LUXEMBOURG XI - Best foreigners (on paper, at least) Michaël Clepkens (Belgium): Keeper who mostly played at lower league level in his country. Couldn't think of anyone better for this position. Mamadou Tall (Burkina Faso): Actually a centre-back, but I was unable to find a left-back so he will have to make-shift in that role. Has played in multiple leagues, such as the Portuguese one, making 17 apps in Primeira Liga for U.D. Leira. Was a participant in 3 African Cup of Nations tournaments. Roger Lutz (Germany): The former Kaiserslautern player is one of the most accomplished players on the team in terms of titles won. 2 Bundesliga victories & 2 DFB-Pokals to his name, although he appear to have been more of a squad player rather than an indispensible starter. Never capped for Germany. Milan Biševac (Serbia): Has spent most of his career in France, playing for teams like PSG, Lyon & Valenciennes. If I'm not mistaken, he was one of the first signings made by the then-new PSG owners in 2011. 19 caps for Serbia, but the only tournament he was in was the 04 Olympics. Is currently playing for Dudelange in Luxembourg. Quim Machado (Portugal): Right-back who had a fairly solid, yet unremarkable, career at home. Like so many others, played in Luxembourg towards the very end. Dragoljub Brnović (Yugoslavia): He was one of the candidates for Team Sweden, but the competition here is way less so he makes the cut easily. The midfielder played all 4 games for Yugoslavia in the 1990 World Cup. In the late 80s, he left his home country to play for French club Metz (really close to Luxembourg, btw). Youssef Mokhtari (Morocco): Highlight of his career was when he became joint-top scorer during the 2004 AFCON with 4 goals. Usually played for small clubs in various leagues, and never stayed for more than a few years in one place. Attacking midfielder. Mustapha Hadji (Morocco): Can he and Mokhtari play in the same team? I would have wanted a defensive-minded option in midfield, but options are scarce. Anyway, Hadji probably needs no introduction. One of the best Moroccan players of all time. Moved to France at an early age, where he started his professional career in Nancy. Also played for teams such as Coventry & Sporting CP. Was quite productive even in Luxembourg, where he well over 30 when he arrived. Florent Malouda (France): I think his resumé speaks for itself. 80 caps for France, over 100 apps for Lyon & Chelsea. Won multiple titles, amongst others the CL-trophy. Retired last year in Luxembourg, so I think some of you probably were aware where he last played, and did expect to see his name here. Cyrille Pouget (France): Striker, although I'm a bit worried over his output. He didn't seem to score that many goals. Played for teams like Metz (of course), PSG & Marseille. Played for France 3 times in 1996. Tony Vairelles (France): Had a much better career than Pouget, yet not that prolific either to be honest. Played for a large number of French clubs, including Nancy, Lens & Lyon. Was part of the 1996 Olympics squad. At senior international level, he scored once in 8 games. Bench: GK: Kévin Sommer (France) & Pedro Fernandes (Portugal) LB: - CB: Amadou Touré (Burkina Faso) & Jean-Philippe Caillet (France) RB: Helton Dos Reis (France) MF: Stélvio (Angola), Johanna Omolo (Kenya), Levan Kenia (Georgia) & Dieumerci Ndongala (DR Congo) FW: Jonathan Jäger (France), Kevin Bobson (Netherlands) & Nélson Gama (Portugal) Pouget - Vairelles Malouda (c) - Mokhtari - Brnović - Hadji Tall - Lutz - Biševac - Machado Clepkens NEXT UP: ISRAEL
Impressive is one way to describe Fabio Capello's XI of the best players he's coached in his career (substitutes: Ronaldo and Francesco Totti) pic.twitter.com/SjRxLv5YIy— Mohamed Moallim (@iammoallim) June 18, 2019
From what I remember he actually put the line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation I think (unless he changed his mind recently). Whether it was a FourFourTwo 'Perfect XI' or an XI broadcast on Sky or whatever is escaping me right now but I think I've heard or seen (probably it is seen in writing) his comments before.
