Of players STILL playing anywhere in the world, who would make up your ultimate footy team. To offer a guideline pick a starting eleven, a second keeper, two more defenders, midfielders, and strikers and one random player for good luck.
OK Neil Sullivan, Goran Bunjevcevic, Steve Carr, Ledley King, Christian Ziege, Gus Poyet, Darren Anderton, Simon Davies, Jamie Redknapp, Bobby Zamora, Robbie Keene. Subs Kasey Keller, Gary Doherty, Maurico Tarrico, Milenko Acimovic, Jonathon Blondel, Helder Postiga, Freddie Kanoute, Gazza -)
Seriously though, I'm so out of touch I can't be sure these are all still playing and I've probably missed out many players that I havn't thought of so this team is totally off the top of my head.
GK Buffon
D Lizirazu
D Carr
D Stam
D Thuram
M Zidane
M Beckham
M Giggs
M Mendieta
F Van Nistelrooy
F Rivaldo
subGK Kahn
subD Nesta
subD Roberto Carlos
subM Redondo
subM Denilson
subF Owen
subF Shevchenko
sub Gazza -)
goalie - Paul Jones (Southampton & Wales)
left back - Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid & Brazil)
right back - Steven Carr (Spurs)
central defense - Mike Flynn (Blackpool)
central defense - Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd & England)
Left Wing - Figo (Real & Portugal, not a left winger per se)
Midfield - Steven Gerrard (Liverpool & England)
Midfield - Edgar Davids (Juventus & Holland)
right wing - Beckham ( but he is class.
Forward - Raul (Real & Spain)
Forward - Michael Owen (Liverpool & England)
subs
GK - Dean Kiely (Charlton and Eire)
D - Lee Dixon (is he still playing? The late 80's/early 90's Arsenal back line were immense)
D - Denis Irwin (Wolves and Eire, still rock steady)
M - Jermaine Pennant (Arsenal and England VERY soon)
F - Alun Armstrong (Ipswich)
G - Oliver Kahn
D - Paulo Maldini
D - Sami Hyypia
D - Jaap Stam
D - Lillian Thuram
M - Pavel Nedved
M - Edgar Davids
M - Zinedine Zidane
M - Michael Ballack
F - Andriy Shevchenko
F - Diego Tristan
G - Recber Rustu/Jerzy Dudek
D - Allesandro Nesta
D - Jari Tihanen
M - Steven Gerrard
M - Mehmet Scholl
F - Thierry Henry
F - Raul
G - Kahn (Germany)
D - Maldini (Italy)
D - Campbell (England)
D - Ferdinand (England) ( well can you think of a better central midfield partnership in the last world cup)
D -Thuram (France)
M- Ronaldinho (Brazil)
M- Keane (Rep of Ireland)
M - Vierra (France)
M - Figo (Portugal)
F - Van Nistelroy (Holland)
F - Henry (France)
Subs
Friedle (USA)
Carlos (Brazil)
A Cole (England)
Ballack (Germany)
Rivaldo (Brazil)
Raul (Spain)
Ronaldo (Brazil)
seems we all are pretty consistent really on who we think are top players.
Surely it is an oversight however for Mike Flynn to have received the 1 vote so far.
No, not really but I will credit you with reminding me about Gerrard.....I'lll take him instead of.....ummm.......Mendieta but I'll keep the subs the same.
Must be all his injueries making me forget he exists.
Not to worry - I've been berated by a friend for not including Michael Owen, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, and Joe Cole. I'm a Liverpool supporter but I only see the limitations of Owen - he cant pass, head the ball, tackle, and weirder, cant score from more than 6 yards. Rio was a hard one - he is awesome but not up to the other guys - and Tihanen I think will be the bets ina few years. Cole is only 21 so we'll have to see how he does for Chelsea nd England. Beckham was in there, then I took him out. He is fantastic for England, but I think he'll get better at Real so lets say I'll pick him in 6 months. D
I think Shearer was the better player than Owen in his Prime, but how old is Owen, He hasn't reached 27/28 yet so he will only get better.
I am really excited on how the England team is shaping up. Lots of emerging talent as well as a solid hardcore team that has played for each other for a long time.
We seem to have a good mixture of skilled talent and players who can 'mix it'
I would still like us to go out there and literally batter a nation (akin to the Germany 5-1 or the Denmark 3-0)
seems a long time that the scored more than 2 in a game. But we are winning so thats cool.
here's to playing Wales in Euro 2004 in Portugal! D
I agree, Shearer in his prime was better than Owen is now but Owen will improve as long as he can keep relatively injury free. Gotta make a point though about what you said (Mrbungle) about Owen only scoring from six yards and less.....assuming this is correct, does it matter if the rest of the team are creating the chances and you're sticking them in.....remember Lineker.....I can't think of many he scored that weren't within six yards, just had weird ability to be at the right place at the right time.
Current England team and future players also excite me....however, I think Joe Cole is good but overrated.
Agree about Lineker but there are a few things - Lineker could hold up the ball, he could head the ball, and Owen NEEDS Heskey to do all the support work or he looks weak. Dont get me wrong he is a good player, but if his back is to goal he doesnt perform with confidence - put James Beattie side by side with Owen and tell me who is consistently the better striker. Shearer was far better than he was in his prime - the reality of it is when you pair Owen up against half the Premier Leagues strikers and he isnt consistently as good. He was phenomenal in his first world cup, against Germany (5-1), and against most of Europe during Liverpools 5 cup triumphs. I'm sad to say that he needs desperately a great coach to build up his confidence and broaden his game.
Still scores lots with a good supply. Most players have a weakness here and there and if you can make up for them by being in the right place at the right time and putting away chances, the manager will pick you and, lets face it, Owen is rightly first choice striker for England when fit and not many would argue with that.
While I would agree that Owen isn't very good with his back to goal, he does score occasionally with his head, but the one thing he has that scares defenders is pace.
He can run on to a through ball, go past defenders who are scared of bringing him down, and then finish (see goal against argentina, 1990 world cup).
As long as he is paired intelligently with a striker who complements him, he would be first pick in my England team.
IMO, Shearer was so good for England, because he played with Sheringham. They both had different attributes, which made them very formidable together.
Ok so in five years who do you think the best 14/15 players are going to be for England? The good thing for us is that when we nearly didnt make the World Cup (again) it was made clear to everyone that we had better start preparing for 5-8 years away. And boy have we - we have a great slew of young players who will be in their prime next time around - Beckham, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Owen, Scholes, and all the rest will be at peak playing age. Hopefully Joe Cole wont be another overhyped burnout - that would something new for our footballing arsenal. Defoe has promise too. Way too soon to argue for Rooney. I'm still not sold in Sol Campbell - there are way too many defenders I think are equal or better - Terry, Southgate, Ehiogu, Woodgate etc. And please God give us some left-footed players. I can imagine a Bridge/Ashley Cole left side but is it only because they are left footed and thats all we have?
From what I've seen I've always been pretty impressed with Gareth Barry....especially in a left-sided midfield.....looks good on the ball.