England modern time XI (England National Football Team)

Member Name: tonybone

Product:	England National Football Team
Date:	11/06/02 (695 review reads)
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My all Time England XI
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As the World cup is well under way and England are performing quite well I thought I would share my view of England?s best XI with you.

I will first of all point out I will only be using players I have seen play so this rules out any players like Charlton etc. I feel this is the only fair way I can carry out this task as there is no way I comment on the skill of players I have never seen play live. Also I know nothing of there attitude to the game and how they performed on the big stage. So I have decided that all the players in my team will come from the period of Italia 90 to present day

Right here we go

Goalkeeper

Well there are a couple of possible for this position

1. Shilton
1. Seaman

After thinking long and hard these are really the only two I can say deserve the shirt, there have been a couple of other keeper that have been on the fringe of the England team e.g. Chris Woods but these are the only two that have played the big matches.

I decided after taking into account that Shilton was past his best at Italia 90 that Seaman had to be my choice, I have seen him play some great matches for England over the years especially at Euro 96 but the only thing I can remember of Shilton is when the ball bounced off Paul Parker?s back and went past him in Italia 90

So Goalkeeper is Seaman

So next position and we move on to Left Back for this position the choices are

1. Stuart Pearce
1. Ashley Cole
1. G Le Saux
1. Nigel Winterburn

Well I think we can rule out Ashley Cole as he is still too young and inexperienced to be considered Greme Le saux has had too many problem with injury and therefore not really had a run in the team. The same can also be said for Winterburn. So for his hardworking tireless tackling and determination the position has to be given to Pearce.

So Left Ba
ck is Pearce

Now we move onto the position of Right back choices are

1. Gary Neville
1. Rob Jones
1. Paul Parker
1. Lee Dixon

This one is a much tougher choice , Gary Neville is the current England right back when fit he has been unlucky to miss this world cup but he put on a great performance at Euro 96 and because of this is a strong contender. Next is Rob Jones a lot of you might be surprised at his inclusion but in the mid nineties I feel he was maybe one of the best right backs in the world but a bad injury and he never really came back his best. So he is really ruled out due to not performing at a major tournament. Next is Paul Parker he was the right back in the Italia 90 team he had a great tournament and also a good career at Man Utd but I don?t feel he quite had the class required for the world stage after Italia 90. My last choice is Lee Dixon still been playing this season for Arsenal and been part of the strongest back four in UK football for a number of years.

But as I can only have one right back I have gone for Gary Neville although he is prone to be odd mistake he does get forward very well and does deliver a very good cross. He also has the ability to beat players which Lee Dixon has never been that good at.

So my right back is Neville

Right now I move onto my centre backs choices are

1. Des Walker
1. Terry Butcher
1. Tony Adams
1. Gary Pallister
1. Sol Campbell
2. Rio Ferdinand

This is going to be a very hard choice first up is Des Walker , I believe this player is one of the main reason?s we did so well at Italia 90 a very solid defender with a good turn of pace and great tackling ability. After the tournament he made a move to Italy were his form dipped really badly and he never recovered. But due to the fact he performed at the highest level he is in with a shout to make the team. Next is Terry Butcher all I remember of this play
er is him playing with his head covered in blood showing the famous English bull dog spirit.
Tony Adams is again a great defender having come back from personnel problems to have a great career with England and arsenal great man marker and very good at reading the game in his later years.
Gary paliister had a great career with Man utd but never really performed for England on the international stage.
Sol Campbell England?s current centre back has been around for a number of years now which is surprising for his young age. His improving massively since joining the gunners but still can make the odd mistake. Very good in the air and does get the odd goal.
Rio Ferdinad since moving from West Ham he also has become a much better playing very fast and has great ability to fetch the ball out of defence seems to have already have become a great player.

After thinking long and hard over the centre backs I have decided to go for Des walker and Rio Ferdiand. Des walker makes it into the team as I said before on his performance in 1990 but up until the argentine match the other day Rio would not have been in there but due to his great performance I think he has pushed past Tony Adams.

So centre Backs Walker and Ferdiand

Next position to decide is right wing, choices are

1. Chris Waddle
2. David Beckham
3. Darren Anderton

This one you think should be an easy choice but I did ponder over Darren Anderton playing right wing for a while as he did put up some great performances in Euro 96. I though I could have found room maybe for beckham in the middle of the park. Waddle was a great player but never really performed for England that well but he maybe still might get to play left wing.

So the obvious choice is the one I have gone with David Beckham

So Right Wing David Beckham

Next I will pick the left wing choices are

1. Chris Waddle
2. Steve Mcmanahman
3. J
ohn Barnes

Not much to choose from is there like I said before waddle never really set the world on fire on international duty but then again who as on the left side of mid field playing for England in recent years. Steve Mcmanaman did a very good job for England in Euro 96 but has not done much since really. Lastly John Barnes another player who had very little International success

After thinking over the poor choice I decided on Steve Mcmanaman for his performance in Euro 96

So Left wing Steve Mcmanaman

Next it?s the position of centre Midfield the choices are

1. Bryan Robson
2. Paul Gascoigne
3. David Platt
4. Paul Scholes
5. Steven Gerrard
6. Carlton Palmer

Very hard choice this one I thought about Robson but again he was a player I never saw play at his best so that really rules him out. Gazza well he was superb in Italia 90 and Euro 96 so he was a great midfielder for nearly a decade. David Platt was great in Italia 90 he ruled the midfield and linked up very well with Gazza. He also had the ability to score from midfield which is much needed gift to be a successful midfield player. Next we move onto one of England?s current midfield players Paul Scholes he again weighs in with more than his fair share of goals. Up until now though he has not played well in a major tournament. The same can be said for Steven Gerrard he is missing due to injury at the minute so will have to wait to prove himself but I do believe he may become the best England midfield player of all time. Carlton Palmer well I put him in as a joke only Graham Taylor would pick him in a England XI

So my two midfielders are Paul Gascoigne and David Platt

Next its strikers and there are 3 great ones to choose two from

1. Gary Linekar
2. Alan Sherer
3. Michael Owen

This is a very hard choice to make all three players have proved themselves on the world stage and have s
cored lots of goals. After thinking about who could play with who I decided that?s as Linekar and Owen would not work together I have to go for Linker and sherear. As there is no way I could leave out linekar as he scored so many important goals. So sheraer got the nod over Owen just over the fact they would link up better together

So striker are Alan Sherere and Gary Lineker

So the full team is

1. Seaman
2. Neville
3. Walker
4. Ferdinand
5. Pearce
6. Beckham
7. Platt
8. Gascoigne
9. Lineker
10. Shearer
11. Mcmanaman

Well that?s it my final choice if any one has any disagreements please post comments so we can discuss. For all of you who are fed up of football sorry.

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