I've got the 1995 and 1996 ones found already anyway, and will post the pages themselves again for those: 1995 - Schmeichel; Sammer, Desailly, Maldini; M.Laudrup, Davids, Overmars; Litmanen; Vialli, Weah, Klinsmann (with mentions for Baresi, Seedorf, Kluivert, Yeboah, Batistuta, Ravenelli, Zola, Stoichkov and Del Piero) 1996 - Schmeichel; Couto, Sammer, Desailly; Reiziger, Keane, Maldini; Savicevic; Weah, Shearer, Klinsmann (with mentions for Seaman, Helmer, Ziege, Sergi, Deschamps, Ronald de Boer, Zidane, Rui Costa, Batistuta, Boksic, Suker, Djorkaeff, Brian Laudrup, Ronaldo, Raul)
Filling in the 1990s (and 2000) Jimmy Magee selections, to get that block done today... From 23rd of December 1990: Taffarel; Bergomi, Sanchis, Baresi, Brehme; Matthaus, McGrath, Donadoni; Schillaci, Lineker, Klinsmann (mentions for Bonner, Goycochea, Stejskal, Conejo, Zubizarreta, Maldini, Branco, Ricardo Rocha, Ricardo Gomes, Walker, Dunga, Alemao, Gascoigne, Baggio, Stojkovic, Hagi, Maradona, Careca, Hugo Sanchez, Skuhravy) From 22nd of December 1991: Goycochea; Blanc; Boli, Pearce; McGrath; Matthaus, Scifo, Prosinecki; Papin, Voller, Pancev (mentions for Southall, Illgner, Brehme, Dunga, Valdo, Hagi, Savicevic, Mark Hughes, Vialli, Lineker, Van Basten, Batistuta) From 13th of December 1992: Schmeichel; R.Koeman; McGrath, Kohler, Maldini; Rijkaard; Hassler, Brian Laudrup; Bergkamp; Van Basten, Stoichkov (mentions for Kharin, Henrik Andersson, Keane, Schwarz, Michael Laudrup, Povlsen, Papin, McCoist) From December 12th 1993: Schmeichel; Jorginho, Koeman, Baresi, Maldini; Rijkaard; M.Laudrup, Bergkamp, R.Baggio; Cantona, Romario (mentions for Bosnich, McGrath, Bratseth, Nadal, Irwin, Schwarz, Albertini, Guardiola, Dunga, Ince, Rai, Moller, Scifo, Giggs, Signori, Gullit, Mark Hughes, Ian Wright, Shearer) From 1st of January 1995 (for 1994): Schmeichel; Jorginho, Marcio Santos, Maldini; Desailly, Mauro Silva; Balakov, Redondo; Romario, Klinsmann, Stoichkov (mentions for Preud'homme, Taffarel, Bosnich, Pagliuca, Dunga, Keane, Letchkov, Hagi, Brolin, Roberto Baggio, Cantona, Maradona, Kanchelskis, Bebeto, Batistuta, Shearer) From 14th of December 1997: Schmeichel; Thuram, Kohler, Maldini; Petrescu, Luis Enrique, Zidane, Leonardo, Roberto Carlos; Bergkamp, Ronaldo (mentions for Chilavert, Ziege, Deschamps, Keane, Seedorf, Raul, Del Piero, Zola, Mijatovic, Romario, Batistuta, Ian (I assume) Wright and one of the De Boer brothers (it isn't clarified which or for what position) From 27th of December 1998: Chilavert; Thuram, Desailly, Frank de Boer, Roberto Carlos; Hierro, Davids; Veron, Zidane; Batistuta, Ronaldo (mentions for Van der Sar, Barthez, Gamarra, Blanc, Deschamps, Keane, Petit, Michael Laudrup, Okocha, Rivaldo, Ortega, Bergkamp, Owen, Vieri, Suker) From 31st of December 2000: Toldo; Thuram, Nesta, Maldini; Redondo; Figo, Roberto Carlos; Zidane, Rivaldo; Henry, Kluivert (mentions for Blanc, Desailly, Keane, Beckham, Shevchenko)
It seems like the available ones (because of the dates of the uploaded issues of the newspaper in question) range from 1987 to 2005 actually (with the last available one being the 2005 selection published in early 2006). It's a pity the earlier ones (70s and earlier 80s) aren't available to see, although I have seen Magee made reference to his first ever selection from 1973 in another year so I should be able to find that again. 1987 - Dasaev; Josimar, McGrath, Rijkaard, Cabrini; Michel, Schuster, Gullit; Maradona; Butragueno, Barnes (mentions for Southall, Pfaff, Menzo, Morten Olsen, Ferri, Hysen, Hansen, Butcher, Bergomi, Julio Alberto, Berthold, R.Koeman, Lerby, Whelan, Matthaus, Detari, Futre, Lineker, Hugo Sanchez, Polster, Careca, Van Basten, Ekstrom, Elkjaer, Voller) 1988 - Dasaev; Bergomi, Rijkaard, Hysen, Whelan; R.Koeman, Gullit; Maradona; Van Basten, Careca, Hugo Sanchez (mentions for Southall, Bonner, Van Breukelen, Zenga, Sanchis, Maldini, Rats, Michel, Matthaus, Houghton, Giannini, Zavarov, Donadoni, Butragueno, Romario, Voller, Protasov) - Magee says the XI he picked this year is the most exciting team he has picked yet (between 1973 and 1988) 1989 - Bonner; Bergomi, R.Koeman, Baresi, Rijkaard; Gullit, Matthaus, Maradona; Careca, Van Basten, Hugo Sanchez (mentions for Zenga, Shilton, Southall, Zubizarreta, Silas, Whelan, Giannini, Michel) 2002 - Kahn; Puyol, Hong Myung-Bo, Roberto Carlos; Ballack, Vieira, Zidane; Henry, Ronaldo; Van Nistelrooy (mentions for Dudek, Given, Cudicini, Friedel, Nesta, Cannavaro, Maldini, Henchoz, Hyypia, Baraja, Aimar, Luis Enrqiue, Totti, Ronaldinho, Joaquin, Duff, Saviola, Raul) 2003 - Buffon; Salgado, Nesta, Maldini, Roberto Carlos; Keane; Nedved, Zidane; Ronaldo, Henry; Van Nistelrooy (mentions for Puyol, Thuram, Cafu, Zanetti, Zambrotta, Makelele, Vieira, Gattuso, Ballack, Xavi, Raul) 2004 - Buffon; Seitaridis, Carvalho, Zambrotta; Zagorakis, Xavi; Ronaldinho, Henry; Shevchenko, Van Nistelrooy, Duff (mentions for Cech, Ashley Cole, Roberto Carlos, Keane, Ballack, Maniche, Deco, Zidane) 2005 - Cech; Nesta, Terry, Heinze; Xavi; Ballack, Lampard, Riquelme; Kaka, Ronaldinho; Henry (mentions for Given, Ronaldo Nazario, Shevchenko, Adriano, Rooney, Robinho, Eto'o - it's mentioned he narrowed things down to a shortlist of 27 players at first but they aren't all listed)
The only other things that I saw referred to were a list of Irish players previously making it in a Magee annual world XI before the 1989 selection - Giles, Whelan, McGrath, Givens and O'Leary, and the fact that Careca was edged out of his XI "a couple of years ago" (stated in the 1988 write-up, so I guess for the 1986 XI) by Ian Rush. Here is the first XI he picked though, for 1973: Jennings; Madeley, Hulshoff, Hunter, Krol; Netzer, Beckenbauer, Giles; Cruyff, Muller, Rivelino
I've seen reference to a World Cup Dream Team, apparently printed in the 1990 Rothmans Football Yearbook (considering World Cups from 1970 up to (and including?) 1990): Banks (England); Vogts (Germany), Beckenbauer (Germany), Moore (England), Facchetti (Italy); Ardiles (Argentina); Pele (Brazil), Platini (France); Cruyff (Netherlands), Muller (Germany), Maradona (Argentina); Subs: Zoff (Italy), Krol (Netherlands), Passarella (Argentina), Zico (Brazil), Rummenigge (Germany); Manager: Schoen (Germany) Alan Ball made a selection in response to it, published in the Daily Mirror in August 1990 (acknowledging he was cheating with Best and Wilson): Banks (England); Carlos Alberto (Brazil), Beckenbauer (Germany), Moore (England), Wilson (England); Gerson (Brazil); Pele (Brazil), Bobby Charlton (England); Best (Northern Ireland), Cruyff (Netherlands), Maradona (Argentina); Subs: Jennings (Northern Ireland), Vogts (Germany), Van Hanegem (Netherlands), Platini (France), Kempes (Argentina); Manager: Ramsey (England)
I thought I'd go back to an attempt of my own next, and came up with a 'Pre-Puskas' (before the debut of Puskas - it seems in some ways more suitable, as well as more satisfactory than using pre and post war, and would be somewhere close to splitting football history into two parts, with the latter part being when more televised coverage was happening - the debut of Puskas took place on a single day obviously too) XI (in WM system) and reserve XI (in WW system), as well as a 'Post-Puskas debut' XI (in WM system again) and reserve XI (in WW system again). 