Alert: A 'Down the Years' & 'Across the Oceans' ELEVEN.

I wanna start a 'Best of the Best' bunfight. By attempting to use a system of meritocracy - a seemingly mysterious concept to the folks on FIFA hill, who have in the past been the guilty parties in making FIFA Player of the Year nominations - can the great and the good and the rest of us, put together a women's footie, international, best 11 (plus some subs)?

Clearly, few people can be truly objective about the players they want in their team. Which should add some colour to the concept. Of course it helps if a player you suggest or demand to be included has the skills and ability but nothing will sway a floating lurker like an impassioned description of a players' OTT goal celebration, a baffling interview response, an onfield kick-ass scrap, a toilet-related incident or just all round likeability.

As my previous forays into fantasy football attest, I'm bobbins (naff) at this kind of thing. I'm reckoning that that's more to do with a woeful attention span. But I'm ready to really care about this. If anyone else is...

For starters, we're going for a [LINEUP-4-4-2]? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[/LINEUP-4-4-2] and I'm going to throw some goalkeeper's names into the BigSoccer hat:

Gao Hong
Brianna Scurry
Ulrika Karlsson
Silke Rottenberg
Bente Nordby
Hope Solo

Have I been overly gripped by nostalgia? Who gets your pick? Should I be shot with shit for missing someone out? Who have I overlooked?

I have just realised who you are Jenson after wondering for many years LOL

So, wait. You want us to name eleven players that we think could beat any other eleven players in some kind of strength contest based on gluteal prowess? Please clarify.

Seriously?!

Well, I was thinking more along the lines of a discussion involving who you would place in a hypothetical starting line-up, containing the best ever
women's players. Starting with goalies (which is your area, I believe).
But your idea DOES seem more fun.

I reckon LeBlanc would take no prisoners.

Right. And just to clarify further, each player is at her peak—healthy, happy, uninjured, and in mid-season form. Correct?

And... err... what happens in this thread stays in this thread, right? In other words you are valuing honest evaluation of talent/prowess over theatrics or, err, any other previously stated positions. (With some wiggle room allowed for toilet humor, on-field scraps, etc.)

Yeah took me like 3 years lol and only because you tweeted the same subject yesterday. Just had a look at your fb and there is another clue.
If Emma Byrne had been playing in a good national team, she could have been on the list.

You rate her that highly? On her day, definitely. I've seen the odd stinker...

Do I have to motivate it? Can't I just baldly state that I can't see how it could be anyone but Rottenberg? NB: I definitely haven't looked at her bum to see if she wins jocasta's contest .

It clearly IS Rottenberg, in my humble thingy but I was prepared to consider arguments to the contrary.

Next category, pulleez. (Of course, this is almost guaranteed to bring all the fans of the dancing cyborg out of the woodwork... )

Her recent form hasn't been as good as in the previous seasons, but I have seen her do seasons with less mistakes than the finger of one hand.

Can I have Faye White in the top defenders category lmfao ?
Loads of people have been brainwashed in England and they actually think so....

OK, let me add my vote for Rottenberg too, totally unspoiled by any first-hand experience of her skills (no, I don't mean THOSE skills! ), because I only ever saw her in one match on a vintage DVD. (I have watched that match several times though.)

It's probably Rottenberg. Or... or maybe someone kinda like Rottenberg.

*cough* Angerer, circa 2006-2008 *cough*

But I could be okay with Rottenberg.

Ok.

GK: Rottenberg it is. (It was a kind of no-brainer.)

Here's my suggestions of defenders to choose from. The odd contemporary face in there, mainly at full back, because this is a position that has definitely become increasinly important and demanding and there are a couple of current players who on their way to nailing it.

(In no particular order)
Gro Espeseth
Doris Fitschen
Joy Fawcett
Kerstin Stegemann
Gill Coultard
Sonia Bompastor
Carla Overbeck
Jane Tornqvist
Kristin Bengtsson
Christie Rampone
Steffi Jones
Fan Yunjie (though if I'm totally honest I could never really distinguish between the 2 or 3 solid Chinese defenders of the late 90s era!)
Cheryl Salisbury
Katrine Pedersen
Alex Scott
Goril Kringen
(and someone yesterday suggested Elise Kellond-Knight)

Come on then. Hit me!

Since I hear Germans lament her loss all the time, let me add Sandra Minnert to the list.

(I'm sure Neid would insist on Bartusiak, too. I wouldn't. But I have promised to refrain from slashing her for a while, so I will just stay silent on the subject. )

And there is another name that's missing on the list, but I'm pretty sure that one of our friends on this board will make sure that she figures among the midfielders later.

Is Thunebro worth a mention, though? The one from a few years ago?

I toyed with Minnert as one of the few full backs of merit and was unsure whether I just liked Thunebro as a player but she wasn't quite 'worthy'.

Not a defender any more, at least. Stabæk have been chugging all kinds of youth players in defence but Pedersen have remained in front of the back line (think Boxx).

I'll refrain from trying to nominate four because I simply don't know enough of the history pre-2008.

But in her hey day?

And don't worry you can join in regardless. We're all about sharing/discussing/learning and spraying manure over anything we disagree with in here.

As you have noticed, Twitter is one day ahead.

Yeah see that was pre-2008 and as she's Danish I don't really know what happened before that. I suppose she may have played DF with Fulham? But then again her English club might have squashed her into a square hole. If she was very good at it I think Stabæk would have thought differently, though. I can see she's a ball winner and strong in the air, at least, always useful qualities in the back too.

OK From a Norway POV I can't really say that we have had world class players in the time I've watched - just no real particular weak point, a strong work ethic, and good goalkeepers (and the team went rapidly downwards after 1995). I suppose Bonnie might throw in a wee bit more info here. I always rated Rønning higher than Gulbrandsen, but that may be personal bias.

Espeseth's record is very good - world cup silver, gold, Oly gold. Picking on achievements alone, I think I'd go Espeseth, Stegemann, Rampone, Jones. But then you get the problem that they're all really centre backs...

Can I have 5? And does it have to make sense, in other words if I was to choose 4 left backs...?

Just chucking 'em in, willy nilly:
Bengtsson
Törnqvist
Minnert
Salisbury

Give me a bonus and I'll go for Fitschen. Or Stegemann. Or Bompastor. Or Thunebro from a few years ago. I also feel a bit guilty about leaving Rampone out. And Pedersen. Dammit .

OK, can I have 10 defenders, please? (North Korea manage it, when they're not too busy "performance-enhancing" themselves.)

Törnqvist, Jones, Espeseth, Overbeck. Subs Rampone and Thunebro.


Note: the following is for entertainment purposes only and is not to be taken in any way.

10 defenders and one goalkeeper? Sounds good! The six about plus Karolina Westberg, Linda Medalen (yes I know, but I don't care), Ariane Hingst (yes, yes I know), and Charmaine Hooper. There. That's a defense ain't no one gonna mess with.