BEST ENGLAND FOOTBALL TEAM
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One of the most difficult questions is "what is the best England football team of all time" - England have had a lot of good players over the years but it is often difficult to compare players of different times as the game has changed so much - it was decided that the "best team" be taken from players who played from 1966 onwards - players like Stanley Matthews (winger), Tom Finney (forward) and Duncan Edwards (defender) have therefore missed out when they might otherwise have been included.
 
The England team chosen assuming a 4-4-2 formation (with reserves underneath) was:
 
                                                        Gordon Banks
                                                        Peter Shilton
                                      
 
  Mick Mills                       Terry Butcher                    Bobby Moore             Stuart Pearce
  Viv Anderson                   Jack Charlton                   Tony Adams               Kenny Sansom

 David Beckham                Bryan Robson                   Bobby Charlton           John Barnes
 Alan Ball                          Paul Gascoigne                  David Platt                  Ray Kennedy
 
 
                                       Gary Lineker                       Alan Shearer
                                       Jimmy Greaves                    Geoff Hurst

 

Lineker and Butcher were included in this team

GOALKEEPERS
Gordon Banks (career 1963 - 1972) was the best goalkeeper in the World in the late 1960's and made several great saves on the way to winning the World Cup in 1966. In second place, Peter Shilton (1971 - 1990) was chosen ahead of Ray Clemence (1973 - 1984) and David Seaman (1989 - 2002) as he had a long career with England and was dependable between the posts.

DEFENDERS (RIGHT and LEFT BACK)
Stuart Pearce (1987 - 1999) was one of the great left back's of all time with the courage and drive required at international level - he scored several goals with his fiercely struck free kicks and just beat Kenny Sansom (1979 - 1988) into second place. The right back position was more difficult to decide upon - Mick Mills (1973 - 1982) was chosen as the first choice but this is by no means a clear cut decision - Viv Anderson (1978 - 1988), Phil Neal (1976 - 1984), George Cohen (1964 - 1968) and Gary Neville (1995 - date) were all in with a shout.

CENTRAL DEFENCE
Bobby Moore (1962 - 1974) was an obvious first choice and would probably make a best World team of all time. The other position went to Terry Butcher (1980 - 1990) who was a great captain of his time too and commanding in the centre of defence. Jack Charlton (1965 - 1970) and Tony Adams (1987 - 2000) were chosen as the reserves as they were also great defenders. John Terry or Rio Ferdinand could break into this best ever squad with good performances in the future. Sol Campbell had impressive World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004 performances but was not involved much in the World Cup 2006.

RIGHT WING
Despite being given a red card at the World Cup 1998, David Beckham (1996 - date) has been chosen at No1 in this position as he is a different class and has redeemed himself since then - he is capable of changing matches with his ability. Alan Ball (1965 - 1975) is a World Cup 1966 hero and has been chosen in second place in this position.

LEFT WING
This has been a problem position for England over the years but John Barnes (1983 - 1996) was probably England's most skilful player in this position - perhaps he did not live up to the early potential when scoring a wonder goal against Brazil in a friendly but he has been chosen ahead of Ray Kennedy (1976 - 1980) who was also great on the left wing (but never went to a World Cup).

CENTRAL MIDFIELD
Bobby Charlton (1958 - 1970) was England's greatest ever player, scoring 49 goals from midfield in his career. Along side him, Bryan Robson (1980 - 1992) has been chosen as he was a great captain and player of his time. Paul Gascoigne (1989 - 1998) and David Platt (1990 - 1996) have been chosen as the subs - Gascoigne was capable of changing a game all by himself in the early 90's and David Platt was also a good scorer of goals from midfield. Steven Gerrard is in with a shout of claiming a top four spot if he has a good Euro 2008.

ATTACK
Gary Lineker (1984 - 1992) was a great goalscorer and got the golden boot award for being top goalscorer (with 6 goals) in the 1986 World Cup tournament. He was also excellent in the 1990 World Cup. Along side him, Alan Shearer (1992 - 2000) has been chosen ahead of the 1966 World Cup strikers Geoff Hurst (1966 - 1972) and Jimmy Greaves (1959 - 1967) in another difficult decision - Jimmy Greaves had a great scoring record going into the 1966 World Cup and Geoff Hurst took his place during the competition and completed a hatrick in the 1966 World Cup final - however, a confident in form Alan Shearer was very good and you felt he could score a goal from almost anywhere. Michael Owen is not far behind and only injuries have prevented him from being included in the squad.


There are always different opinions when it comes to having to pick a best England team but if these players could play together in their prime, they would be very unlucky not to win the World Cup.