Best England XI in your lifetime

[James]

Why all the picks for Seaman? His mistakes cost us a few times.

 

He was still great for England for 10 years.

[Village Idiot]

Not Seaman's fault that he kept being picked when he was past it.

 

EDIT: Still remember that penalty shootout 

[Incognito]

Post 1998 he let us down in every single one. People just get conned by the media.

 

That old chestnut again... post 2002.

 

Excuse me?

 

Don't know how many times I've seen you post that but it's just as untrue. In 2000 and 2002 he had decent tournaments and scored. Since then he's been terrible.

 

I think Keegan dropped him at Euro 2000 iirc,and he clearly wasn't fit at any tournaments after that.

[Cronky]

There's a lot of non-tackling midfields being posted. Are the opposition never going to get the ball?

[James]

There's a lot of non-tackling midfields being posted. Are the opposition never going to get the ball?

 

While my team (in the OP) had no pure defensive midfielders, I thought that the front six would all do their defensive share.

[Guest Giller]

Banks

Neale

Adams

Campbell

Cooper

Bell

Platt

Gascoigne

Beardsley

Linneker

Greaves

[Cronky]

There's a lot of non-tackling midfields being posted. Are the opposition never going to get the ball?

 

While my team (in the OP) had no pure defensive midfielders, I thought that the front six would all do their defensive share.

 

Your midfield isn't the weakest defensively that's been put forward, but all the same Beardsley-Gazza-Scholes-Beckham looks a bit unbalanced, in that they're all basically attacking players. I don't think there's any need to pick a purely defensive player at all, but there has to be some capacity to defend amongst the midfield.

 

I enjoy these 'all time best' threads, and it's difficult to leave out some players, but I think the results are usually over-optimistic.

[Ketsbaia]

I guess this kind of fits in here:

 

How England's north-east feast at Italia 90 turned into famine

The release of a film about the 1990 World Cup, One Night In Turin, was bound to bring with it a stab of regret, and not just because those of us who recall the tournament vividly are now of an age when melancholy proliferates like the hair in our lugholes. And if you come from the north-east of England the pang of nostalgia James Erskine's documentary provokes is likely to be all the more acute.

 

In one of the final friendlies leading up to Italia 90 England beat Czechoslovakia 4-2 at Wembley. It was the match in which Paul Gascoigne secured a place in the squad with a display so impish the opposition must have been tempted to check if he had a pointy tail. In the final minutes, having already set up two of England's goals, Gazza scored one of his own. Socks at half-mast, cheeks ruddy with effort, he soft-shoe-shuffled past two defenders and smacked the ball into the roof of the net with the explosive urgency of a schoolkid who has just heard the bell bringing break-time to an end. On the touchline, the England manager, Bobby Robson, wide-eyed and grinning fondly as a new dad, turned to his assistant Don Howe and cried: "That … is … fantastic!"

 

It remains my enduring image of Sir Bobby – a man who took such joy in football even the sight of a few workmen having a kickaround in the park was enough to distract him from his dinner. The thing I remember best about that game, though, is neither Gascoigne's performance, nor his manager's reaction to it, but a letter that appeared in this newspaper a few days later. It was written by a Tynesider and though the exact wording of it eludes me now, the message has stayed with me ever since. On Wednesday night, the writer said, England had defeated another of the World Cup finalists. The England team had featured three players – Gascoigne, Trevor Steven and Bryan Robson – from the north-east, three of the goals had been set up by players from the north-east, another had been scored by a player from the north-east, the team was captained by a man from the north-east and managed by one, too. "Tell me," the letter concluded triumphantly, "what does the rest of the country do for a hobby?"

 

I read that line sitting in a flat in the Old Kent Road. I imagine I laughed with glee when I read it and punched the air. The letter, or at least the sentiment behind, would inspire me to write a book about north-east football. It would, it is fair to say, change my life.

 

Looking back today, I can see that this missive represented a highwater mark for north-east football. England's team for the first game of the 1990 finals, against the Republic of Ireland, featured four players from the region – Gazza, Robson, Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley (Steven was also in the squad). At the time it didn't seem like such a big deal. After all, hadn't England's legendary baggy-shorted forward line featured Wilf Mannion and Raich Carter as inside-forwards? Didn't the Charlton brothers help England win in 1966? Hadn't the squad Sir Alf Ramsey took to Mexico in 1970 – regarded by many as the best set of players we ever had – included the Charltons, Colin Bell and Norman Hunter?

 

I first went to a football match in 1967. By that stage no north-east team had won the league title for 30 years, the FA Cup for a dozen. Newcastle and Sunderland were struggling to stay in the top flight and Middlesbrough had dropped into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Yet, that year's News of the World football annual showed that 62 players from the region were employed in the First Division. There was at least one at every club, with the exception of West Ham. Howard Kendall, Jimmy Husband, Tommy Baldwin, George Armstrong, Ralph Coates, David Thomas, Mick McNeil, the Charltons, Bell, Hunter – for an area with a population hardly bigger than Birmingham's it was quite a list.

 

Through the 70s and 80s the pits and the steelworks and the shipyards shut, but it seemed like the north-east would churn out footballers for ever. Now, however, it looks like Italia 90 was a last howay.

