Your All Time Football XI

[alonso14]

--------------Bosnich
Delaney, Laursen, McGrath, Barrett
----Young, Platt, Barry, Morley
-----------Yorke, Saunders

you know what....i would have Mcgrath right up there

what a player

one of the best centre halves I have ever seen

Tony Morley was another good player....but if you having them....surely....SURELY if you are choosing villa players it should you should have Rimmer, Mortimer, Cowans, Shaw and Withe in there

 

[Stevo the Villan]

But in all seriousness

---------Schmeichel
Cafu, Maldini, McGrath, Carlos
-----------Makalele
--Maradona, Zidane, Pele
----Van Basten, Ronaldo (fat one)


Some out of position, but sod it, I wanted to include them.

(p.s. only 1 piece of bias in there )

 

[alonso14]

But in all seriousness

---------Schmeichel
Cafu, Maldini, McGrath, Carlos
-----------Makalele
--Maradona, Zidane, Pele
----Van Basten, Ronaldo (fat one)


Some out of position, but sod it, I wanted to include them.

(p.s. only 1 piece of bias in there )

McGrath would be near mine

 

[Stevo the Villan]

--------------Bosnich
Delaney, Laursen, McGrath, Barrett
----Young, Platt, Barry, Morley
-----------Yorke, Saunders

you know what....i would have Mcgrath right up there

what a player

one of the best centre halves I have ever seen

Tony Morley was another good player....but if you having them....surely....SURELY if you are choosing villa players it should you should have Rimmer, Mortimer, Cowans, Shaw and Withe in there

Yeh I didn't really think very hard, just rammed some random players in there.

And you're right about McGrath. If McGrath happened to hav e been born in Italy and been bred as a cultured centre half, he would have been the best ever, and I don't think that's an exaggeration.
Defensively he was superb, but offered little on the ball and going forward.

Basically, our 82 European cup team (with Rimmer not Spink) plus McGrath and possibly Yorke and you'd probably have one of our best ever XIs

edit: also on McGrath, he put on the greatest defensive display I've ever witnessed. Even when I was 9 I knew it was good, but watching it again it was world class.

 

[alonso14]

i remember seeing him at United v Liverpool at Anfield in the League Cup in the early 80's, and he was majestic

that 81 / 82 Villa side were outstanding.......that Morley goal at Goodison stands out

 

[fabo]

McGrath certainly has a shout - his performance for Ireland against Italy at WC 1994 was colossal...almost single-handedly kept Baggio and co out that day. Famous day in Irish football history.

Good to see all the Zidane votes aswell...:wink:

 

[Stevo the Villan]

McGrath certainly has a shout - his performance for Ireland against Italy at WC 1994 was colossal...almost single-handedly kept Baggio and co out that day. Famous day in Irish football history.

Yup, that's the performance I was referring to. I'd link to a YouTube video of it but I'm not allowed am I?

If you search "McGrath Italy 1994" on YouTube, the first video that comes up is highlights of his performance from that game. Outstanding.

 

[Pepe LeFrits]

Forget about being bred as a cultured centre-half - McGrath's knees and his alcoholism (or perhaps the self loathing that drove/drives it) were what held him back. His performance against Italy with Baggio in 1994 was legendary - he was nowhere near fit, had a dead arm (how does a CB play with one arm?), and had Phil Babb alongside him.

 

[Stevo the Villan]

There's a lot of truth in that Pepe. He played a number of games for us when he was pissed.

 

[alonso14]

Forget about being bred as a cultured centre-half - McGrath's knees and his alcoholism (or perhaps the self loathing that drove/drives it) were what held him back. His performance against Italy with Baggio in 1994 was legendary - he was nowhere near fit, had a dead arm (how does a CB play with one arm?), and had Phil Babb alongside him.

we bought Phill Babb on the back of that!

