There are plenty of good players here but few who regularly reproduced their club form for their country. Most of them made their names with English clubs or Celtic/Rangers during the 1960s and 1970s. Scotland's days as an international force were over by 1930. Due to mismanagement, apathy and overly political selections, the Scots have never reached the knockout stages of a major international tournament. I saw a lot of Eddie Gray. He was a fine winger for Leeds, converting to full-back late on to prolong his career. He never played full-back for Scotland, though his brother Frank did. Alternative XI (4-4-2): Goram; McGrain, Arnott, Willie Miller, McWilliam; Johnstone, Bremner, Charlie Campbell, Morton; Gallacher, Law.
All Ireland XI 1 Pat Jennings 2 Stephen Carr/Pat Rice 3 Dennis Irwin 4 Mark Lawrenson 5 Paul McGrath 6 Roy Keane 7 George Best 8 Danny Blanchflower 9 Jimmy Dunne 10 Liam Brady 11 Johnny Giles
PFA award-winning XI 1 Shilton 2 G. Neville 3 Sansom 4 Terry 5 Pallister 6 Vieira 7 C. Ronaldo 8 Gerrard 9 Shearer 10 Henry 11 Bale
All-time England XI published by the BBC to mark England's 1,000th international match. The BBC produced a shortlist then invited visitors to their website to vote. Most votes went to World Cup winners Moore, Charlton and Banks, whose enduring status is confirmed. Regarding older players in the shortlist, Bloomer and Woodward are the only representatives before 1920, as they were with IFFHS twenty years ago. Lawton is preferred to Dean. Edwards misses out. Nobody in the final XI started their international career before 1958. Of those who did, only Matthews receives 20% of the vote. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50413011
Keegan should have been a possible choice amongst the MF's, not only forwards (like Barnes for example, who is selectable from both categories).
Sticking solely to post-war era players with available footage, some interesting Xls: Italy 4-3-3 Buffon Facchetti, Baresi, Scirea, Maldini Tardelli, Pirlo, Rivera Donadoni, Riva, Baggio Subs: Totti Del Piero Nesta Conti De Rossi Mazzola Zambrotta Netherlands 4-3-3 Van Der Sar Suurbier, Rijkaard, Koeman, Krol Cruijff, Van Hanegem, Gullit Robben, Van Basten, Bergkamp Subs: Neeskens Sneijder Davids Stam De Boer Van Persie Rensenbrink France: Barthez Thuram, Desaiily, Blanc, Lizarazu Vieira, Tigana Zidane, Platini, Henry Fontaine Germany: Maier Lahm, Beckenbauer, Kohler, Brehme Matthaus, Netzer, Overath Seeler, Rummenigge Muller Spain: Casillas Ramos, Hierro, Puyol, Camacho Xavi, Busquets, Suarez Raul, Villa, Iniesta Portugal: Baia Pinto, Carvalho, Pepe, Coentrao Deco, Sousa, Rui Costa Ronaldo, Eusebio, Figo England: Banks Moore, Terry, Cole Charlton, Robson, Gerrard Matthews, Finney, Gazza Argentina: Fillol Zanetti, Passarella, Ruggeri, Marzolini Di Stefano, Redondo, Riquelme Messi, Batistuta, Maradona Brazil: Gilmar Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Lucio, N. Santos Didi, Falcao Garrincha, Zico, Pele Ronaldo
Surprising (to me) that Gerrard is close to the first XI but I suppose England supporters are in the best position to judge this. I know he was good vs Germany in 2001 of course (a 'rare' competitive win against a big team) and also good at euro 2012 and has also some other goals or assists against the better teams. At the same time, he had some big gaffes as well (France 2004, handing France the win). There is also a BBC podcast where this is discussed. https://player.fm/series/football-daily/who-is-on-englands-greatest-ever-xi Some of those things I don't quite get. One of these is the remark Beckham didn't have a game like Greece "30 or 40 times in his England career". While I understand the idea he might have under-performed in tournaments (against teams better than Greece), and cost the team at times, I also think this is an unrealistic benchmark. I'm not sure a Moore, Charlton, Greaves or who else have 30 or 40 of those games either (or 20+ of those matches). Heck, even Pelé and the rest of the rollcall have maybe not 40 of those games like Beckham against Greece.
Probably only Charlton and Moore are now automatic choices. Many online voters may prefer not to go further back in time. Seven of the team played during the past thirty years, and club allegiances could have played a part with younger voters.
I don't know they would to be perfectly honest (be in the best position). I think Gerrard makes more sense in an all-time English XI rather than an England XI. I thought the podcast was ok but no more. It felt like it lacked depth and there were a few bits in there that jarred with me, particularly the idea Gordon Banks had been named FIFA's goalkeeper of the year six times. It felt very biased towards the recent players but then overlooked some of the best role players. Just as an example, I would think strongly about Paul Ince in central midfield based on the players that I personally saw because I think he would give a better balance alongside, say, a Gazza or a Charlton. I felt Finney got very little recognition as well (though was listening to it while doing something else as well).