'Pre-Puskas' 1st XI - Ricardo Zamora (Spain); Jose Leandro Andrade (Uruguay), Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay), Eddie Hapgood (England); Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary), Karel Pesek (Czechoslovakia); Hector Scarone (Uruguay), Matthias Sindelar (Austria); Giussepe Meazza (Italy), Silvio Piola (Italy), Antonin Puc (Czechoslovakia) 'Pre-Puskas' 2nd XI - Frantisek Planicka (Czechoslovakia); Carlos Sosa (Argentina), Domingos Da Guia (Brazil), Sandor Biro (Hungary); Obdulio Varela (Uruguay), Puck van Heel (Netherlands); Stanley Matthews (England), Adolfo Pedernera (Argentina), Raimundo Orsi (Argentina); Josef Bican (Austria/Czechoslovakia), Jose Manuel Moreno (Argentina) 'Post-Puskas' 1st XI - Lev Yashin (USSR); Carlos Alberto (Brazil), Elias Figueroa (Chile), Paolo Maldini (Italy); Franco Baresi (Italy), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany); Pele (Brazil), Diego Maradona (Argentina); Lionel Messi (Argentina), Marco van Basten (Netherlands), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) 'Post-Puskas' 2nd XI - Peter Schmeichel (Denmark); Lilian Thuram (France), Gaetano Scirea (Italy), Nilton Santos (Brazil); Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands), Bobby Moore (England); Luis Figo (Portugal), Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina/Colombia/Spain), George Best (Northern Ireland); Eusebio (Portugal), Ronaldo (Brazil) I did it mainly on peak (as if picking in real-time, even though they weren't all playing at the same time), and tried to consider good fits for the systems. Maybe using his name in the title compensates Puskas a bit for missing out - for sure he could be a good option in the WW obviously but I got thinking that if they would sync well together Ronaldo and Eusebio could be a tremendous partnership up front. Perhaps likewise Bozsik of Hungary (who made his debut the same year as his team-mate Puskas) could also have been considered, as a right half, but it seemed like Rijkaard would offer a lot (including potentially being more of a defender) in such a system so once I'd decided maybe Baresi fitted there best too (thinking about him not being very tall too) as opposed to as the solo main centre back, then that left no space for Bozsik in an XI. In general there are a lot of famed quality midfielders (deeper-lying and attacking mids too) missing out, due to the systems as well as the competition for places. If the 2nd XIs had been in WM formations I'd admit it would become harder not to consider C.Ronaldo with a case to get ahead of Best, but then it might be the same on the right with Garrincha opposing Figo. As much as I might like to have found a place for Michael Laudrup, it didn't seem really feasible considering in theory a left of centre role could be ok (but the competition kind of ruled that out, to be fair) and it'd be a hard call to not have Di Stefano in the deep-lying centre-forward role in the 2nd XI at least I think, even if Laudrup could fit well there (not moreso than Zico, in a slightly different way, though probably). I did think about putting Cafu as a RB still, but leaned against it with the back 3 systems (albeit with two wing halves supporting the defence). Meazza and Cruyff are not in their absolute best positions, but suitable enough ones, and they could roam (Cruyff switching with Maradona at times too, and Meazza coming away from the wing into more central positions). I think Matthews nearly got in team 1 anyway though (I'd have put Meazza as inside right in that case), and him and Varela (and Sosa obviously - I'm not sure how much of a stretch he might be as a selection for pre-Puskas to be honest!) overlap the pre and post-Puskas periods (maybe also in terms of peak form but it's difficult to get a clear idea of course). Sarosi's best position would be further forwards too, and it's a little hard to know for him (and Gyorgy Orth from further back in time) exactly how good a wing half position in a WM would be for him, but he seemed a good option there and so I settled on Matthews and Varela in the second WW XI. I've got to be a lot more uncertain on the pre-Puskas XIs anyway of course. Considering using a WM I think Sindelar's best position would surely be inside forward, and probably inside left indeed, anyway.
