Xi...

[United Pumps]

In my eternal pursuit of making every "best of" line up that is possible today's task is to...

Make a team of foreign players who you feel have influenced the Premiership the most or been the best players in it.

As there has been, in general, better foreign attackers then defenders I'm going to use a sort of 3-5-2 formation (more like a 3-3-4) so that I can fit in more strikers.

"Foreign" means players from outside of the UK and Ireland or we're going to end up with Keane and Giggs.

Schmeichel
Desailly Stam Hyypia
Vieira
Ginola------------- Pires
Bergkamp Zola
Cantona Henry

Obviously this team would get trounced because of the formation but it would be purty to watch. For the sake of it I'm going to include that the team is made up of a Danishman, six Frenchmen, an Italian, two Dutchmen and a Finn (?).

If I had to play a formation that'd actually work it'd probably be (I know Hyypia isn't a right back):
Schmeichel
Hyypia Desailly Stam Petrescu
Ginola Vieira Ljungberg Pires
Bergkamp Henry
Which is pretty much just Arsenal's attack for a number of years.

Honourable mentions to RVN, Okocha, Makelele (sorta), Oleeeeeeeeeeeee and Di Canio. I hope I haven't forgotten anybody. :/

[Republic of Mancunia]

Ah, go on. I'l have a stab at it.


"Footbal Manager" special:

--------------Schmeichel----------------
--------Stam----Hyppia----Gallas--------
-----------------Vieira------------------
Ljungberg--------------------------Ginola
-----Bergkamp--Cantona----Zola-------
------------------Henry

One that might work:

--------------Schmeichel----------
Petrescu---Hyppia---Gallas---Heinze
Ljungberg--Vieira---Di Matteo--Ginola
-----------Bergkamp---Henry-------

* Schmeichel was an easy choice.

*Not too happy about the full backs but who else am I gonna put there? Henning Berg? Celestine Babayaro? :eek: Suppose I could move Gallas over to LB and put Stam in the middle but Gallas is more known as a central defender despite being very good at left back. Bias, lack of choice and the need for someone solid behind Ginola, in the sense that he might very well hack you down if exposed prevailed for LB in the end.

* Hyppia for years of excellent displays. Gallas over Stam because of longevity. If I was going on pure ability then Stam may well force himself into the team, then again, he may not. Would be a very tough choice. Desailly didn't immediately spring to mind but in retrospect would be a very good shout.

* Considered Kanchelskis for wide right but for sheer longevity and a higher profile although he hasn't exactly always played there went with Ljungberg. Think he'd help Petrescu more who was quite attack-minded.

* Vieira needs no explanation.

* Di Matteo is preffered over Juninho and Poyet in the attacking midfield role. More mobile than Poyet who had an excellent goal scoring record and although not exactly a man mountain, more robust than Juninho which isn't difficult. I could always put Petit in next to his midfield partner at Arsenal as at one point they were brilliant together.

* Ginola just edges out Pires for me. Arguably better but I'd say a higher profile and made more of an impact in that regard. Honourable mention to Marc Overmars but he wasn't around as long.

* Bergkamp and Henry worked well together although there was always the risk that they'd be too pretty and not score the "ugly goals".

Zola, Cantona, Di Canio, or even Henry himself could all replace Bergkamp if you wanted to go for 1 out and out goalscorer/traditional striker and 1 player to play just off him. In that case the out and out goalscorer/striker would be Van Nistelrooy with honourable mentions to Anelka, Ravanelli and Klinsmann. Despite the last two only being in the league for one season their impact was huge on the field and off, especially when their transfers were announced. They symbolise the wealth, or at least big spending since the Premier League began to me.

[United Pumps]

Yay, a poster!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/football_best_football_debuts/img/5.jpg

I'd completely forgotten about Overmars. Cheers, RoM.

[Republic of Mancunia]

I'd completely forgotten about Overmars. Cheers, RoM.

No problem. Just realised that I'd completely forgotten about Riise for left back. Played more than 4 times the amount of games than Heinze in the Prem and whilst his own fans have got on his back once or twice and some games have been in left-midfield he has performed to a decent level at a high profile club so it's fair to say he's made an impact on the league as a whole.

Think he's my new player in there.

On that basis, Bjornebye wouldn't be too far away either but he never really did much in the 4-4-2 that I was trying to stick to. Of course, having Souness as manager probably didn't help and he was a bit better under Evans when he was employed as a wing back.

[JimmyTheHoover]

What about the man Tony Yeboah, may not have been around for so long but he definitely made a big impact whilst he was here, and the Blonde Bomber (or is it Bummer) Klinsmann sure did make an impact in the early premiership.