I know this topic is a hot bed for debate, some will agree with the choices made, others won't, but I am going to pick my dream team, these choices are not made on trophies, medal's or success, just my ultimate team.

I will mention each players success and clubs played for as it wouldn't be much of an article with just names of players.

If I was a football club owner and I could pick 11 players and a manager, this would be my team:

 

Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson

People are going to start jumping on the wagon calling me biased to Manchester United, but this isn't the case, he is the best manager of all time in my eyes. His story with United is one hell of a roller coaster. He was almost on the verge of being sacked early in his career at Old Trafford, and now look, he is one of the most successful and likeable gaffers the world over.

He is responsible for some of the best purchases the premier league has seen, he brought Eric Cantona to OT for the measly sum of £1.2 million, and it paid off massively, as well as signings like Ruud van Nistelrooy.

He has 10 Premier league titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, one European Super Cup, six Charity Shields, and those two memorable UEFA Champions League triumphs.

Sir Alex fully deserves to be the manager of this squad.

 

Goalkeeper: Taffarel, Brazil

There were lots of keepers in mind for this. I was going to put Peter Schmeichel, but then I may as well write down my favourite Manchester United squad, so I give the keepers job to Claudio Andre Mergen Taffarel.

He is one of the big stars of USA 1994 where he only let one goal in throughout the first round and only five goals went past him for the duration of the tournament, two of which were penalties against Italy in the final. A feat still not beaten in World Cup football to this day.

He was capped 106 times as Brazil's goalkeeper. In club football Taffarel played for SC Internacional, Parma, Reggiana, Atletico Miniero, and Galatasaray before going back to Parma to see out his career.

Honours:

FIFA World Cup winner 1994.

UEFA Cup winner 2000.

UEFA Super Sup winner 2000.

Turkish Super League winner 1999 and 2000.

Turkish Cup winner 1999 and 2000.

Minas Gerais State Championship winner 1995

CONMEBOL Cup winner 1997.

 

Left Back: Paolo Maldini, Italy

Well there is only two men for me who can fill this spot, Roberto Carlos or Paolo Maldini. I've chosen Paolo. A shining example to the sport of football, he has a glittering career that started back in 1978 for AC Milan—still his one-and-only club.

He also took part in four World Cup campaigns for Italy, unfortunately missing out on the 2006 victory.

He is the most selected man in the history of Serie A and AC Milan, making 618 appearances for the Rossoneri. Paolo has also played in a staggering eight UEFA Champions League finals, where he has been on the victorious side five times.

With seven Serie A titles to go with it, Paolo has had a majorly fruitful career in football at both club level and International level.

Honours:

Serie A winner 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004.

Coppa Italia winner 2003.

Supercoppa Italiana winner 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004.

UEFA Champions League winner 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007.

UEFA Super Cup winner 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007.

Intercontinental Cup winner 1989, 1990.

FIFA Club World Cup winner 2007.

 

Left Centre Back: Franz Beckenbauer, Germany

Ok, I know Franz was a sweeper but I'm using a traditional 4-4-2 System, surely a man of his calibre would fit in the LCB role. He is one of the greatest football players we was ever been graced with. His records do speak for themselves, he was voted third best player in the world, finishing behind Pele and Johan Cruyff.

Franz played club football a massive 560 times and scored 81 times for Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos (2), and Hamburger SV were. He also played 103 games for West Germany scoring 14 times in the process.

He is also the only player to captain three European Cup winning sides at club level, he played in three World Cups and has since gone on to have a decent managerial career with the German national team, Olympique Marseille, and Bayern Munich.

Honours (as a player):

German Bundesliga winner 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1982.

DFB Cup winner 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1971.

European Cup winner 1974, 1975 and 1976.

UEFA Cup Winners Cup winner 1967.

Intercontinental Cup winner 1976.

NASL Championship winner 1977, 1978 and 1980.

Trans-atlantic Cup winner 1980 and 1983.

FIFA World Cup winner 1974.

European Championship winner 1972.

Honours (as a manager):

FIFA World Cup winner 1990.

French Ligue 1 winner 1990.

Bundesliga winner 1994.

UEFA Cup winner 1996.

 

Right Centre Back: Jaap Stam, Netherlands

One of the best centre backs in the world as far as I'm concerned. There are lots of great defenders that could have gone here but Jaap Stam is the man I've chosen.

Back in 1998 Stam became the most expensive Dutch player costing Manchester United £10.6 million in a move from PSV.

