England’s Greatest XI. Ever.
One of the most difficult questions that we are all posed with at some point in life is: “What is the best England team of all time?” We have had a lot of good players over the years but which XI represents the cream of the crop? I fully expect to incur the wrath of those of you irate about players who I’ve chosen to omit but may I present the case for the defense.
Here goes…
GK: Peter Shilton
Gordon Banks came a very close second on this one but I’ve opted for Mr Reliable. Although Banks was capable of pulling off the most unlikely of saves, Shilton possessed a greater level of reliability. His record is unsurpassed as not only England’s most capped player (125), but also 66-clean sheets. A League and European Cup winner, Shilton also makes my World XI as the man I most trust between the sticks.
LB: Stuart Pearce
Psycho was England’s finest left back and had the passion, courage and determination required to compete at the highest level in spades. The fact that he is one of only a handful of players to regularly turn out for England whilst playing club football in the second tier (with Nottingham Forest in 93/94) is testament to his ability. His costly penalty miss in Italia 90 was more than compensated for by the goals he scored with his trademark thunderous free kicks.
CB: Bobby Moore
Moore was the obvious choice in the heart of defence and was the first name to appear in my World XI. Graceful and precise in his passing, he was the archetypal sportsman and was, of course, the only Englishman ever to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy.
CB: Terry Butcher
A fearless, commanding centre half, his decision to play on with a severe head wound against Sweden in 1989 remains a defining moment in footballing bravery. England’s back four would undoubtedly benefit from a man like Butcher’s influence in South Africa.
RB: Viv Anderson
Viv was a notable player for more than simply being the first black player to represent England. He was an incredible tackler and quick to press forward. Winning only 30 caps was nothing short of disgraceful in return for the extra dimension he added to the national team throughout the late 70s and 80s.
LM: John Barnes
This has been a problem area for England over the years but Barnes was almost certainly the most naturally gifted player in this position. He outpaced several Brazilian defenders in 1984 to score one of the most breathtaking goals ever seen.
CM: Bobby Charlton
His record as England’s highest ever goalscorer remains intact after 40 years. His attacking flair as a midfielder and ferocious long range shot led to a long and prolific career in an England shirt with Alf Ramsey constructing his World Cup winning side around him in 1966.
CM: Bryan Robson (Captain)
Captain Marvel represented England 90 times (65 as skipper) and was almost certainly the best player in England in the late 1980s. Injury limited his appearances in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup campaigns when he could have played a pivotal part in guiding us to only our second appearance in a World Cup final.
RM: David Beckham
This may seem contentious given the fine players who have occupied this position including Alan Ball and Tom Finney but in his prime, there was no finer crosser of the ball or free kick specialist than David Beckham. He is England’s most capped outfield player and was all set to become the only Englishman to feature in five World Cup finals prior to tearing his Achilles.
FW: Alan Shearer
I’ve chosen him ahead of Jimmy Greaves and Geoff Hurst as a confident and in form Shearer was guaranteed to get goals from anywhere. He was a classic centre forward using his strength and physical presence to great effect whilst also being one of the best headers of the ball I’ve ever seen. He was also one of England’s most dependable penalty takers which have been painfully rare.
FW: Gary Lineker
The man who Shearer replaced. There would be no risk of Lineker being sent off in our England XI as he never even received a yellow card throughout the whole of his professional career. He was one of England’s fastest ever players and can boast an impressive ratio of over one goal for every two games he played for the national side. He was dreadfully unlucky to finish one goal shy of Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 strikes in an England shirt.
More importantly, what’s yours?
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what!? hoddle!? gascoigne!? Billy Wright!? Stan matthews!? i could well go on…
butcher and viv anderson in? as good as they were, have a word my friend
…. Finney! Greaves! …
Alzif, there were some very difficult decisions to make and I could have easily had a greatest England 30!! You mention some great players there but none of them were defenders thus you have offered no alternative to Butcher or Anderson.
Paul,
I spy with my little eye… some twit with an ‘!’ compulsion.
Very generous of you to engage with him. Very generous…
John Barnes????? He had one good game for England and was booed on every other occasion by England fans because of his poor perfomances. Even Joe Cole did better than him on the left. You could have gone for Tom Finney or even Martin Peters who both played there many times. As for Viv Anderson????? Gary Stevens and Phil Neal were much better and even restricted Anderson to 30 caps by getting picked ahead of him on numerous occasions. Even Gary Neville was a better England Right Back.
Also, putting David Beckham in is an absolute insult to Sir Stanley Matthews and Alan Ball. Yes Beckham has the most caps but he hasn’t exactly had much competition for the right wing position. He always let England down in the big tournaments as well.
How was Beckham about to play in his fifth World Cup final?
Banks….. pearce moore j.charlton cohen- mullery haynes bell peters- greaves rooney
only reason i left bobby charlton out was cos haynes was undoubtedly the finest passer of a ball ewngland has ever had..cant really have 2 midfield generals lol……so many others lineker ,waddle,ball etc but only allowed pick 11
Adam,
Maybe it was a contractual obligation?
Duncan Edwards.
Just to let the person who compiled the Englands best team,football was around long before the Premiier league came on the scene.What about Jimmy greaves,Bobby Moore,Bobby Charlton and many others basically the list is endless but to insult the true greats by putting David Beckham in is mind baffling.
Why pick a team from different decades? Name one better than: Swift: Ramsey Barnes: Wright Clarke Mercer; Matthews Carter Lawton Hagan Finney. Fit them out with the lightweight shoes of today’s game and they’d run rings round anybody.
