No Raul??
Wales AT XI, 433. If you can tell me how to embed the formation pic, that would help.
Thanks for starting this thread as it was good to look through our players (for a very small country, we've had some pretty good players tbh). Also, while looking at some players, I also found out some stuff I didn't know - the Football League "Top 100" and exactly why Jimmy Murphy wasn't on the plane in 58 (see end). So while they may not (all) be modern household names, of their times they were and really interesting to read up on them.
I hadn't come across the Football League Top 100 before but it's an interesting read .... the last 15 or so entrants are some of the creme de la crème of the last 30 years. If you've got a place in it (and a lot of this team do) you're probably deserving.
- Manager - Jimmy Murphy with Gary Speed as player Asst
- Goalie - Neville 'Binman' Southall. Goalie for the great mid 80s Everton team and still the best British goalie I've seen (and not because he was Welsh). One of a small number of goalies in the Football Leagues "100 legends"
- Left Back - Gareth Bale. I know he could play upfront but we've had a few decent left wingers and Bale was also a very good LB .... think Spurs vs Milan and Bale skinning Maicon all game on his way to a hattrick. Amazing engine especially in his young days so can get up/down left flank
- Left CH - Kevin Ratcliffe. Captain and leader of the Everton 80s team, comfortable with ball at feet. Also played LB at times during career so can drift if/when Bale pushes up
- Right CH - John Charles. One of the greatest players in British history ..... a combination of Roy of the Rovers, Jaap Stam on steroids and Hot-shot Hamish but never carded in his career ..... voted Juventus' greatest all-time overseas player..... included in the Football Leagues "100 Legends". Yes, he could play up front but monster of a defender and fits with Ratcliffe (could still score from freekicks/corners)
- Right back - Alf Sherwood. Known as the King of the sliding tackle and an 'all-in' FB. Stanley Matthews said he was "the most difficult opponent he ever played against" including when Sherwood captained Wales to a famous 2-1 win over England (Matthews, Roger Byrne, Billy Wright, Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse et al)
- Left midfield - Ryan Giggs. Again, yes he could play left wing but we've got more than one contender there and Giggs running down the inside left channel will give another attacking threat/option (think his runs Vs Spurs as a kid or 'that goal' vs Arsenal )
- Centre midfield - Gary Speed (RIP). Massively underrated when people talk about midfielders in the PL era. 20 years for Leeds (Champions medal), Everton, Newcastle and Bolton... almost 100 goals from midfield, never saw him have a bad game. Respected by fans and players alike
- Right midfield/inside right - Ivor Allchurch, the Golden Boy of Welsh soccer. A pacy attacker with a famous swerving run. Well over 270 career goals including scoring in both legs of the WC 58 qualifiers where we got to the WC for the only time and two goals in the tournament proper. Another member of the Football League "Top 100" players, a Swansea legend, top scorer with his statue at the ground
- Left wing - Cliff Jones. A key member of Spurs' famous double winners. One of the top scoring wingers of British football (an almost 1 in 2 record for Spurs) and at the time, considered the best LW in the world with Juve offering a then world record fee which Bill Nicholson rejected. Yet another member of the Football League "Top 100" players
- Right wing/outside right - Billy Meredith aka The Welsh Wizard or (per Uniteds website), Uniteds first superstar. Another member of the Football Leagues "Top 100" players. Winner of every domestic trophy including F A Cups with both Man City and Man United for whom he played over 700 games for, over 30 years. Helped us win our first league title and our oldest ever player. A founder member of the Players Union, with the FA demanding all players quit the union and when United didn't, we were temporarily suspended leading to us being called The Outcasts F C. Also accused of match fixing by the FA who then suspended him for a season (!). Attacking, fluid, maverick, despised by the FA, suspended, sounds like Eric?
- Centre forward - Ian Rush. Still the best British goalscorer I've ever seen (despite main club). Another member of the Football Leagues "Top 100" players and well deserved. Almost 400 career goals of which 346 were for Liverpool at a top level and an almost 1 in 2 record - tap ins, headers, volleys ... deadly. Loads of medals/awards including a Golden Boot and holds most UK goalscoring records still
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_100_Legends
How Jimmy Murphy missed United's European game and ''Munich'.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp..../wales-1958-world-cup-quarter-final-euro-2016
http://sharemytactics.com/119082/
https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5be0a752138c092e24ac6db1
Merci.