I did see the edition of One2Eleven by Sky, with Paul Gascoigne's chosen team on there recently for the first time (although it was picked 3 or 4 years ago now). I think I'd think of Brian Laudrup as the best player he ever played with genuinely, but he does give him a complimentary honourable mention and I can see how he ended up picking Waddle/Beardsley/Lineker etc (those team-mates of his were actually not really showcasing their best form in the Italia 90 World Cup, even though England got to the semi-finals). Mabbutt was perhaps the leftfield choice, but he says he partly picked him because he was so difficult to get past in training! I had the impression he'd be placing him on the right of the centre-back partnership rather than how this page presents it, not that it really matters anyway. https://www.skysports.com/football/...s-his-one2eleven-on-the-fantasy-football-club David Seaman; Gary Neville, Gary Mabbutt, Terry Butcher, Stuart Pearce; Bryan Robson; Chris Waddle, Peter Beardsley, John Barnes; Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer HMs: B.Laudrup indeed and Tony Adams as mentioned on that page (although with Adams, Paul Merson actually prompted him so not 100% sure Gascoigne would have mentioned him otherwise), plus these others I remember he mentioned and not all/any get a mention on the page - Richard Gough, Des Walker, Paul Ince, Giussepe Signori….and Merson himself (mentioned originally when discussing not picking Arsenal player Adams, and then again when the Beardsley/Shearer/Lineker picks were made).
A few 'My Perfect XI' selections I found in old issues of FourFourTwo (as well as Eusebio's which is available online anyway - Yashin; D.Santos, Beckenbauer, Germano, Schnellinger; Matthews, Didi, Charlton, Best; Pele, Di Stefano, subs: Gento, Puskas, and he mentions Facchetti and Rivera who he considers friends too but maybe that info is online also) Trevor Brooking's XI: Peter Schmeichel (mentions Shilton, Clemence, Jennings); Carlos Alberto, Bobby Moore, Franz Beckenbauer, Roberto Carlos; George Best, Lothar Matthaus, Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff; Pele, Marco van Basten subs: Franco Baresi, Patrick Vieira, Diego Maradona Ian Rush's XI: Neville Southall; Steve Nicol, Paul McGrath, Franco Baresi, Antonio Cabrini; Zico, Graeme Souness, Michel Platini; Diego Maradona; Kenny Dalglish, Marco van Basten Didier Deschamps' XI: Fabien Barthez; Lilian Thuram, Franco Baresi, Marcel Desailly, Paolo Maldini; Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry; Alessandro Del Piero, Raul subs: Kahn, Van Basten (cites injuries as keeping him out of first XI and mentions him in Rijkaard's write-up with the other Milan players from his time that he picked, while mentioning Desailly plus Savicevic and Weah as world-class players of the next Milan period), Vierchowod Also I found various Fantasy Football teams in the same place! This one I had picked in 2001/02 but must have realised I'd overspent by £0.2m so didn't send the form off (I may have entered anyway with another form or by phone) - shown in order of costliest price in the game that season: Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham), Robbie Keane (Leeds), Ian Harte (Leeds), Sami Hyypia (Liverpool), Robert Pires(Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand(Leeds), Fabian Barthez (Man Utd), Matt Jansen (Blackburn), Stephane Henchoz (Liverpool), Vladimir Smicer (Liverpool), Patrik Berger (Liverpool) And for a version of the original game but with 3 Euro Strikers (I guess it means they scored points for Champions League goals) I had entered this team at the start of the previous season 2000/01 - again shown by cost but the Euro strikers must have been free and everyone picked their first choice 3 names I think: Eidur Gudjohnsen (Chelsea), Marian Pahars (Southampton), Patrik Berger (Liverpool), Muzzy Izzet (Leicester), Ian Harte (Leeds), Sylvinho (Arsenal), Darren Eadie (Leicester), Sami Hyypia (Liverpool), Ronny Johnsen (Man Utd), Mark Draper (Southampton), Nigel Martyn (Leeds) Euro strikers: Andriy Shevchenko, Raul, Rivaldo
No, I haven't got any recent issues at all to be honest. I suppose it might not be the best etiquette to post them yet if it is too current then, but I guess there are various interesting selections in there? They are new ones (maybe more specifically about greatest/best XIs as opposed to personal preferences or as often based on players played with/against) rather than the full collection of already published Perfect XI articles are they?
Modern legends and lesser players pick their ‘personal preferences’ ‘based on players played with/against’. I could share some later, as I don’t think we’re allowed to scan them here.
