributes.