As part of the ALL-TIME WORLD CUP, let us build England's all-time squad... IT'S COMING HOME! Notes: - We need to build a 23 man squad (3 goalkeepers, 20 outfield players). - The squad should be balanced: (there should be at least two players to cover each position for the chosen formation/tactics). - We aren't just picking the 'greatest' players of a country and then crow-barring them into an XI: we need a balance of picking the best players and the right players for the job. - Every player selected for our squads should have video footage/match-highlights of their ability. All-time England Squad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Formation: Playstyle: Tactics: Captain: Vice-captain: Penalty taker: Free-kick taker(s): Corner taker(s):
At centreback, we have lots of options: Bobby Moore, Rio Ferdinand, Tony Adams, John Terry, Billy Wright, Sol Campbell, Des Walker... Ashley Cole has his spot at left back cemented. Stuart Pearce beats Ray Wilson as back-up. Right back is a bit more open: Viv Anderson, Gary Nev, Armfield, Phil Neal... Trent
Robson, Gazza ,Hoddle, Gerrard, Lampard, Stiles, Charlton and possibly Beckham for what?...4 CM slots? Though Beckham obviously as RM option and Charlton attack mid.
Banks Neville Terry Moore Cole Beckham Robson Scholes Gazza Rooney Charlton 12. Shilton 13. Ferdinand - rate him as the second best CB in the pool but Terry fits better with Moore 14. Campbell 15. Armfield 16. Sansom 17. Ball - great player, great team player and can cover multiple positions and roles which makes him a better sub option then someone like Finney or Matthews as you pretty much either have to start or dont even bother. 18. Foden - controversial one but id take him because he is unique for this pool, there is nobody like him + he is already ****ing brilliant 19. Carrick - as pure DM i dont see anyone better, dont rate Stiles and others are more of a box2box midfielders(Ince and co.) 20. Lampard - gets the nod ahead of Stevie, neither is getting into XI and i reckon Lampard would be easier to accept the sporadic role 21. Shearer 22. Keegan 23. Vardy - another controversial one but as a poacher nobody comes close to him and its always handy to have one of those from the bench From the XI i reckon only Gazza could be controversial? As someone who watched almost every single second available of him on the internet(getting there to completing him ) he was almost the first name on the team sheet. If my life is on the line i know who i want on the pitch and thats him, not only will he give his absolute all(which in terms of workrate is almost like 2 players) but he will back that up with quality and more importantly character. There are a lot of great players but when we speak of england a lot of them produced very little to nothing for their country, well, Gazza in big tournaments was always brilliant. Even in 96 where he was past his best, when the time came he turned it on for one last hurrah and showed the world he is still a superstar.
It was between Keegan and Greaves for the SS role and Lineker Vardy for the poacher so sadly no space for them Prefer Greaves to Keegan as a player but reckon latter was a bit better and did it at higher level while Vardy got the nod because of his ability and willingness to press though through watching Gazza at Spurs i started appreciate Lineker a bit more then i had previously.
Squad Gordon Banks Peter Shilton Ray Clemence Phil Neal Jimmy Armfield Ashley Cole Ray Wilson Bobby Moore Sol Campbell Rio Ferdinand Jack Charlton Duncan Edwards Bryan Robson Paul Scholes Nobby Stiles Glenn Hoddle Paul Gascoigne Tom Finney Bobby Charlton Alan Shearer Stanley Matthews Wayne Rooney Jimmy Greaves
I went 4-3-3 Shilton - he played about a million times for England, so sort of gets in by default. Neville/Neal - both were just really reliable defenders, and I think both are criminally underated Moore - he captained the onky England team that won any silverware Adams/Ferdinand/Campbell - All perfectly acceptable picks. It jyst depends on who fits in that pairing with Moore. Cole - not even a difficult choice. Stiles - World cup winner, and marked Eusebio out of the game at the 66 world cup. Robson - one man team Charlton - arguably England's greatest ever player Matthews - The guy was still tearing teams apart into his 50s. Shearer - he's the best out and out striker I have ever seen. He can play off the shoulder as a poacher, he can hold play up, he scores from outside the box as easily as inside. Great player. Keegan - two times Ballon D'Or winner.
Small game player for England though. Was atrocious at every tournament bar 2004 when it mattered. Then stat padded against the muck in qualifiers and friendlies. I'd take Shearer in a tournament every time.
Shearer is insanely under rated. He was a goal machine but wasn't just isolated up front, his movement was immense.