I have also that issue. Some things are a bit strange, to put it mildly, starting with Lampard and Schweinsteiger at the beginning. Many seem to select British players out of sheer courtesy. Lampard has said Messi is the best he played against, but he isn't in his team or the bench. Cristiano Ronaldo is in his XI and Robben is one of the three on the bench. An interesting one is Brad Friedel, who had a career spanning 25 years and played on three continents. Schmeichel; Walker, Stam, King, Evra; Modric, Makelele; Hagi, Bergkamp, Bale; Kane Bench: Henry, Zola, Shearer The Tottenham guys and Hagi are his former team mates.
Sneijder casually announced his retirement without much aplomb. This was a year ago his XI of team-mates (good one touch through ball in his final NT match). Julio Cesar; Zanetti, Ramos, Chivu, Marcelo; Seedorf, Stankovic, Guti; Robben, Ibrahimovic, Eto'o Most difficult opponents (in his personal experience) to play against: Shinji Ono, N'Golo Kante, Van Bommel. Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Henk ten Cate (his trainer at Ajax, also worked at Barcelona, Chelsea) summarized it well in my opinion: "Louis van Gaal saw his Champions League matches but wasn't convinced he could trust a player playing in Turkey. To be ready for the tournament he trained individually in Ibiza with me. I always had a good relationship with Wes. When he asked if I wanted to help him, I said: 'OK, start tomorrow morning at half past seven.' He was there and a day later again and then again. That was a stipulation, because of course I wasn't going to let my day go bad. " Sneijder became fitter on a field of grass on The Island. John Heitinga was also there every day, and later Urby Emanuelson also came along, haha [both not in the squad]. But those guys did go. Every other day we also did some conditional forms on the beach, you saw Wes moving forward, until he turned out to be really fit and in top shape in Brazil. He had also worked with a kick boxer (Gokhan Saki) in Turkey and all that work paid off. " "One of the best we've had in recent times. In the period 2000 until now I can't remember a markedly better midfielder. I also don't know anyone who is as two-footed and dangerous with it like Wesley, that really sets him apart from many other players. He was straightforward and so am I, so we never had any problems. Wes knew that I did not look at origin or color, but at what someone could deliver. And so I chose him, even though he was only 21 or so. Not everyone was happy with that. " It is honestly a shame that Sneijder ended his career in Qatar, I would have liked a different stage, but everyone his choice. I also think that Wesley did not extract everything out of his career and talent. In 2010 he was really top, with the Orange and Internazionale. He touched on that level, that really top level, but kept it up too short. For me it could have been longer, although it doesn't take away his contribution in Madrid and Inter. A soccer player for the big occasion. " ....................... Now that Wesley Sneijder has put an end to his career, the era of the Big Four is over. Generational peers Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Sneijder got that nickname together, all four have hung the football boots on the willows. Which of those four was actually the best? That question is raised in Langs de Lijn En Omstreken. The Belgian sports journalist Hans Vandeweghe puts Sneijder in second place. "I still put Robben in number one, even though he was susceptible to injury. Sneijder comes after that, I think he is a fantastic football player." Robèrt Misset van de Volkskrant puts the Utrechter in three. "For me, Robben is one and Van Persie two because of his virtuoso technique and goals. I have seen Sneijder break through at Ajax. I think of him as swagger, fun, acid and bravado. A real winner who always led the fight " NOS football commentator Jeroen Elshoff puts Sneijder on the shared first place with Robben. He also naturally keeps good memories of the small midfielder. "I was a fan in the stadium when Sneijder made two against Brazil at the 2010 World Cup. I will never forget that, one of my best moments." As a journalist it was nice working with Sneijder, says Elshoff. "A great guy to interview. Something always happened, he said what he thought." Misset agrees. "You could always talk to him and he was always open and honest." https://nos.nl/artikel/2297368-sneijder-is-de-gedeelde-nummer-een-van-de-grote-vier.html ..................... Personal remark: the first time I noticed him was when he with the under-21 team of Ajax reached the semi finals of the KNVB Cup (domestic cup). The first time I noticed him as a proper national team player was the play-off against Scotland in 2003 for euro 2004, which also helped him to get an ESM team of the month selection (november 2003).
