Thursday 18 March 2010

Dream Team – James Cowley

James Cowley, Leicester City fan and great friend of CollinsBeans, selects his ultimate XI

Don’t laugh - there is method behind the inconceivable madness of my unconventional 4-3-1-2 formation, and the players making it up.

Manager: Martin O’Neill
The angry little Irishman raised the expectations of an East Midlands City to a level only acceptable in Fairy Tales. Yes, Leicester in the UEFA Cup! Whilst we were cheated by Atletico Madrid, he managed to get us two “Worthless Cups” and a third final appearance, whilst leaving us in an established, profitable, club. Without his presence who knows what damage Peter Taylor might have done? He also managed my home town team, Shepshed Dynamo (previously Shepshed Charterhouse), on his way through the ranks. He broke the dominance of Rangers and took Celtic to a UEFA Cup final in Scotland and whilst his style of football might not be the most attractive in the world, the results he’s achieved on shoestring budgets are incredible.

Goalkeeper: Gordon Banks
Behind every World Cup winning team there has to be a good goalkeeper to make amends for the mistakes that the rest of the team will invariably make, and they don’t come much better. His save against Pele is arguably the greatest save of all time. He pulled off a save with a level of agility that most of the players to have followed in his foot steps would be proud of, including Shilton who he eventually made way for only a year after his greatest achievement.

Right Back: Cafu
Can’t really elaborate much more than the previous submissions other than to say that he’s won two World Cups, played in four tournaments, won Serie A, the Uefa Cup and the Champions League amongst many other honours. Oh and still played up to age 38.

Left Back: Stuart Pearce
Not wanting to churn out the same team as everyone else, I’ve gone for “Psycho” as oppose to Maldini (he is also rather good). He’s one of a couple of players in the team who are all about the grit and determination required to succeed. The man tried to run off a broken leg! Ignoring San Marino, and the 1990 penalty miss, I get shivers down my spine every time I see his penalty against Spain in Euro ’96 and the scream after the successful conversion. Just a shame he is tarnished somewhat by the scum from the Trent.

Centre Back:
Matthias Sammer
European Footballer of the Year, European Championship winner, Champions League winner, utility man and token ginger (therefore preventing the entry of Paul Scholes to the subs bench). The man was a unit, and whilst I can’t remember much about watching him play, he always seemed to be a scourge to English football in both European club competitions and internationally.

Centre Back: ...
I struggled to think of who I’d want as my second centre back and it came down to Lucio, Cannavaro, Adams or Stam, so I’ll let the reader decide here.

Midfielder: Roy Keane
Whilst he is a bit of a thug, his commitment to the cause cannot be questioned. Against Juventus in 1999, he single-handedly got Man United to the final with his performance. He was immense, producing a box to box performance that changed, controlled and eventually won them the tie, albeit at the expense of his own participation in the final. Also he now appears to be one of the few people left that despises Mick McCarthy other than me. He stood by his principles in a farcical build-up to the 2002 World Cup, costing him his place at another major stage, and whilst part of that was pure bloody-mindedness, it was probably that part that made him the player he was.

Midfielder: Claude Makelele
Underrated. Probably the best holding midfielder ever. Makes Mascherano look like a thuggish donkey herder from San Lorenzo in comparison. I believe his contribution to both Real Madrid and Chelsea allowed his team mates to influence the outcome of a game. He protected the defence in such a way that allowed other players around him to attack. I think that his transfer to Chelsea is one of the main reasons why Real lost their dominance in La Liga and Europe as the team became a selection of stars rather than a team. He is the glue that would keep my Dream Team together.

Midfielder: Zinedine Zidane
Unquestionably the best player in the modern era, and surely one of the all time greats. Won the World Cup on his own pretty much. Can’t really say much more, just brilliant.

Attacking Midfielder: Maradona (pre-drug crazed loon era)
Phenomenal player in his heyday. He is thrown in to add that bit of magic that no one else can give. Whilst he’s not present in the last two picks, I can’t say anymore about him really, as words and statistics don’t really apply here (as with Zizu above).

Forward: Ferenc Puskas
HE INVENTED THE DRAG BACK!!!! He is the player who stimulated England’s best home run of form ever (at the time of going to press) with his Hungarian teams 6-3 demolition of the Three Lions. He scored 513 goals in 533 club appearances. He scored 84 goals in 85 appearances for Hungary and he has 4 caps for Spain! There’s not much to say as visual evidence is somewhat limited, so my argument is based solely on the fact that he invented the only trick that I can sometimes nearly pull off.

Forward: Gary Linekar
I started with Leicester, so I’ll finish with them. Gary is a Legend. My personal favourite player. He’s the first player I can actually remember watching at Italia 90. It’s just coincidence that he played for Leicester. Whilst he does not have the finesse of some of the other players in the team, he was always in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the net. That is ultimately what it boils down to, who can score the most, so when someone has pulled off an awesome save from Maradona, Gary will be there to shuffle it over the line.

Substitutes: Brian Clough, Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel, Paolo Maldini, Steve Walsh and Xavi

4 comments:

  1. Also Puskas is in because he was voted Hungary's player of the last century. Peter Halmosi hopes to step up to the plate for 21st Century

    James

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  2. A cracking team my friend, and one that I would not like to come up against (Mr. Linekar aside) down a dark alley.

    Some very valid choices, although I would question all this talk of Hungary's greatest player - surely we haven't all forgotten Mr. Kiraly and his legendary grey tracksuit bottoms have we...

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  3. I agree that this is a great side. It has made me consider some of my own selections too...

    Excellent addition of Makelele, and I certainly wouldn't fancy taking this team on. I also love how Steve Walsh is sandwiched between Maldini and Xavi on the subs bench.

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  4. Wow, this makes my irony heavy side look pretty foolish...

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