 

Since then the involvement of the region's players in the national team – with the exception of Alan Shearer, and the fitfully fit Gascoigne – has been on the Green Party side of marginal. On Tuesday Fabio Capello's provisional squad of 30 included just two men – Michael Carrick and Adam Johnson – born in the region. In 2006 Sven-Goran Eriksson's final 23 mustered only Carrick and Stewart Downing – who managed 150 minutes of football between them. In 1998 Glenn Hoddle's sole north-easterner was Super Al. In Korea/Japan there were none at all.

 

Much has been written about Scotland's marked decline as a producer of talented footballers – whatever the causes of that slump might be they seem to have drifted south. Looking to raise my spirits, a friend comments that Waddle, Beardsley and Gascoigne emerged under a Conservative government. Another points to the emergence of Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson, the return to form of David Wheater. It is a time for clutching at straws.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/may/14/england-north-east-football-world-cup

 

Only 12 years ago, our star striker was captaining our country at the World Cup. Now Darren Bent getting in a provisional squad is as exciting as it gets for the North East. What a shame 

[Ronaldo]

Who cares?

[Ketsbaia]

Who cares?

 

Bit harsh. They mentioned Sir Bobby 

[Ronaldo]

I was referring more to your comment, does it really matter so much?

[Ketsbaia]

Its not that important, but its about regional pride i guess. I certainly felt more of a connection to the England team when we had numerous players in it.

[Tsunami]

Very difficult this given the way the game has changed and trying to get a balanced side so with apologies to many:

 

                            Banks

 

G Neville      Moore      Adams        Pearce

 

Beckham    Gascoigne  Robson    Waddle

 

                    Charlton    Rooney

[Guest Pie]

Shearer took penalties, and like Rooney (so far) only had one good tournament. I know we all love him, but never is he better than Rooney.

 

When we signed him, Shearer was just about the best CF in Europe - he is a better leader of the line than Rooney(physically stronger)and he and Lineker at their peak would have been devastating - esp with Beardsley behind them.

 

Better than Ronaldo? No.

 

And never stronger than Rooney during his England years, not in a million years.

I personally couldn't give a flying fuck about England's chances in any tournament but I am curious as to how old you are. Just seems that your knowledge of Alan Shearer at his peak (Newcastle fans saw it for about 6-7 months) is sounding limited.

[Ronaldo]

Because I don't think he was as good as Ronaldo? Find me a sane person (who isn't HTT) that does.

[Guest Pie]

Because I don't think he was as good as Ronaldo? Find me a sane person (who isn't HTT) that does.

Just curious, feel free to answer the question though.

 

 

Edit: Its ok, assuming your profile is correct then you were approximately 9. A very good age to give an 'educated' view on the relative merits of European footballing talent. No worries.

[Ronaldo]

Clearly, unless you disagree with my point.

[Rich]

Seaman

 

G. Neville      Adams      Campbell      Pearce

 

Beckham      Gascoigne      Robson      Waddle

 

Shearer      Rooney

 

 

Ashley Cole in for Pearce and Lineker in for Big Al were the two that tugged at my heartstrings a bit, went with pro-Toon bias.

 

EDIT: Honourable mention for Platt as well, liked that bloke a lot.

 

[Guest Pie]

Clearly, unless you disagree with my point.

What was it?

[Guest dazzanufc1892]

Rooney over Owen? I know we all hate him but at his best Owen was sensational for England. In major tournaments and at knock out stages as well.

 

Are you taking the piss?

 

it's a myth that owen score's loads of goals in the tournaments:

 

2 goals in world cup 98

1 goal in euro 2000

2 goals in world cup 2002

1 goal in euro 2004

0 goals in world cup 2006

 

conside

 

On this point, in 98 he only started 1 game, against argentina, he scored, and then scored his penalty, and his other was again romania in a 15 min sub appearance

euro 2000 we only played 3 games, even shearer only got 1....

2002 played 5 scored 2

2004 went into the tournament injured and scored 1 in 4....

2006 was injured going into it, and broke down in game 2 or 3,

 

to me his record holds up as well as anybodies

 

id go for:

 

                                                            Seaman

 

                                        Neville      Terry      Rio      Cole

 

                                                      Hargreaves

                                                                  Scholes

                                                  Gascoigne

 

                                                          Rooney

                                                      Owen Shearer

[Ronaldo]

A record of 6 goals in 5 tournaments 'holds up as well as anybody's'? 

[Disco]

Worlds most narrow team that like Dazza.

[ponsaelius]

Yeah it'd kinda put alot of strain on your full-backs. Gary Neville was decent in an attacking sence, but he's nee Cafu.

[Guest Mantis]

Shilton

 

G. Neville      Adams      Butcher      Pearce

 

Beckham      Gascoigne      Robson      Waddle

 

Shearer      Lineker

 

 

 

 

 

[Ketsbaia]

                                    Scott Carson

Earl Barrett          Zat Knight        Colin Cooper      Andy Hinchcliffe

Tony Daley      Carlton Palmer    Seth Johnson        Steve Guppy

                          David Hirst      Michael Ricketts

 

 

SUBS: Ian Walker, Chris Powell, Steve Howey, Alan Thompson, Nick Barmby, Franny Jeffers, Stan Collymore