Alf Ramsey's All-Time World Cup XI, from the Daily Mirror on 22nd June 1994: Gordon Banks; Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Andreas Brehme; Johan Cruyff, Gerson, Bobby Charlton, Rivelino; Diego Maradona, Pele
An interesting extension of this (to answer a question I set myself) would appear to be that Orsi considers Puc to have been a better left-winger than himself (and Loustau)....like I say would appear to be (maybe it's hard to definitively put two and two together) https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/p...eir-best-players.2126578/page-3#post-41583382
I noticed there is a Youtube channel where Yugoslav players pick their choices of team-mate XIs. Dejan Savicevic goes with this (I translated some names and researched one or two of the nicknames I didn't already know): Sebastiano Rossi; Christian Panucci, Franco Baresi, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Paolo Maldini; Vladimir Jugovic, Zvonimir Boban or Robert Prosinecki; Dragan Stojkovic; Predrag Mijatovic, Safet Susic; George Weah; manager: Dragoslav Sekularac "Slao sam Piksiju snimak, prešla mi je preko noge." - Dejan Savićević - YouTube Dragan Stojkovic picked his in something like the old Hungarian 1950s formation I suppose: Dragan Pantelic; Alexandre Torres (I guess - son of Carlos Alberto who played for Grampus 8 in Japan), Miodrag Belodedici, Alessandro Renica; Robert Prosinecki, Vladimir Jugovic; Safet Susic; Chris Waddle, Dejan Savicevic; Predrag Mijatovic (alternative Jean-Pierre Papin), Darko Pancev; manager: Arsene Wenger "Fora sa satom je bila Peđina ideja." - Dragan Stojković PIKSI - Mojih TOP 11 - YouTube
There are quite a few interesting XIx on this Twitter thread (more like Dream XIs as per the challenge than best XIs per se I think, mainly): The Football History Boys on X: "We are challenging YOU to make your all-time dream team! The rules are: You can only have 1 player per country, you must use the 4-3-3 formation & you must have 1 player from the country you are from (tell us which)! https://t.co/oGWYfRzQvd" / X (twitter.com) Hannah on X: "Historic team with modern formation/roles let's see how this goes. as my nations GK - Beara LB - Facchetti CB - Bellini CB - Shesternyov RB - Lichtsteiner DM - Monti CM - Vidal CM - Francescoli LW - Praest CF - Hidegkuti RW - Matthews " / X (twitter.com) I've had a think about what I'd choose, but it's hard to define Dream Team first of all maybe lol, so I first made four different XIs, without country restrictions, with changing emphasis through 'Top Level' (most reflected in first XI, A, below), admired legends (most reflected in second XI, B), pure enjoyment (most reflected in third XI, C) and personal favourites (most reflected in fourth XI, D, albeit obviously also in the others where on balance some top favourites have been inserted due to being higher level players and/or based on pure entertainment) - I'd be envisaging the wingers/wing forwards roaming around and also swapping wings at times in all these XIs in effect: A - Lev Yashin; Carlos Alberto, Franco Baresi, Bobby Moore, Paolo Maldini; Franz Beckenbauer; Pele, Johan Cruyff; Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona; Marco van Basten B - Gilmar; Cafu, Alessandro Nesta, Gaetano Scirea, Bixente Lizarazu; Johan Neeskens; Nandor Hidegkuti, Michael Laudrup; Tom Finney, Dominque Rocheteau; Andriy Shevchenko C - Petr Cech; Dan