Stam made 416 appearances at club level scoring 23 times with 8 different clubs: FC Zwolle, Cambuur Leeuwarden, Willem II, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Lazio, AC Milan, and Ajax. He has also been capped 67 times for his national side, scoring three times in the process.

The Bald Gladiator was a pivotal part of the Manchester united squad that won the treble in 1999. He was voted best defender in the Champions League in '99 and 2000.

Honours:

Premier League winner 1999, 2000 and 2001.

UEFA Champions League winner 1999.

FA Cup winner 1999.

Intercontinental Cup winner 1999.

Supercoppa Italiana winner 2004.

 

Right Back: Cafu, Brazil

No dream team is complete if you don't have Marcos Evangelista de Moraes at right back. His overlapping runs are priceless to any team, and just like Paolo Maldini, Cafu has had a great career both at club and international levels.

Cafu played 522 games at club level and scored 24 goals for six clubs: Sao Paulo, Juventude, Real Zaragoza, Palmeiras, AS Roma, and AC Milan. He was capped 156 times by Brazil, scoring five goals in 16 years.

He played major parts in Brazil's 1994 and 2002 World Cup wins and narrowly missed out on making it a third when they were beaten by France in 1998.

Honours:

FIFA World Cup winner 1994 and 2002.

Copa America winner 1997 and 1999.

FIFA Confederations Cup winner 1997.

Copa Libertadores winner 1992 and 1993.

Intercontinental Cup winner 1992 and 1993.

Recopa Sudamericana winner 1993.

UEFA Cup Winners Cup winner 1995.

UEFA Super Cup winner 2003 and 2007.

UEFA Champions League winner 2007.

FIFA Club World Cup winner 2007.

Campeonato Brasiliero Serie A winner 1991.

Scudetto winner 2001 and 2004.

Supercoppa Italiana winner 2004.

 

Left Midfield: Ronaldinho, Brazil

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira is one player I'll never tire of watching, although he dumped my country out of the 2002 World Cup QF, he is just mesmeric. Never will we see another Ronaldinho again.

There are players who can be just as good as him, but he is the complete footballing package with skill, pace to burn, flair, and he tries outrageous things that seem to work.

Ronaldinho has played for three clubs but is about to make that four when he pulls on an AC Milan shirt for 2008. He has made 297 appearances at club level scoring 125 goals with Gremio, Paris St Germain, FC Barcelona, and now AC Milan. He has been capped 83 times by Brazil, scoring 33 goals too.

Honours:

Rio Grande do Sul State Championship winner 1999.

Rio Grande do sul State Cup winner 1999.

Intertoto Cup winner 2001.

Spanish La Liga winner 2005 and 2006.

Supercopa de Espana winner 2005 and 2006.

UEFA Champions League winner 2006.

FIFA under-17 World Cup winner 1997.

Copa America winner 1999.

FIFA World Cup winner 2002.

Confederations Cup winner 2005.

 

Left Centre Midfield: Rivaldo, Brazil

Rivaldo Vitor Borba Ferreira has one of the best records in history. His honours list is enormous and he has been a great ambassador for football worldwide. When I was growing up nearly every child I knew wanted to be like Rivaldo. He is among the 125 greatest living footballers awarded by Pele in 2004.

Rivaldo has played 519 times at club level, scoring 248 times for 11 clubs: Paulista, Santa Cruz, Mogi Mirim, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Deportivo La Coruna, Barcelona, AC Milan, Cruzeiro, Olympiakos, and AEK Athens. He has also been capped 95 times by Brazil, scoring 37 times.

Honours:

Brazillian Serie A winner 1994.

Sao Paulo State championship winner 1994 and 1996.

Euro American Cup winner 1996.

Spanish La Liga winner 1998 and 1999.

Copa Del Ray winner 1998.

European Super cup winner 1997 and 2003.

UEFA Champions League winner 2003.

Supercoppa Italiana winner 2003.

Greek Superleague winner 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Greek Cup winner 2005 and 2006.

FIFA World Cup winner 2002.

Copa America winner 1999.

Confederations Cup winner 1997.

 

Right Centre Midfield: Ryan Giggs, Wales

Ryan Giggs became Manchester United's most decorated player in the final of the Champions League in 2008, beating Sir Bobby Charlton's record of appearances.

Now I know that Giggs is a left midfielder, but, as with Beckenbauer, I think Giggs has the talent to play anywhere on a football pitch, plus I can't remove Ronaldinho.

Ryan has made a total of 535 appearances at club level, scoring 101 goals for his only senior club, Manchester United. He is the only player to have scored in every single season of the Premier League since it began in 1992-93.

