My team is based mainly on players whom I've been lucky enough to see play, complimented by some legends whom I've seen ample footage of to convince me that they simply demand inclusion.
Goalkeeper: Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)
Full Back: Lilian Thuram (France)
Full Back: Paulo Maldini (Italy)
Centre-half: Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)
Centre-half: Bobby Moore (England)
Midfielder: Mattias Sammer (Germany)
Midfielder: Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
Midfielder: Zinedine Zidane (France)
Midfielder: George Best (Northern Ireland)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Forward: Romario (Brazil)
Substitutes: Peter Shilton (England)
Stuart Pearce (England)
Johann Cruyff (Holland)
Michel Platini (France)
Diego Maradona (Argentina)
Pele (Brazil)
Gerd Muller (Germany)
I can't believe I couldn't find a starting place for Pele or Maradona, whom until recently I'd rated the best-ever, but that's what this excellent thread idea does to you - makes you assess things in context of a
team.
Lilian Thuram is simply the best defender I've seen in my watching time; likewise Matteas Sammer was simply - in my opinion - the greatest sweeper-cum-holding midfield player I've seen in my time and probably the most under-rated player ever (witness his role in Germany's Euro '96 win and Borrussia Dortmund's Champions League success twelve months later - absolutely awesome majestic genius at work).
Attack-wise, for anyone who's seen the DVDs and read the books George Best is possibly the most ridiculously over-talented player ever and his misdemeanours and lack of World Cup experiences must never be held against his inclusion - an absolute no-brainer of a selection and together with Sammer and Messi the first three on the list. Up front, Romario just edges out Gerd Muller alongside the incomparable Messi; I honestly can't believe that probably the second-best natural finisher ever (Muller) is only on the bench
but one night in Manchester in 1994 convinced me that Romario is just impossible to leave out - pure unadulterated natural-born genius in footballer form!
And who to manage them? Cloughie, Shanks and Ferguson were all more about going into battle against adversity so don't get the gig, so bollocks to the lot of 'em, it's
MY team so I'll manage it myself
and have Pep Guardiola as my assistant
with the Foxy Babe to warm them up and tend to injuries - but only after she's seen to mine