I found the score card for my very first Fantasy Football team from 94/95 now too. In those days the game actually started a few weeks into the season I remember, and I think that saved me from a few more minus points from defenders (my own team Forest scored a few against both Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham and they'd had a high scoring game with each other too at the start of the season; I think I looked at which defenders might get assists/goals too much and wasn't wary enough about goals conceded that season!), but cost me some points from midfielders among others obviously (and then I guess I sold Rob Lee hastily before he started scoring again...including against Forest before Christmas I seem to remember, without checking or being sure; replacing him with Waddle wasn't such a bad call when it freed up a bit of money perhaps though). In those days it was just 3 points for a goal, 2 for an assist, 3 for a clean sheet, 1 for defender/goalkeeper appearance, -1 for defender/goalkeeper goal conceded. I seem to have averaged about 8 a week and I seem to recall the leading teams averaged about 13 a week. I think anyone with Le Tissier and Shearer had a good basis to be scoring a lot that season! Kind of similar to having Pires and Henry a decade later maybe. Kevin Pressman (1 point for £1.6m) Rob Jones (24 points for £1.8m) David Kerslake (-12 points for £1.3m - sold in my 3rd pair of transfer changes) Dave Watson (36 points for £1.5m) Jakob Kjeldberg (12 points for £1.6m) Graham Stuart (0 points for £1.6m - sold in my 1st pair of transfer changes) Lars Bohinen (25 points for £1.5m) Robert Lee (6 points for £2m - sold in my 2nd pair of transfer changes) Robbie Slater (2 points for £1.4m - sold in my 1st pair of transfer changes) Stan Collymore (39 points for £2.5m - sold in my 3rd pair of transfer changes) Jurgen Klinsmann (67 points for £3.2m) Steve McMananman (23 points for £1.7m - bought in my 1st pair of transfer changes) Steve Lomas (3 points for £1.3m - bought in my 1st pair of transfer changes and sold in the 2nd pair) Neil Maddison (5 points for £1.5m - bought in my 2nd pair of transfer changes) Chris Waddle (16 points for £1.8m - bought in my 2nd pair of transfer changes) Steve Staunton (9 points for £2m - bought in my 3rd pair of transfer changes) Kevin Gallen (16 points for £1.8m - bought in my 3rd pair of transfer changes) So if I try to make an XI from those players, and a squad (with order of preference for subs, if using 2 as per that time, 5 as per soon after, or 7 minus a goalkeeper!) based on their peak form (or peak form that season, which in most cases might be pretty much the same thing) -------------------------------------------1 Pressman-------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------4 Kjeldberg--------------------------------------- 2 Jones-------------------------------------5 Watson-------------------------3 Staunton --11 Waddle---------------------6 Lee-----------9 Bohinen---------7 McManaman------ -------------------------------10 Collymore----------8 Klinsmann------------------------ 12 Maddison 13 Gallen 14 Kerslake 15 Lomas 16 Stuart 17 Slater
Robert Prytz (Rangers & Sweden, former Malmö) : Banks - C. Alberto, Beckenbauer, McClelland, Greig - Falcao, Maradona, Platini - Garrincha, Cruyff, Pelé. Favourite hero of childhood : Pelé. In his "Super Focus".
Club all time XIs both foreign and international Arsenal English XI ----------------------Wright------------Drake--------------------- Bastin-------------------------------------------------Armstrong --------------------Mercer------------Merson--------------------- Hapgood----------Adams----------Campbell--------Sansom ------------------------------Seaman------------------------------ Subs: Smith, Hulme, George, Copping, Male, Moss Really tough to find two center midfielders. Foreign -----------------Bergkamp--------------Henry------------------- Pires---------------------------------------------------------Brady -----------------------Vieira------------James--------------------- Forbes-----------O'Leary----------McLintock--------Lauren ------------------------------Kelsey------------------------------ Subs: Van Persie, Fabregas, Silva, Toure, Koscielny, Jennings I think the foreign XI is significantly better.
Manchester United English XI -------------------Rooney------------Charlton------------------ Coppell-------------------------------------------------Beckham --------------------Robson------------Scholes--------------------- Byrne----------Foulkes----------Ferdinand--------Neville ------------------------------Stepney------------------------------ Subs: Rowley, Pearson, Edwards, Bruce, Neville, Moss Foreign -----------------Cantona--------------Law------------------- Ronaldo----------------------------------------------------Best ------------------Giggs------------Keane--------------------- Irwin-------------Vidic-------------Dunne------------Carey -------------------------Schmeichel------------------------------ Subs: Van Nistelrooy, Meredith, Cerand, Evra, Stam, Van der Saar Again the foreign XI is significantly better.
