England's greatest player from 1990-2010?

[rcoobc]

Difficult one for me, a period of great disappointment, with the greatest achievements being early to mid 90's. It is also the period of an explosion of success in English football making the mediocrity perhaps more surprising.

My early favourites would be Shearer, Adams and Seaman along with Beckham as this is a United forum.

Edit - If not clear I mean in terms of the "greatest player for the National Team"?

 

[duffer]

Ashley Cole.

 

[peterstorey]

Ferdinand is head and shoulders the winner. Probably the best English CB I've ever seen and one of the best of all.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Gazza..surely?

 

[stubie]

Michael Ricketts

 

[rcoobc]

Gazza..surely?

Forgot about him, always think he is about the same age as Lineker

 

[Mockney]

Greatest player to have played for the National Team, or greatest player for the National Team?

 

[adexkola]

Ferdinand.

 

[Nobby style]

Paul Scholes easily.

 

[rcoobc]

Greatest player to have played for the National Team, or greatest player for the National Team?

The latter

 

[kouroux]

Heskeyinho

 

[Lynk]

Most talented? Paul Scholes

 

[Mockney]

If the latter, then Owen's in with a shout. 4th highest ever scorer behind only Charlton, Lineker and Greaves, and above Finney, Lofthouse & Shearer. Only Rooney (and Shearer) comes in the top 10 from that time frame. At 8th.

 

[Stobzilla]

Michael Owen has to be in with a shout.

EDIT: What Mockney said.

 

[Mockney]

Michael Owen has to be in with a shout.

EDIT: What Mockney said.

He would've defnintely gotten the record without injuries (though those kind of hypotheticals can be used for lots of people) and he probably would've gotten 3rd if Capello hadn't had a thing about him. He only needed 4. Think of the amount of crap goals against crap people Crouch has scored.

 

[Stobzilla]

He would've defnintely gotten the record without injuries (though those kind of hypotheticals can be used for lots of people) and he probably would've gotten 3rd if Capello hadn't had a thing about him. He only needed 4. Think of the amount of crap goals against crap people Crouch has scored.

I agree, it is a shame that the partnership between himself and Rooney never really got going because it did look useful throughout Euro 2004. Rooney's goal from Owen's fantastic through ball being a glimpse of what they might achieve.

 

[CnutOfAllCnuts]

Seaman, Gazza, Rio, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard, Shearer - all world class players who have played for England during this period.

 

[CnutOfAllCnuts]

Seaman, Gazza, Rio, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard, Shearer - all world class players who have played for England during this period.

Oh, and Rooney of course.

 

[Mockney]

I agree, it is a shame that the partnership between himself and Rooney never really got going because it did look useful throughout Euro 2004. Rooney's goal from Owen's fantastic through ball being a glimpse of what they might achieve.

He set up Rooney's first against Switzerland too. What happened that Rooney for England? Well, to be honest, what happened to that England. It was the last time we were any good.

 

[rcoobc]

Going to have to rewatch England vs Scotland in the playoffs. From memory Scholes was brilliant in the first leg, but I could be romanticising his goals

 

[adexkola]

Seaman, Gazza, Rio, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard, Shearer - all world class players who have played for England during this period.

Lampard? Sure he didn't put in world class performances for England..

 

[CnutOfAllCnuts]

Lampard? Sure he didn't put in world class performances for England..

Lampard, very good player, never been world class in my book.

Sol Campbell, on the other hand...even though he could pass for toffee.

 

[Mockney]

Going to have to rewatch England vs Scotland in the playoffs. From memory Scholes was brilliant in the first leg, but I could be romanticising his goals

vs Italy in Le Tournoi as well.


He also scored a hat trick against Poland. When he first broke through for England, before he was shunted out of position, he was fantastic.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Gascoigne in terms of talent.

In terms of talent AND application. Scholes

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

The best player to play for England at tournaments?

Don't know.

The best English player overall?

Scholes. It's not even close.

 

[rcoobc]

Holy feck that first pass.

 

[Mockney]

It's quite ridiculous isn't it?

He was also very good in WC 98.

Scored a blinder in the opener


And was central to most things in the decisive group game, almost scoring two brilliant goals (at 2.15 & 2.37)


He was great for England in his early years. It was only around 2001-02ish that he started being shunted to accomodate Gerrard & Lampard. Which is a complete cock up considering that's when he was his best for us.

 

[apotheosis]

Under that criteria, England's best player from 90-10 it has got to be Owen im afraid. Not the most talented player, but imo there has not been a better performer for England over a sustained period within the last 2 decades.

From 98 to at least 2005, he was undoubtedly a world class striker, and he regularly did the business for England, and in tournaments too. 40 goals in 89 games. 26 of them in competitive matches, plus the only England player to score in 4 major tournaments, and surely would have been England's record goalscorer if not for injury.

Add in the goal against Argentina and the hatrick against Germany, i can't see anyone else who can even come close to contributing as much and as regularly as Owen has over those years.

 

[Mockney]

Beckham and Scholes both scored in 3 tournaments, fwiw. As many as Shearer (though not as many as Shearer)

In fact of Scholes' 14 international goals, only 2 were in uncompetitive games. Of Beckham's 17 only 4 were.