 

[Pepe LeFrits]

Forget about being bred as a cultured centre-half - McGrath's knees and his alcoholism (or perhaps the self loathing that drove/drives it) were what held him back. His performance against Italy with Baggio in 1994 was legendary - he was nowhere near fit, had a dead arm (how does a CB play with one arm?), and had Phil Babb alongside him.

we bought Phill Babb on the back of that!

I know, the guy made a career out of that game!

... and now he's most famously remembered for a rather unpleasant looking collision with a goalpost. Ouch...

 

[alonso14]

Forget about being bred as a cultured centre-half - McGrath's knees and his alcoholism (or perhaps the self loathing that drove/drives it) were what held him back. His performance against Italy with Baggio in 1994 was legendary - he was nowhere near fit, had a dead arm (how does a CB play with one arm?), and had Phil Babb alongside him.

we bought Phill Babb on the back of that!

I know, the guy made a career out of that game!

... and now he's most famously remembered for a rather unpleasant looking collision with a goalpost. Ouch...

that was one of them where in the ground you were trying not to laugh but cant help it....and it was one of the Kop's funny moments....we used to sing his name to the MOTD theme....."BABB BABB BABB BAA-BA-BABB BABB BA BA"

give you get me.......for the rest of the game we were singing it in a high falsetto voice

 

[Jameel46]

From players I've actually seen play rather than seen old videos of.

-------------------------- Buffon -------------------------

--------- F. Cannavaro --------- Nesta --------------
Cafu ------------------------------------------- Maldini

-------------------------- Vieira -------------------------
----------- Roy Keane --------------------------------
----------------------------------- Zidane --------------

---------------------- Bergkamp ----------------------

--------------- Ronaldo ------ Henry ----------------

 

[ibby]

Schmeichel
Thuram - Campbell - Nesta - Maldini
Rivaldo - Redondo - Keane - Baggio
Batistuta - Ronaldo

Central midfield was really close with Davids and Vieira just missing out.

 

[alonso14]

ok ok ok

..........Schmeichel

Thuram...Baresi...Nesta....Maldini

...........Souness..

Figo....Zidane...Platini.....Maradona

..........Ronaldo9

 

[outlaw_member]

------Kahn
Thuram-Nesta-Maldini
-----Makelele
--Veron----Vieira
-----Bergkamp
Rivaldo------Henry
------Ronaldo

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Kahn
Thuram - Costacurta - Baresi - Maldini
Totti - Vieira - Zidane
Rivaldo - Henry - Baggio


Was contemplating Redondo for a while but I decided not to go that way. Perhaps it's biased but I genuinely think that Vieira was a better player. Was also thinking of Nesta or Desailly but Costacurta, Baresi and Maldini were - Arsenal bias aside - probably the greatest defensive lineup in the history of football. Had to put Totti behind the strikers too in order to accomodate him. He's definitely capable of that role in a team setup this way.

 

[ibby]

I'm not sure Totti would like that role, you've got Rivaldo, Baggio and Zidane whom all have a similar role to him. With the same players you've picked I'd play a strict 4-4-2 with Zidane and Vieira in the middle, Rivaldo and Baggio outwide and Totti up with Henry.

Outlaw, two diamonds wtf!?!? I've never seen that formation in my life.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Yeah, but I got the impression that it was more about picking the best players rather than the players constituting the best team. I was thinking Zidane and Totti in fairly free roles behind the attack, i.e. more of a 4-1-2-3 than a 4-3-3 where they by default have wider roles. My fault for not bothering with the lines perhaps. In the real world it would be pretty unreasonable to have all those players on the same field though.

 

[ibby]

Yeah, but I got the impression that it was more about picking the best players rather than the players constituting the best team. I was thinking Zidane and Totti in fairly free roles behind the attack, i.e. more of a 4-1-2-3 than a 4-3-3 where they by default have wider roles. My fault for not bothering with the lines perhaps. In the real world it would be pretty unreasonable to have all those players on the same field though.

It is but the way you commented on your team after I thought that you wanted to add a sense of cohesion to your team.