That's some midfield??Shay Given
Denis Irwin
Paul McGrath
David O'Leary
Steve Staunton
Roy Keane
Liam Brady
Johnny Giles
Kevin Sheedy
Robbie Keane
Damien Duff
Subs:
Packie Bonnar
Mick McCarthy
Steve Finnan
Kevin Moran
Ronnie Whelan
Ray Houghtan
John Aldridge
Frank Stapleton
Best postI'd quite like this Liverpool team.
Karius
Kvarme Klavan Traore Konchesky
Spearing Poulsen
Diouf Voronin Downing
Carroll
Real Sociedad
Arconada
López Rekarte Gorriz Iñigo Martínez Aranzabal
Xabi Alonso
Karpin Bakero López Ufarte
Kovacevic Nihat
Bench: Bravo,Kodro, De Pedro, Griezmann, Vela
Coach: Toshack
Not a bad back four either in fairness hahaThat's some midfield??
Ahuh, two of them make my AT United XI. It's just that all 3 midfielders (for me) are top and would be a great mix.Not a bad back four either in fairness haha
Yeah, and when you think of the likes of Ronnie Whelan to come off the bench, it would have been some ridiculously brilliant midfield. Our own "Barcelona trio" in greenAhuh, two of them make my AT United XI. It's just that all 3 midfielders (for me) are top and would be a great mix.
All three have a mix of attacking ability and steel. Keane has more of the latter, Brady more of the former and Giles a perfect balance of both.
Boban, Modrić and Prosinečki would be deadly together.Croatia national football team:
GK- Dražen Ladić
CB- Robert Kovač
CB- Igor Tudor
CB- Josip Šimunić
RM- Ivan Rakitić
CM- Zvonimir Boban
CM- Luka Modrić
LM- Aljoša Asanović
AM- Robert Prosinečki
ST- Eduardo
CF- Davor Šuker
Croatia finest in 3-5-2 formation with goalkeeper who I would personlly trust against any striker ever, he really was that good. Defence made of 3 great defenders, players who were not just strong in duel, but great with ball at the feet. Midfield seems like football cheat, with so many brilliant players but there they are, so can say that creative part of the play is covered. 2 lethal strikers who can score both from creative team play or from brilliant individual play.
I think Ballack was underrated for Chelsea too. He was always scapegoated by their fans. You could see how some of the things he does were missing once he left.As an individual player there is no question for me Ballack was the better player. Even though he is a high rated player, i believe he is very underrated. This is probably the case because he failed to win the big ones (multiple times).
If you ask who was more influential for Bayern it is Effenberg without a doubt. Ballack in general was very unlucky, being the only true world class player (alongside Kahn) in his german generation. Also he was part of the worst Bayern team, and german football in general, in decades (that's why he left for Chelsea).
But individually, in his prime, i do believe that Ballack was one of the best offensive central midfielders of all time. He just had everything. The body language, the intelligence, the abilities and the mentality.
Ajax/Holland
GK : Edwin Van Der Sar - excellent
LB : Ruud Krol - Total Football personified
CH : Ronald Koeman - passing plus strength
CH : Jaap Stam - strength plus passing
RB : Wim Suurbier - great wingback
DM : Frank Rijkaard - GOAT
CM : Johan Neeskens - brilliant
AM : Johann Cruyff - genius
LW : Piet Keizer - before Cruyff there was Keizer
CF : Marco Van Basten - almost GOAT
RW : Ruud Gullit - excellent
Basically a collection of some of the greatest players in every position. When Van der Sar is possibly your weakest player, you know it's some team.
Subs
Ronald De Boer
Danny Blind
Edgar Davids
Clarence Seedorf
Sjaak Swart
Jari Litmanen
Ruud
Dennis Bergkamp
..... and that's leaving some excellent players out.
http://sharemytactics.com/119256/
(again @Ecstatic ... any idea why link to team doesn't work?)