We as football fans all have memories that shape our view on football. My 11 are a set of players that did that for me. I got this idea from watching Rory Jennings give his 11 on James Lawrence Allcott’s YouTube channel where James asks guests their dream team. Before watching this video I had never thought about it but once I did I was a bit surprised about who came to mind immediately for me. The formation my team fits into is a 3-2-5, which admittedly involves a little shoe horning but I struggled for names in certain areas of the pitch. So, I chose my 11 players and this is the neatest way to fit them together.
Goalkeeper – Jerzy Dudek
There are two teams that got me into football, the team I support and Liverpool. Specifically the Champions League winning Liverpool of the mid noughties. The wobbly kneed penalty saving Polish shot stopper, for me at the time, was the best around. I loved watching him and was quite sad when the Reds replaced him with Pepe Reina. His involvement in the famous Champions League final was huge. In extra time when he made that double save against Shevchenko and the nod afterwards. That nod said to me the trophy is coming to Liverpool. Then in the shootout when we was moving around backwards, forwards, left and right on his line (and a bit off it) to make the two saves, including the save once again against Shevchenko to win the shootout, the match and the biggest club tournament in world football. That’s why he’s my goalkeeper.
Right Centre Back – Winston Reid
And now a player from the team I support, West Ham United. Reid arrived from Danish side FC Midtjylland. Back in 2010 and has nearly 200 appearances for the club which unfortunately have dried up in recent time due to injuries. It’s not just him being a great servant to the club that I love this man for, it’s the winning goal in the final game at the Boleyn Ground on the 10th May 2016. Martial put us 2-1 down in the 72nd minute which got the heart racing and worrying that the final game, might be loss. A few minutes later Michail Antonio leaps up to nod in an equaliser and the hope is back. Then, 1 second before the 80th minutes, the man of the season Dimitri Payet swings in a freekick all 6ft 3in of Winston Wiremu Reid forces his way to the ball and head it in making me attempt to jump up as I cheered but ended up falling of my chair and laying down on the floor. Those moments lay down feeling the thick carpet on the back of my neck were the best I’ve had from football. Which is impressive as for a West Ham fan, that season had many great moments.
Central Centre Back – Gary Medel
The oddest addition to this side but he’s the one I was on about. This was the name that came to mind before any other and it’s purely from how he played the game. There were no specific moments in mind but when I first watched him it felt like watching myself. He played the game the way I did with friends. Looking back that probably means I took the games a bit too seriously but I loved playing and for me defending was something every player on the pitch should do. So, no matter what position I played, and I was happy to play them all, I would track back 100% of the time because that’s how I believed the game should be played. The moment he reminds me of from playing myself was when I was 13. Back at school we were playing the older kids and one of them was through on goal and I decided he wasn’t going to score. I was playing on the left side and he was attacking down our right side. I charged the width of the pitch as he was coming in slid through taking the ball perfectly before this guy who was 3 years and a few stone heavier than me collapsed onto me as my trailing leg took some of the perfection from the tackle. Now, in the moment I didn’t feel him land on me, but the gasps and other guys asking me if I was okay told me the older kid fell onto me hard. As far as I was concerned though, I stopped a likely goal and that’s what I see when Gary Medel plays.
Left Centre Back – Javier Mascherano
Very similar to Gary Medel, I loved how he played. Watching this man play for Argentina was pure joy for me and his links to West Ham and Liverpool probably help his case for being a player I loved watching. Also, like Medel he wasn’t the biggest player but he played like he was. Watching him fly back and throw in a last ditch tackle was a fantastic sight and for me a perfectly timed tackle to stop a one on one with the keeper is up there with an overhead kick.
Right Centre Midfield – Mark Noble
Knowing I’m a West Ham fan summarises this choice up fully. There was a specific moment though he did cement himself as one of my all time favourite players and no, it wasn’t the volley against Spurs or Leicester. I think it may have been against Swansea City, Mark Noble went down with a muscle injury near the edge of the pitch and the other team didn’t stop playing. They continued to attack while Noble was down. Seeing his opponents not stop he got up and basically hopped back to the edge of the 18 yard box and threw his body in front of a shot. I really admired that commitment to the team and that’s why he makes this team.
