Ok so we’ve been thinking about who would make up an all time XI for the England national football team and to be honest, it’s a tough one. There are many things to consider, such as but not limited to the era they play in and the quality of the opponents they face week in and week out. You also have to consider the impact foreign players have had on the English game, for example – many players today play for England to earn a chance to get in their club first team in contrast to how it used to be up until around 2010.
So, with that in mind, here is our pick for the greatest ever England team –
GK – Gordon Banks
LB – Stuart Pearce
CB – Bobby Moore
CB – Terry Butcher
RB – Phil Neal
LM – John Barnes
CM – Bobby Charlton
CM – Bryan Robson
RM – David Beckham
ST – Alan Shearer
ST – Gary Lineker
SUBS
- Peter Shilton
- Emlyn Hughes
- Paul Gascoigne
- Glen Hoddle
- Paul Scholes
- Wayne Rooney
- Jimmy Greaves
Some controversial choices or decisions perhaps? we have gone for a flat 4-4-2 formation with Gordon Banks in goal. He gets our nod above Peter Shilton purely because he won that one big trophy for us, and had Shilton won it in 1990, he probably would have pipped Banks to the post (pun intended). Peter Shilton is also the most capped England player of all time with 125 caps for his country in a career spanning 20 years from 1970 – 1990. We have also decided to go with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer up front ahead of Wayne Rooney, despite the fact that Rooney is the all time leading Goalscorer for England with 53 goals all in. The reason for this is that we feel both Shearer and Lineker are superior strikers that performed better in big-game environments such as the 1986 and 1990 World Cups in Lineker’s case.
We are also aware that there are many, many players that have not made our squad at all. There’s no room for Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Nat Lofthouse, Stanley Matthews, David Seaman or indeed many others. This is purely our choice and we are completely open for your comments and suggestions as to who we have left out, who should be included and your ideas. So get commenting!