Giggsy was also capped by Wales 64 times, scoring on 13 occasions, but like George Best, Giggs' national squad never seemed to have that edge to make it, leaving his international career out in the cold. He was Wales' captain until he retired last year to focus on club duties.

Ryan Giggs has also won every trophy except two that Alex Ferguson has won (1990 FA Cup and 1991 Cup Winners Cup).

Honours:

Premier League winner 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2008.

FA Cup winner 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004.

FA Youth Cup winner 1992.

League Cup winner 1992 and 2006.

Community Shield Winner 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003 and 2007.

UEFA Champions League winner 1999 and 2008.

UEFA Super Cup winner 1991.

Intercontinental Cup winner 1999.

 

Right Midfield: George Best, Northern Ireland

I could talk all night of Georgie Best, it's in his name. He is a true genius. A one-off footballing great. Well known for his love of booze, women, and, of course, most of all, his awe-inspiring end-to-end runs that usually guaranteed a goal.

He passed away on the November 25, 2005 and the nation came to a stand-still to mourn one of the greatest players to grace us with his talent. Old Trafford was a sea of red shirts bearing the number seven and countless tributes and flowers, showing how much he is in the heart of Manchester United to this very day.

George appeared a massive 626 times at club level scoring 240 goals. The majority of his goals and appearances came for Man Utd. His clubs were Manchester United, Dunstable Town, Stockport County, Cork Celtic, LA Aztecs (2), Fulham, Fort Lauderdale, Hibernian, San Jose Earthquakes, Bournemouth, Brisbane Lions, and Tobermore United.

George Best was also capped 37 times by Northern Ireland with whom he scored nine goals. He never won anything at international level due to him being the only real talent N. Ireland had at that time.

Best doesn't have a massive honours list, but was still one of the best. It is quite astonishing that he didn't win more throughout his career.

Honours:

Football League winner 1965 and 1967.

European Cup winner 1968.

 

Left Striker : Eusebio, Portugal

On my original article I had Eric Cantona here, but I got negative comments which in turn ruined the article, so although its not the article I want, I've changed Cantona For Eusebio da Silva Ferreira.

People have told me I should have Maradona on with Pele, but I'm not putting a man who literally punched England out of the World Cup, no matter how good he is.

Eusebio scored a whopping 727 Goals in 715 games just for Benfica—317 of those coming in 301 Portuguese League games. His clubs were Sporting Lourenco Marques, Benfica, Rhode Island Oceaneers, Boston Minutemen, Monterrey, Beira-Mar, Toronto Metros-Croatia, Las Vegas Quicksilver, New Jersey Americans, and Unao Tomar .

He was capped by Portugal 64 times, scoring on 41 occasions .

Honours:

League Mocambique Winner 1960 .

Portuguese first division Winner 1961 , 1963 , 1964 , 1965 , 1967 , 1968 , 1969 , 1971 , 1972 , 1973 and 1975 .

Portuguese cup Winner 1962 , 1964 , 1969 , 1970 and 1972 .

Portuguese honours cup Winner 1963 , 1965 , 1968 , 1973 and 1975 .

European cup Winner 1961 and 1962 .

North American League Winner 1976 .

 

 

Right Striker: Pele, Brazil

Pele was a true legend in every sense and he is a fantastic inspiration to all aspiring young footballers—a true professional.

Like I said about Cafu before, no Dream Team is complete without Edison Arantes do Nascimento. He has an astonishing array of records in both club and international football, making 669 appearances at club level scoring 626 goals for two clubs: Santos and New York Cosmos.

He was capped 92 times by Brazil, scoring 77 times. His honours and achievements are colossal. He played in four World Cups, being on the victorious side three times.Honours:

Campeonato Paulista winner 1958, 1960, 1961, '62, '64, '65, '67, '68, '69 and '73.

Torneio Rio-sao Paulo winner 1959, 1963 and 1964.

Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa winner 1968.

Taca Brasil winner 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965.

Copa Libertadores winner 1962 and 1963.

Intercontinental Cup winner 1962 and 1963.

South American Recopa winner 1968.

NASL Championship winner 1977.

FIFA World Cup winner 1958, 1962 and 1970.

Roca Cup winner 1957 and 1963.

 

So Bleachers What do you think of my dream team?

Who would be in your dream team?

Let us know in the comment boxes below what you think of my decisions, rate as usual too please.

I wanted to keep Eric Cantona as he is a personal favourite, but I got negativity over it, so I chose Eusebio instead. Just as it seems a crime to put who you want in your own dream team just because others don't like that choice.

But that just means that one day you will have to put up with a full article on Eric Cantona.

 

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