Following on from that last post about Harry Kane, I thought I'd pick an England men's XI from the 21st century. I'm not a master tactician, and I tend to just go with 4-4-2. It may not be formationally perfect, but hopefully they'd make it work.
I'll then pick a further 12 players to make up a squad.
Here goes
Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford
Seaman was a great keeper in the 90s, less so in in the 2000s, and Pickford, for all his frailties at club level, has mainly been great for England.
Right back: Kyle Walker
To me, an obvious pick. A really superb defender. Will get his dues when he retires.
Centre backs: Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell
Well, it's not going to be Ferdinand and Terry, is it? Ferdinand was the best centre-back in the world for a while, he took defending to a different level, was great in two World Cups. Sol was also absolutely world-class from the late 90s through to the early 2000s.
Left back: Ashley Cole
Of course.
Right midfield: David Beckham
A great player who mainly played really well for England.
Central midfield: Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice
These two are both among the best in the world at the moment, and have played their best in major international tournaments
Left midfield: Raheem Sterling
The best player at Euro 2021. Not a guaranteed pick, but adds pace and finishing, at his best.
Forwards: Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney
I think these two would make it work.
Squad:
12 more squad members - 2 goalkeepers, 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, 2 attackers (maybe with some crossover)
Keepers: Seaman, Paul Robinson
I'd go for Robinson over Joe Hart. Robinson was cut off too early for England. Hart given too many chances.
Defenders: John Stones, Gary Neville, Kieran Trippier, Luke Shaw
Some tricky choices here. Of course, there's John Terry, who'd be in on merit, as he was one of the best centre-backs in the world, but I think you've just got to keep him and Ferdinand apart, and Ferdinand was much better, at his best. Terry would be a bad vibe. Another centre-back? Harry Maguire has mainly been good for England, but I'd go for the flexibility Walker and Trippier have, with Neville and Shaw being the next best specialists.
Midfielders: Bukayo Saka, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Jordan Henderson
There's a logic beyond mere provocation in not picking Gerrard. He just didn't work for England. The potential of early Gerrard was like nothing else. I remember feeling his absence from 2002 was the biggest deal of all. But England underperformed and mainly played drab football for most of the Gerrard years. Sterling, Saka, Bellingham, Rashford, Foden, have bought more fluency and joy to an England shirt than Gerrard and Lampard ever did.
Henderson rather than Carrick, Phillips or Barry. Hargreaves might be a good choice. Joe Cole and Hargreaves were England's best players in 2006.
Lampard, though it's not saying much, strikes me as the most flexible and least egotistical of Gerrard, Scholes and he. Scholes' ego was more like a self-critical perfectionism. Still, a great player ... starting to be unconvinced. Maybe Gerrard is a better swap for Bellingham. Fuck it. I'm going to include both....
so Gerrard (with extreme misgivings that I've doomed the team to a malfunctioning 0-0 and defeat in penalties in the quarters)
no Foden or Rashford
and the only back-up striker (obvs Sterling and Saka are also forwards in a way) is
Ballon d'Or winner
Michael Owen
obviously, though an interesting detail is that, where a host of top-class league goalscorers - Wright, Ferdinand, Cole, Fowler, even Sutton and Le Tissier - never brought their best for England in the 90s, this century, players with merely ok league records - Crouch, Welbeck, Defoe - have really good England goal scoring records. And Daniel Sturridge was maybe the most talented.
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