Petrescu, Laurent Blanc, Des Walker, Adri van Tiggelen; Fernando Redondo; Jean Tigana, Lars Bohinen; Brian Laudrup, Dejan Savicevic; Mario Kempes D - Steve Sutton; Viv Anderson, Johnny Metgod, Frank Verlaat, Rafael Gordillo; Ivan Gudelj; Mark Draper, Georgi Kinkladze; Stuart Ripley, Kingsley Black; Paolo Rossi Merging it all together, and picking a Dream Team XI for the challenge, as in an ideal XI I'd have liked to see playing together in theory I suppose, and keeping to the criteria of one player per nation (including one English player) and the 4-3-3 template, maybe I'd end up with.... Lev Yashin (Soviet Union); Dan Petrescu (Romania), Franco Baresi (Italy), Bobby Moore (England), Rafael Gordillo (Spain); Jean Tigana (France); Pele (Brazil), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands); Dejan Savicevic (Yugoslavia/Montenegro), Michael Laudrup (Denmark); Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) I switched some positions around, compared to teams A-D above. It's not asked for but potentially adding 7 subs (including a couple from nations already used, on the basis their compatriot can be removed from the XI at the same time they would be added to it), I guess I could put Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Cafu (Brazil), Johan Neeskens (Netherlands), Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary), Kingsley Black (Northern Ireland) and Mario Kempes (Argentina) on the bench!
Made an "all-star" team of Basel & Salzburg players respectively in the 21st century. Which team is the strongest if each player is at his peak? BASEL ALL-STAR XI (21st CENTURY) A.Frei (c) - Salah H.Yakin - Xhaka - Rakitić - Shaqiri Atouba - Samuel - Akanji - P.Degen Sommer Bench: Pascal Zuberbühler, Tomáš Vaclík, Behrang Safari, Patrick Müller, Fabian Schär, Silvan Widmer Mohamed Elneny, Marcelo Díaz, Zdravko Kuzmanović, Felipe Caicedo, Mladen Petrić & Marco Streller Fullbacks is a bit weak, the rest of the squad looks strong. Walter Samuel is the only one of these who played in Basel well after his prime. No tough omissions, although there are few decent forwards like Marc Janko, Breel Embolo, Seydou Doumbia, Noah Okafor, Eren Derdiyok, Arthur Cabral, etc. SALZBURG ALL-STAR XI (21st CENTURY) Mané - Haaland Sabitzer - N.Kovač (c) - Laimer - Häßler Pasanen - Upamecano - Linke - Lainer Gulácsi Bench: Alex Manninger, Ramazan Özcan, Andreas Ulmer, Martin Hinteregger, Paul Scharner, Rasmus Kristensen, Naby Keita, Kevin Kampl, Dominik Szoboszlai, Andreas Ivanschitz, Alexander Zickler & Benjamin Šeško GK depth a bit weak maybe. Same with fullbacks, had to shift versatile Pasanen to left. CB XI really strong, backups alright too. CM good with several options. Szoboszlai could compete with Sabitzer for starting spot. Attacking duo is obviously world class. Maybe a bit too early for Šeško, same can be said about Okafor and Junior Adamu, who were also considered. Marc Janko another contender, but he was never to take the step to bigger leagues. Other FWs like Vonlanthen and Daka are ok but not enough. In other positions, we have guys like Minamino, Schopp, Valentino Lazaro, Xaver Schlager, Amadou Haidara, Zlatko Junuzović, Stefan Ilsanker, Igor, André Ramalho & Duje Ćaleta-Car. So who wins? I think it would be an even game, but Salzburg winning it due to the duo on top. In a shared league, where squad depth matters? Well, not sure, could go either way.