Left Centre Midfield – Xabi Alonso
A bit different from the other players on this list and as a result the most understandable. He was part of that Liverpool side who got me into football and was brilliant at everything. He was good defensively and popped up with a few goals but his passing was what made him special. The way he moved the ball around the pitch was as beautiful as he is. He made ginger beards cool. When team mates saw he had the ball, they started running because they knew if they made the run, he’d find them. I remember a goal against Luton Town, I was on the living room floor with the coffee table in front of me watching it. Liverpool were doing their thing where they go down in a match, look like losing and win. Typical Liverpool. One of those goals in that game was Xabi Alonso rounding the keeper and putting it into the bottom right corner with his weaker left foot. One detail is missing from that though, he rounded the keeper 70 yards from goal and put it in from behind the centre circle in Liverpool’s half of the pitch. After that he went on to play for some small clubs in Madrid then Munich. So, he’s in the team wearing 14.
Wide Right – James Milner
This man’s versatility knows no bounds including in this team were he’s helped by allowing this side to have winger. This man is the perfect professional who gives everything for his team. We’ve seen him out wide, up front, in centre midfield and be the best left back in Europe at one point. His versatility and work rate have maybe overshadowed his technical ability a bit. He was one of the best crossers of a ball. With over 550 club appearances over a 19-year professional career and still being able to contribute to one of Europe’s best sides over the past few years is a testament to how he looks after himself. On top of that, after leaving Manchester City as a part of their pursuit of becoming Champions of Europe, he joined there closest rival from England for free. Immediately took on the role of vice-captain and won a Champions League before the team that let him go. He sets the standards for the team he plays in and will do too for this imaginary side.
Wide Left – Carlos Tevez
One of the players that’s had to play out of position in this side but one who’d likely be okay with it. Brilliantly talented footballer who worked exceptionally hard and made himself a nightmare for the opposing team. All players occasionally have bad games but Tevez is one of those players who never has a lazy game. When he played you were always guaranteed a good amount of effort. I first saw him playing for Argentina before his move to West Ham and in that short time he won his way into this side before that 2007 great escape he was both an integral and controversial part of. So, for two reasons this man has run swinging his shirt around his head into this side.
Right Forward – Dimitar Berbatov
Now, after I’ve been banging on about work rate I go and throw in a man who was famous for how little he moved. Sadly, I didn’t realise this man’s real brilliance until he moved to Fulham. Having said that I did enjoy watching him for both Spurs and Manchester United and it was easy to see he was a talented player, but his intelligence shone through when he moved to Fulham. With some players it’s the way they move that makes them great like Cavani who you can see makes his job easier by positioning himself well. Berbatov though, when he was at Fulham it was great to see the way he moved his team mates around. He would control the game by passing the ball to where he wanted his team mates to go, and they’d have to move to pick up the ball. Maybe the coolest man I’ve seen play football he’ll be dictating play around the 18 yard box before walking in open space a few yards from goal and flicking the ball in if the next two guys aren’t charging the ball ahead of him.
Centre Forward – Andy Carroll
Andy Carroll’s mother and I probably have something in common as we’re likely the only two people in the world to pick him for our 11 but I will insist he is better than he gets credit for. Let’s put his injury record to the side for the moment as I’m judging what he did when he played. He isn’t in this side because he was a West Ham player, it’s because of how complete a player he is. His aerial prowess is unquestionable. He is the most aerially dominant player I’ve ever seen and could generate a phenomenal amount of power from headers. Although not one of the great finishers, he is a good Premier League finisher. I’ll reference a goal he scored against Swansea City where he did a couple of step overs and curled the ball into the opposite top corner and one of the best overhead kicks against Crystal Palace in that season they conceded so many goal of the month contenders. So, there describes a good striker. More impressively though was the rest of his game. A strikers challenge wasn’t something you’d say while watching Carroll play, he was a great tackler and made some great challenges throughout his career. Also, in his own box he combined his dominance in the air with defensive intelligence. He was able to help organise the defence and set an example to win the ball back and start a counter. On the point of counter attacks, he could pick up the ball on the halfway line and play a long ball forward to a wide man like any central midfielder. No matter where he was on the pitch he looked comfortable. I encourage you if you do watch Andy Carroll play in the future, don’t watch him as a striker, watch him as a footballer and you may begin to see what I got to see regularly in a claret in blue shirt.
Left Forward – Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan is not in this team. This team is around Zlatan.
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