Probably Gascgoine, before my time but suspect he’ll be a popular answer. Other than him, Shearer or Kane. Beckham could be up there Rooney held a record, but was largely toilet in tournaments. Kane, penalty miss noted, did win a golden boot and has been captain of the most successful England team of my lifetime and is still a bit underrated imo.
In that case I'd be chucking in Rooney, Scholes and Ferdinand alongside Shearer and Gascoigne, but if you asked me again next week I'd probably come up with 3 different names!
Rooney is the one I had in mind when I created this thread actually. But I was listening to That Peter Crouch Podcast this week (he had Jamie Carragher as a guest on it) and they both agreed that Gerrard was always the best player in training at Liverpool and at England, and apparently all the other players agreed with that too.
Paul Scholes, without a doubt. It remains an act against football that England managers of the time shunted this genius out onto the left wing just to shoe-horn Lampard and Gerrard into the national side
Stop it. He had way more marketing value than talent which is why he got so many caps. Gerrard and Scholes were far more talented than him..
Striker : Harry Kane , his international & domestic records speak for themselves . Midfield : Frank Lampard , as above like Kane but domestically has plenty of silverware to boot . ( sh*te manager though ) Defender : Tony Adams , considering his addiction problems he was a natural leader on the pitch & won a fair bit of silverware too . Goalkeeper : David Seamon , similar to Adams above the Arsenal back 5 who they both appeared for were superb , was great on the international stage as well other than the Zaragoza goal .
I see Matt Le Tiss hasn't had a mention yet ? I'm guessing it's because he won little in terms of silverware ,but if this thread is about English players that can only be described as exceptional in regards to their ability ,then Le Tissier needs to be standing on the same pedestal as Scholes ,Gazza and Gerrard as all four had frightening talent that removed them from the ordinary. Le Tiss was technically brilliant ,everything he done seemed so nonchalant you would be forgiven for thinking all that natural talent once he had the ball at his feet came so easy to him,to the extent he could easily be accused of taking the piss. I don't think the Premier League will ever see their like again ,well certainly not English anyway ,a lot of players may threaten to mimic their style ,but 'as yet' I've seen none that could even hope of getting anywhere near their extraordinary ability. Scholes could completely dictate the pace of a game ,just spraying the most glorious passes about for the entirety of the game ,Gerrard was just a complete force of nature and could just pick a game up by the scruff of it's neck to suit his own needs ,he could score goals that would literally leave you aghast. Gazza was just blessed with the most outrageous ball control I've seen since John Barnes ,he could just stroll through defenders like his boots were coated in f*cking Pritt Stick.
Le Tissier will forever be an unproven quantity for me since he deigned to never venture onto the big stage. Only 8 International caps didn't do his cause any favours either. Nobody has mentioned Hoddle, another technically brilliant player who again somehow failed to ignite the imagination.
I think Ashley Cole is right up there. Without much argument, one of the best left-backs in the world for nearly a decade.
