After a lot of consideration, I opted for a 3-5-2 formation. For the uninformed, that means 3 defenders, 5 midfielders and 2 forwards. Given the talent and skill that these players possess, I guess any formation would do.
Strikers - Mueller and Pele
Attacking Midfielders - Puskas and Maradon
Wingers - Cruijff (left) and Garrincha (right)
Holding Midfielder - Matthaeus
Defenders - Maldini & Baresi
Sweeper - Beckenbaur
Goalkeeper - Yashin
Pele and Mueller were shoo ins for me. I couldn't think of anyone else to play as strikers. I think that Mueller's finishing skills are second to none. And Pele is Pele. But just in case they have an off day, I've put Puskas and Maradona as attacking midfielders right behind them. Maradona's a genius. Arguably the best footballer ever (some might say Pele), and no team would be complete without him.
Now I know that Puskas wasn't a pure midfielder, but with his talent and goal scoring abilities (84 international goals in 85 matches), I just couldn't leave him out.
The same with Cruijff. He was one of the greatest forwards to play the game. But he was also the best proponent of Total Football. So I can put him anywhere I want in the field. And he'd still run circle around his opponents :-) And Garrincha just has to be the best right winger ever. The magic he worked with those bent legs is one of the reasons why Pele won so many World Cups.
Okay, we've assembled an awesome attack. But you need someone to hold it all together. To my mind, Lothar Matthaeus is that man. He would play as a holding/defensive midfielder, protect the defenders and link up with the forwards. I think a player who won EVERYTHING except the Champions League and who Maradona called 'my greatest oppponent' gets the nod for this position.
Now, in the unlikely event that someone manages to get the ball and hold on to it for more than 2 passes, they would run into a stone wall. Maldini and Baresi would be prowling around just behind Matthaeus and would shut down any thoughts they had of crossing the half line mark. And with the Kaiser playing as sweeper, I doubt that Yashin would have much to do other than stretch around.
As you can see, this team is built for one thing - camp inside the other team's half. Unrelenting pressure, constant ball possession and mindblowing dribbling would be the way to go. Score goals, score more goals and then score even more would be the game plan.
There are a few other players I did consider. George Best, Marco van Basten, Michel Platini, Uwe Seeler, Bobby Charlton, Nilton Santos, Alfredo di Stefano, Socrates, Romario, Sepp Maier to name a few. I guess you could put together a very good team with them too. I left them out for different reasons. Best, di Stefano and van Basten mainly because while they achieved club level superstardom its the international matches which count. The others were good, very very good in fact. Its just that there were better players in those positions.
So that's my XI. Maybe you think that you can come up with a better team. Let me know. :-)
6 comments:
WANK! thanks for stealing MY 11 :-)
My team would look like this:
3-4-3 formation.
Flat defense with baresi maldini and beckenbaur...one heck of a wall to penetrate.
4 man midfield with maradona & platini sitting right behind the strikers...with puskas and garrincha on the wings.
3 strikers - pele cruyff and muller. with so much quality in the midfield backing up the strikers...the game plan would be to...hmmm...lemme see...score goals!!!
and yeah..Yashin can be the cheerleader..he won't have much to do!
Only change from your team is that i've included platini in place of matthaus... we all could live with one less german :-)i was tempted to include a few other players...but u have room for only 11... and these 11 will do a decent job..don't u think? :-)
Dude.. I told u before.. I came up with this team before you did. They are mine!!
Less Germans? I am surprised you haven't included more brits. Where is ur all time favourite toy boy.. David Beckham? And why havent you included the likes of Paul Ince, Gary Linekar, Paul Schole, Paul Schole, Teddy Sheringham, Alan Shearer?
Why wanker why? :D
dude.. how could u miss out Zidane??
dude... I didn't... I only considered retired players. And since there is talk of Zizou coming back, well I thought I should leave him out.
What's ur take on the rest of the team?
Virus,
Great team selection, at least in theory...but honestly, since they come from different generations and styles of football, it is debatable if they can function well as a team. Reminds of the current Chelsea team or AC Milan filled with superstar individuals where the whole is always less than the sum of parts.
That, and the fact that most of these players had such big egos that even Sir Alex and The Special One would struggle to keep them together :)
I'd go for a more contemporary team (3-4-3):
Forward: Messi, Drogba, Van Basten
Midfield: Maradona, Bergkamp, Gerrard, Rivaldo
Defence: Maldini, John Terry, Vidic
GK: Walter Zenga or Casillas
Manager: Wenger
@ Kiran.. to each his own dude. It's a 'dream' team, so we just assume that they'll all get along. Lol. I purposely left out current players. Stuck to the stars of yesteryear.
Can see that you're a Man U / EPL fan. Honestly.. Vidic?? Isn't that really pushing it? :-)
Post a Comment