Chelsea English XI --------------------Bentley------------Osgood--------------------- Hollins-------------------------------------------------Tambling --------------------Lampard------------Wise--------------------- Cole---------------Terry--------------Harris------------Le Saux ------------------------------Bonetti------------------------------ Subs: Dixon, Hilsdon, Cole, Wilkins, Cahill, Woodley Foreign -----------------Drogba--------------Zola------------------- Hazard------------------------------------------------------Cooke -------------------Makelele------------Essien--------------------- McCreadie------Carvalho----------Desailly--------Ivanovic --------------------------------Cech-------------------------------- Subs: Malouda, Kante, Di Matteo, Azpilicueta, Clarke, Cudicini
Tottenham English XI --------------------Kane------------Greaves--------------------- Chivers-------------------------------------------------Smith --------------------Hoddle------------Mullery--------------------- Perryman------Norman-----------Nicholson----------Ramsey ------------------------------Ditchburn------------------------------ Subs: Allen, Sheringham, Peters, Knowles, Mabbutt, Clemence Foreign -------------------------------Keane------------------------------- Jones------------------------------------------------------Erikson --------Mackay----------Burgess------------Blachflower------ Houghton------England--------Alderweireld------Vertonghen -----------------------------Jennings-------------------------------- Subs: Gilzean, Bale, White, Ardiles, Whatley, Brown
I think Dixon would be the rightback for the domestic team? Ashley Cole should probably be at least on the bench as well. I think both Parlour and George would be include in the starting domestic XI as well, if given to a vote among the fans. They're both cult heroes. Possibly Rocastle as well.
Liverpool English XI --------------------Hunt------------Keegan--------------------- Barnes-------------------------------------------------McDermott --------------------Hughes------------Gerrard--------------------- Kennedy------Thompson-----------Longworth----------Carragher ------------------------------Clemence------------------------------ Subs: Owen, Fowler, McManaman, Callaghan, Neal, McQueen Foreign --------------------Rush------------Daglish--------------------- Mane-------------------------------------------------Salah -----------------Souness------------Raisbeck--------------------- Yeats--------Lawrenson--------Hansen------------van Dijk -------------------------------Scott-------------------------------- Subs: Firmino, Liddell, Whelan, Heighway, Hyppia, Alisson Foreign team has too many great center backs and no great fullbacks Might be overrating current team a little bit, this is under the assumption they go on and win the league this season.
Manchester City English XI --------------------Lee------------Tilson--------------------- Brook-------------------------------------------------Sterling --------------------Bell------------Oaks--------------------- Parode------Cowan-----------Booth----------Book ------------------------------Swift------------------------------ Subs: Johnson, Young, Hayes, Doyle, Power, Dowd Foreign --------------------Aguero------------Doherty--------------------- Silva-------------------------------------------------Meredith -----------------Toure------------De Bruyne-------------------- Donachie--------Dunne--------Kompany------------Zabaleta -------------------------------Ederson-------------------------------- Subs: Tevez, Silva, Fernandinho, Ewing, Paul, Trautmann
Interesting that I think in every case the foreign team is better than the English one. Will see if this holds up for other leagues.
Juventus Italian XI -----------------Del Piero------------Baggio--------------------- Causio-----------------------------------------------Boniperti --------------------Tardelli------------Pirlo--------------------- Cabrini------Scirea-----------Chiellini----------Gentile ------------------------------Buffon------------------------------ Subs: Bettega, Ferrari, Furino, Parola, Rosetta, Zoff Foreign IX --------------------Charles------------Sivori--------------------- Nedved-------------------------------------------------Orsi -----------------Platini------------Monti-------------------- Sandro--------Montero--------Kohler------------Thurman --------------------------Szczesny-------------------------------- Subs: Hansen, Praest, Zidane, Vidal, Del Sol, I could not find a second foreign Juventus keeper. This is more comparable between the two, with Italians having better defense/keeper and foreign better attack midfield but both are relatively close.