 

[Gazza]

Scholes' England career is a perfect example of myth overtaking reality. Because he didn't score for the 2 years that preceded his early retirement, the lazy memory people have is of a player who didn't play well for England so bailed out early.

I remember Scholes of around 1999-2001 being so, so good, and I remember vividly that part of his rise around this time came when he started making a name for England - le Tournoi vs Italy he was majestic, he displaced Gascoigne for France 98 and he was probably England's shining light during the Euro 2000 qualifying and finals.

I'd argue that he was far better for England than Beckham was up until around 2002, which is when Becks' "I'm a national hero" streak became more pronounced.

Having said that, I don't think you could say he was England's greatest player between 1990 and 2010. Shearer was so reliable. Sol Campbell was underrated - he never let England down in a big tournament.

 

[Gazza]

Under that criteria, England's best player from 90-10 it has got to be Owen im afraid. Not the most talented player, but imo there has not been a better performer for England over a sustained period within the last 2 decades.

From 98 to at least 2005, he was undoubtedly a world class striker, and he regularly did the business for England, and in tournaments too. 40 goals in 89 games. 26 of them in competitive matches, plus the only England player to score in 4 major tournaments, and surely would have been England's record goalscorer if not for injury.

Add in the goal against Argentina and the hatrick against Germany, i can't see anyone else who can even come close to contributing as much and as regularly as Owen has over those years.

Owen is a very good shout. It's noticeable since Owen and Shearer departed the scene that England haven't had a reliable goalscorer, one who would be guaranteed to score at a major tournament.

 

[Leg-End]

Gazza at times was mesmeric for England, he was superb at laying chances on plates for people with any kind of pass.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

Scholes was actually a great player for England till he got partnered with Gerrard and had to take make more of a defensive role in the side. Imagine Spain partnering Xavi with Gerrard or someone similar, just wouldn't work.

The best player for England during the time has to be Beckham for all round consistency and he always gave his all for the country. A true England legend.

 

[Zen]

Scholes, I think. I say I think, because I'd like to say Rio too, but Rio's been blessed by having a defense around that were general very good, and as a unit very solid(Neville, Cole, Sol/Terry.....the back 4 was never really the problem), thought he was better than both Sol and Terry at 02 and 06 myself.

I'd have Linekar over Owen though, and well dunno between him and Shearer, felt Shearer should of ended at the 2002 World Cup really, but I guess he felt Owen was tailor made to replace him rather than compliment him, so fair enough for that.

Robson and Rooney just didn't get luck at the big tournaments, both had somekind of injury 3 times each(so far for Rooney), Rooney got himself suspended....but their peaks in quali's and when they were fully fit are up there also.

 

[Red Dreams]

if we are talking about players that did very well for England in that time period, it has to be between Gazza and Rio.

I would just about plump for Gazza...he was a joy to watch.

remember the Italian coach saying..."This Gasscoigne cannot be English"

 

[Zen]

I really don't know how the Scholes-Gerrard partnership messed up so quickly.....Gerrard definitely started out far more defensive, and it worked because at the time people were like "he's the new Keane", which he kind of was though to a lesser extent(but his loss at 2002 was a big miss despite Butt filling in well), but then randomly just lost his positional sense and stayed in attacking midfield instead.....I'm guessing it all started with McAllister leaving Liverpool, thus Houllier giving Gerrard more freedom with Hamann holding or something.

 

[apotheosis]

I'd have Linekar over Owen though, and well dunno between him and Shearer, felt Shearer should of ended at the 2002 World Cup really, but I guess he felt Owen was tailor made to replace him rather than compliment him, so fair enough for that.

For me it's tough to pick players who were probably at their best before 1990 and didn't play for too long after. Like Lineker and Robson. Loved them both, top top players. But Lineker retired in 92 so can we really say he has been England's best player from 90-10?

Gazza was great in the 90 and 96 tournaments, so he was my second choice with Beckham third, but as i said look at what Owen produced over 8/9 years and no-one can touch that type of regular top class contribution for me, and he produced when it mattered.

 

[Zen]

tbf, I was just using a bit of leeway really.....like the 2010 and 2012 campaigns really showed why Scholes class was missed from both squads, so much so, it's only heightened his reputation, and the 90 squad was essentially the tail end of the Robson/Linekar era team.

I mean this current team is missing that kind of Linekar/Shearer/Owen scorer though, all scored important goals and consistently injury fit for the big tournaments when the burden was on them to do so, but it's not exactly Rooneys fault he's injured(suspended yes). Injury free, his record is what? 5 in 6 at the Euros?(For comparison, Owen has 6 in total, though he himself was thrown in injured a few times) And his quali record isn't too bad either. 2012, barring injury, is his final chance to cement any kind of legacy as an England player really.

 

[rcoobc]

Scholes' England career is a perfect example of myth overtaking reality. Because he didn't score for the 2 years that preceded his early retirement, the lazy memory people have is of a player who didn't play well for England so bailed out early. .

He was played on the left wing in every game during Euro 2004 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2004_Group_B Not sure about qualifying.

So mental

 

[Zen]

tbf, Scholes was like Englands best left winger in that period....and it did produce some the best games I've seen by England too. He himself just didn't like it, doesn't mean it wasn't an failed experiment, he would of retired anyway, at most just a couple of years later.