Gent vs Genk: GENT ALL-STAR XI (21st CENTURY) J.David - Sørloth M.Simon - Mudingayi - Dorsch - B.Ruiz Dragutinović - Lombaerts (c) - Gigot - Rosales Selz Bench: Thomas Kaminski, Lovre Kalinić, Milad Mohammadi, William Troost-Ekong, César Arzo, Mikael Lustig, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, Randall Azofeifa, Mbark Boussoufa, Samuel Kalu, Gift Orban & Roman Yaremchuk. Decent, but the central midfield is a weak point. GENK ALL-STAR XI (21st CENTURY) Benteke Trossard - De Bruyne - Malinovskiy Milinković-Savić - Defour Mæhle - Koulibaly (c) - Mokoena - Castagne Courtois Bench: Mathew Ryan, Marcel Bizot, Sebastien Pocognoli, Omar Colley, Christian Kabasele, Anthony Vanden Borre, Didier Zokora, Wilfred Ndidi, Orlando Engelaar, Thomas Buffel, Leon Bailey & Wesley Sonck. Wow, ok it's not even up for discussion which team is the best. I mean, if SMS and Defour can't play, don't worry we got Zokora and Ndidi ready to play. Great depth, although one more good forward would have been nice. Who would've thought Genk have had this many quality players in the 2000s? Edit: Maybe I should make all of this into a new thread?
I was thinking about future prospective changes to Team D (primarily personal favourites) I selected above, and it is very very early days but it seems feasible that after the start he has made, and given he plays for Nottingham Forest, Murillo could have a good chance potentially (it is not that I would be keen to remove Verlaat or something, but he could possibly take his place I guess...but yeah much too early to say that really). Maybe that seems more likely than Dominik Szoboszlai in for Mark Draper, but I guess in theory that could be a possibility too (I'd be quite far from making that switch at the moment, but it seems like one I could consider if Szoboszlai continues making a positive impression and making lots of plays I appreciate). If Draper did come out then that'd be no Notts County players in (I'm probably including him predominantly because of his time as a Notts County player, which is why it's far from an easy task to replace him I suppose too), although actually I could easily have had another one, Rob Matthews, in Ripley's place in that line-up (given the designated system maybe that's more likely than picking Robbie Dennison instead, because I'd be seeing Dennison as more of a player from the left side, and especially in this formation probably that's the side I'd tend to be putting Kingsley Black on). Anyway, I'm open to new entries (as much as I may seem like a 'nostalgic' at times)! In a way it's preferable to have them I suppose even (but like I say, not necessarily easy for it to happen).
In 1996 the Band the cure plays in Brazil for the Second time(First in 1987) In a Interview published in showbizz magazine (the Brazilian spin) , Robert Smith (qpr supporter) named his All time team and his idol is Jairzinho (Brazil 1970 and botafogo) Heres your all time team Zoff Baresi Maldini beckenbauer Alan Hansen Rodney Marsh (lol Brazilian publisher dont know who was Rodney . I remember him from tampa Bay rowdies in the NASL games broadcasted to brazil) Gasgcoigne Glenn hoddle Gullit Pele Jairzinho Robert in this Interview Tell he dont like Maradona (lol) because hes English!!! Hes a great qpr fan (Marsh and vannables period)
I know you're just sharing information but it's curious that an Englishman has Banks, Charlton, Moore and Greaves on the bench hahaha
Interesting to see - I guess it is genuine (though can't be sure I suppose), but it does have some differences from one he apparently picked in 1989 (though enough similarities that it seems like it could well be by him - he used a WM system in 1989 and a 4-2-4 for the other one which could have been picked later although I don't know as I don't know of the direct source but just that diagram Isaias posted) England Honours - England All-Time Teams (englandfootballonline.com) He is older than Charlton of course, and I guess he felt a mixture of loyalty and appreciation for players of his own era (not that I can say "he was wrong for sure" or something like that). Charlton probably saw a decent amount of some of the players in Finney's team, but didn't live the era and it wouldn't have been the same as a fan growing up in later times with more TV coverage etc (Bobby Charlton does talk about watching Finney himself, in glowing terms on this video below - I've seen a similar one where Charlton is inside a studio and even says a bit more about how highly he thinks Finney should be rated, though saying he won't have seen the best of him himself IIRC...but obviously he didn't go so far as to put Finney in his all-time XIs or on the bench either time he picked those) I