Exceptions: except Hungary 53 and of course Matthews copied and later wore the lightweight shoes he noticed on the Hungarian squad. And with today’s plasticized ball they’d be even better than they were.
Nobody knows football history beyond their own youthful days….These were the palers I saw when I was younger – except I can’t remember the center half. Cullis, maybe?
I agree with col above. To include Beckham in an all-time great team is just r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s. Matthews was a far more accurate crosser of the ball and could dribble pas three or four opponents at a time.
viv anderson ! your having a laugh ! you may as well said keith curle ! shilton instead of banks! beckham! just because these players got lots of caps it doesnt merit them getting in this team! im surprised you didnt go for carlton palmer!
My team would be;
GK – P. Shilton, LB – G. Cohen, RB – R. Wilson, CB – B. Wright, CB – B. Moore, LM – T. Finney, RM – S. Matthews, CM D. Edwards, CM – B. Robson, AM – B. Charlton, CF N. Lofthouse
Based upon picking each player at the height of their powers and ignoring the difficulty of picking across different eras … Banks, Pearce, Moore (capt), Wright, Cohen, Edwards, Charlton, Gascoigne, Finney, Lofthouse, Greaves … Playing 4-4-2 … Subs: Shilton, Butcher, Wilson, Haynes, Matthews, Rooney, Lineker
Any of 10 current champions league sides would hammer the England sides from the 60′s. You pay homage to stodge eating amateurs.
It makes me laugh when people say the players of yesteryear wouldn’t stand a chance in the modern game.
How about how today’s players would have done back then when men were men. Today’s players wouldn’t last one match suffering some of the tackles that were allowed then. They wouldn’t be able to kick a ball with the heavy boots and ball and would shudder at the state of the pitches let alone the £8 a week maximum wage.
As for the team picked as the best. Barnes,you’re having a laugh. No Jimmy Greaves shows how ridiculous it is.
Laughable in so many ways. All you need to look for is Beckham. If he is in you can dismiss the rest of the team because you know what the person selecting the team is like. Shilton, Moore, Charlton and possibly Robson are the only ones there who should be considered. Lineker better than Greaves? Beckham better than Hoddle or Gascoigne? Barnes better than Waddle? Butcher better than virtually any centre back? What’s the point
[...] Некто пишет: The fact that he is one of only a handful of players to regularly turn out for England whilst playing club football in the second tier (with Nottingham Forest in 93/94) is testament to his ability. His costly penalty miss in … Moore was the obvious choice in the heart of defence and was the first name to appear in my World XI. Graceful and precise in his passing, he was the archetypal sportsman and was, of course, the only Englishman ever to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy. … [...]
THE greatest centre forward in English football EVER was/is the illustious Evertonian William Ralph Dean (also known as Dixie). Always start your team selection with him as he had no peers either before during or after he stopped playing. Any selection without him just devalues your line up.
While selecting a best ever england team gives one a headache,imagine the problems selecting a great britain xi? Doubt whether any present players would get a look in…..
Fark ju mo fookers the name says it all an absolute fucking bellend.CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TEAM COULD NOT BEAT THE UEFA CUP WINNERS LAST YEAR.So please engage your brain before opening your gob,there is so much bullshit spoken about football,todays players would never have lived with the players of the past,they would,nt have handled the aggression,strength and quality of those players even 20 years ago Graham roberts or Graham souness would have torn them a new arsehole
Yes I know that the old feckers ran around kicking lumps out of one another and sat down to eat more stodge afterwards Col ya fecken knob. I add my opinion regardless of your bellend of a gob feckhead. Stanley Mathews blah blah fricking blah. Give me a Leo Messi any day of the week sychophantic cretins.
its hard to mix the past and the present but ere goes – shilton,pearce,moore,wright,neal,finney,gazza,charlton,beckham,lineker,greaves
Shilton
Neal-composed and balanced, rarely gives a pass a way, never at his best for England, but arguably the worlds bets right back for a decade. Anderson deserved more caps, but we can only speculate
Pearce- Arguably the best attacking full back we ever produced and later a confident defender. But also a leader, fighter, all round decent human being and a man who could buold the link between players and fans
Franklin- It could be said England have never produced a truely great centre half in the classic sense (Moore a different type of Defender), so fair calls for Butcher and the like. But those who saw him, said Franklin was the finest, it clear from the statistics, how much supposedly Engalnds greates generation fell away, when he was forced out.
Moore- Indisputably the greatest defender we had and capatin.
Matthews- Beckham was the greates crosser, but matthews the greatest dribbler, a genius by all accounts, cant be excluded even for Beckham greater industry.
Edwards – we need someone who can destroy as well play. Robson was a warrior who made the best pf what he had, but never made the best of England. Ball is the next best fit, as could feed the rest of this team all day, But Edwards seem sto have been a greater defender, all obviously such a selection comes witha great what if.
Gascoigne – the most complet and gifted midfield player we had (Hoddle was a better passer, but could run a game like Gascoigne) if we mix his fitness befoere 90 with his cunning after 90, he is the complet player. For all his watsed talents, Englands tow most succesful teams isnce 1966 were buolt around him, hardly a failure.
Finney- Probably the most complete forward england ever produced. More effectove on the right wing or centre forward, but no better player could ever have touched englands left flank.
Charlton- playing in the hole. A complete tyro with the rare Engish ability on the world stage to grab a game when its needed, his gift was the ability to throw the tightest defences in the middle of the park.
Greaves- clearyl Englands most gifted goalscorer, in weaker teams you would want the graft and leadership of a shearer and hurst, but in the team, you could afford the luxury, devastiing pace, balnced finished and an ipossibly early shot.