My World Eleven (Football in General)

Name: kfingleton

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Product:	Football in General
Date:	11/05/01 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb team

Disadvantages: Egos to massage, expensive

Managers of the world take note and chairmen hide your chequebooks because what follows is the greatest collection of footballers in the world. It may only be my opinion and you will almost certainly disagree with it, but if it can get a debate going, I’m all for it. Cost is not a restriction in this team which plays the French system of 4-4-1-1.

Here is a c****y diagram to demonstrate:

---------1.--------
3.----5.-----6.----2.
11.----4.----8.----7.
------------10.
---------9.

And here is the first eleven:
1. Casillas (Real Madrid / Spain)
2. Carr (Tottenham / Ireland)
3. Lizarazu (Bayern Munich / France)
4. Vieira (Arsenal / France)
5. Stam (Manchester United / Netherlands)
6. Desailly (Chelsea / France)
7. Figo (Real Madrid / Portugal)
8. Davids (Juventus / Netherlands)
9. Raul (Real Madrid / Spain)
10. Zidane (Juventus / France)
11. Overmars (Barcelona / Netherlands)

Subs: Barthez (Manchester United / France), Maldini (Milan / Italy), Keane (Manchester United / Ireland), Montella (Roma / Italy), Henry (Arsenal / France), Rivaldo (Barcelona / Brazil)

The team in depth:

1. Casillas (Real Madrid / Spain)
He may be young but he has already proven himself on the world stage with Real and has already been capped by Spain. Agile reactions when stopping shots mixes well with his assurance on crosses.

2. Carr (Tottenham / Ireland)
Shameless patriotism on my part or a solid choice? You can debate amongst yourselves on this point but I certainly am not proud that I’ve picked a Spurs player. Carr is very strong defensively, the best full-back in the Premiership if footballers are to believed. He is excellent going forward as well and has proved to be an excellent striker of the ball. I don’t actually think he’s as good a fullback as Ian Harte, but then Harte isn’t a right back.

3. Lizarazu (Bayern Mun
ich / France)
A key player for the efficient Germans and the flamboyant French, he just gets in ahead of the likes of Silvinho of Arsenal (due to a lack of defensive-mindedness) and Harte of Leeds (he hasn’t proved himself on the big stage). You can hardly argue with winning both the World Cup and Euro Championships. Then again, even Frank Lebouf has won these titles.

4. Vieira (Arsenal)
For all his ability it is a scary thought that Vieira is yet to hit his mid twenties. Rescued from obscurity at Inter by Arsene Wenger he was key to Arsenal’s double success of 1998 and was especially good for France in Euro 2000. The only thing that lets him down is his disciplinarily record, but then he is constantly victimised by the FA. Along with Petit he makes the world’s strongest midfield partnership.

5. Stam (Manchester United / Netherlands)
He may be the ugliest man on the team, but this towering monster is a force to be reckoned with in the art of defending. Strong and pacey with and excellent tackle he can be relied upon 99.9% of the time. Good in the air as well.

6. Desailly (Chelsea / France)
His form has suffered a little since moving to England, probably caused by the upheaval at his club Chelsea. Partnering him with Stam would be a frightening prospect as their combined strength would be massive. He is also very assured on the ball with nimble feet. He also has quite a few medals in his cabinet, not least a couple of Champions League ones from his early days at Marseille and at Milan too.

7. Figo (Real Madrid / Portugal)
In my view he is the complete footballer. He has strength, pace, an excellent crosser and a superb passer of the ball. He’s good at set pieces and he’ll even tackle back. To watch him in action is to be in awe of skills most footballers of all ages could only dream of having. A joy to watch.

8. Davids (Juventus / Netherlands)
Another Dutc
hman makes the team and beats the competition of Scholes and Petit. While Petit may be the best-proven partner for Vieira, I think that he is probably past his best. Davids on the other hand is on the up after a few years of ‘problems’. His work rate is above just about every other midfielder in the world at the moment and seeing him go full throttle with pace and power towards the goal and unleashing a rasping shot must be very scary for defenders.

9. Raul (Real Madrid / Spain)
Shevchenko, Kluivert, Henry, Anelka and Larsson lose out to this wonderful young forward player. At 23 he has already won the European Cup twice as well as La Liga. Typically, Spain have failed to deliver on the international stage, but he has not with a plethora of goals. Now the top scorer in Champions League history.

10. Zidane (Juventus / France)
Playing just behind the front player, like he does for France, ZZ is an exceptional talent. The deftness of touch, the one touch control, the accuracy of his shot and the way he turns defenders all add up to make him a rival for Figo as the worlds greatest footballing talent. He links the midfield with the forward player with sublime passing skills that have to be seen to be appreciated. If you wanted one player on ‘Playercam’ it may well be Zidane.

11. Overmars (Barcelona / Netherlands)
I’ve had the opportunity to see him in the flesh twice and his pace down the left (although stunted a little by injury a few years back) still has the knack of roasting opposing fullbacks. Excellent coming inside to carve out openings but not the best crosser in the world.

Well that’s my opinion on what makes up the best team in the world. Ironically, Casillas made a horrible mistake in the Champions League semi-final just before I wrote this, but I stand by my decisions. I picked this team because I thought it was the best blend of players I could get and not just th
e finest collection of players. This is a solid team that I believe would gel together. It has width, but yet the possibility to play direct if needed. Strength, pace and lethal finishing combined together could make an irresistible footballing force. Incidently I’ve had the pleasure of watching Carr, Vieira, Overmars, Henry, Keane, Larsson, Overmars and Rivaldo in real life.

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