just happened to notice this one while I searched for that and it seems to have some rarer clips on (not better than anything I'd already seen, but not ones typically used I think so perhaps worth posting too) Bobby Moore was in the 1989 XI of Finney, but yeah interesting he didn't put him in the one Isaias posted then (Wright and Franklin played together often when Finney played for England, though it would have been Franklin as the main centre half i.e centre back, and Wright as a wing half, possibly almost like a partner for Franklin though at times I think indeed as the 'defensive wing half'). He must rate Mannion and Mortensen (especially the first one - in the 1989 team in WM he puts Keegan as inside forward, with Charlton being the only sub but not getting that 'available' place either - in the team Isaias posted it's Mannion he prefers to Charlton, even if in theory he could have put him in rather than Edwards I guess too). Charlton's own selections did vary a bit between 2001 and 2007 of course (Carlos Alberto and Puskas in the 2001 one, and George Best offered as a rotation option with Pele and Maradona, while he had Djalma Santos and Marzolini selected as the right and left back in 2007; plus in 2001 he had Van Basten, Garrincha, Eusebio and Law named among the subs and in 2007 didn't, but as well as Puskas dropping to the bench he had Keane and Gento there too - in theory selecting Gento over Finney of course, like he'd done with Garrincha in 2001 too, but he will have seen more of prime Gento probably, in the same games he saw Di Stefano playing in). I'm sure I've changed my own England XI a bit over the years, and even now I'd be uncertain between picking a 4-4-2 verging on 4-2-4, and a 4-3-3 - I'm not really as qualified to pick as either of those guys (thinking about age rather than 'being a professional' or something I mean), but I feel like I know enough and just about saw enough of Matthews and Finney to be inclined to pick them both on right and left wing respectively, even if right wing was probably Finney's best position too and his normal one for his club until he played as a kind of roving centre forward/inside forward late in his career. I think I'd pick Lineker myself, either in between those two in a front 3, in theory being well suited to capitalise on their service as well as through balls from midfield, or I'd go with Greaves alongside him - alternatively (for a 4-3-3 with no Greaves) Hoddle as an added midfielder to the right of/ahead of Edwards (who I'm also feeling like I'd put in on what I know/saw/read/heard), with Bobby Charlton himself as the other midfielder/AM. I feel like I might even put in Rob Jones and Stuart Pearce as full backs/side backs, if based on prime form, but those are of course players from the era I grew up in myself to be fair. I'd assume I'd definitely include Bobby Moore, but it's be tricky picking a right centre back to go alongside him - I might be inclined to think it'd be either Billy Wright or Des Walker I'd settle on. Banks in goal I think probably.
Interesting article on best Serie A XI here (settling on G.Buffon; P.Maldini, F.Baresi, Scirea, Facchetti; Zanetti, Platini; V.Mazzola, Maradona, R.Baggio; Meazza with various honourable mentions in the write-up): Serie A: All Time XI (thefootballhistoryboys.com) 'Anonymous' makes an interesting attempt in the comments below too I thought - summarising below in order of Xi they selected the players in, though switching the 4-2-3-1 in the last XI he picked to fit the 4-3-1-2 he was using for the others: Goalie - Gianluigi Buffon, Dino Zoff, Francesco Toldo, Walter Zenga Right Back - Cafu, Javier Zanetti, Lilian Thuram, Giussepe Bergomi Right Centre Back - Gaetano Scirea, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Armando Picchi Left Centre Back - Franco Baresi, Ruud Krol, Pietro Vierchowod, Aldair Right Midfielder/AM - Ruud Gullit, Gianni Rivera, Rui Costa, (Pavel Nedved) Central Midfielder - Lothar Matthaus, Frank Rijkaard, Valentino Mazzola, (Nils Liedholm) Left Midfielder/AM - Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Juan Schiaffino, (Michael Laudrup) Trequarista - Diego Maradona, Dejan Savicevic, Kaka, Francesco Totti Support/Left Striker (maybe not clear Weah is meant as the support striker but it fits the others I think, including Meazza if moved there) - Roberto Baggio, Zico, George Weah, (Giussepe Meazza) Main/Right Striker - Marco van Basten, Ronaldo, Andriy Shevchenko, Gabriel Batistuta
Listening again maybe Bobby Charlton doesn't necessarily imply Best is rotating with Pele and Maradona up front in theory for his 2001 selection, but more like the 12th named option in general, theoretically rotating with various players.