Best England team you have seen

[Traditionalist]

Pick the best England team you have seen in your life time and what ever formation you prefer.

Here is mine.

3-5-2

Seaman

Butcher
Walker
Adams

Waddle
Gazza
Gerrard
Hoddle
Beckham

Shearer
Lineker

[BCG Jason]

Trad. The problem with your selection is your midfielders are all attacking midfielders. Funny I'm also struggling to think of any decent defensive midfielders might explain our recent lack of medals.

Anyway
4-4-2

Shilton

Walker
Butcher
Pearce
Gary Neville


Robson
Beckham
Waddle
John Barnes

Alan Shearer
Gary Lineker

[ron]

4-4-2

Ray Clemence

Ashley Cole
Terry Butcher
Tony Adams
Gary Neville

John Barnes
Bryan Robson
Paul Gascoigne
David Beckham

Alan Shearer
Gary Lineker

Never a big Neville fan really but while there have been a few with potential I can't think of a great English RB that I have seen that would take his place...

[angelman]

Trad, how can you put Seamen in goal??? I know that it is subjective, but really, Shilton, Banks, Clemence etc are far better - personally would have Shilton. Seamen is better than those that came after him, but to me far weaker than those that preceded him. I think that he was adequate but not great, and it is an area that has been a problem for England. Hopefully with Hart it might be better. Thinking about it, one of the reasons that I think that the old keepers were better, is that they caught the ball. These days everything is parried away - maybe that is because the ball moves around a lot more, but still they should catch things once in a while!

It is interesting to see Keegan can't get a place and that there seems to be no one (yet) in there pre 1980s.

[SteveShark]

Surely, on form alone, it has to be the England team from 1966?

How would they fare today, though?

[angelman]

Impossible to say, but I suspect not very well. Fitness levels were completely different - too much boozing, smoking, eating rubbish. For example, and changing sport, Jim Hines was the first man to run sub-100m in 1968 posting a time of 9.95 seconds. This record stood for 15 years. Now-a-days 9.95 seems to be rather slow. Similar changes have happened in footie.

The game was also different - then you were allowed to tackle, but the biggest difference was that it was primarily a sport rather than a business.

[SteveShark]

The game was also different - then you were allowed to tackle, but the biggest difference was that it was primarily a sport rather than a business.

Ah...who can forget Ron 'Chopper' Harris...even his nickname would meet with disapproval today.

Here he is in action - from about 2:10 in.

Was football more exciting and entertaining then? I rather think it was, although the potential for career-ending injuries was far greater.

[ron]

...It is interesting to see Keegan can't get a place and that there seems to be no one (yet) in there pre 1980s.

Trad said it had to be players we have seen and whatever Trad says... I can't remember much pre 80s, post 1970 weren't we more crap then we are now? Anyway, you oldies can always join in .

Seaman was great really but just lost it in his last days and that seems to have stuck with him. The last of a long line of good English keepers.

[Dan Dare]

Banks

Wilson
Moore
Charlton J
Cohen

Ball
Stiles
Charlton R.
Peters

Hunt
Hurst

[angelman]

Oops. I seem to be showing my age, although I really am not that old. I think that I went to my first football match in the 1975/6 season.