Best possible ever EFC XI

thebluefox · February 21, 2013

Carlito said:
I'd go with:

Southall

Stevens - Ratcliffe - Labone - Baines

Steven - Ball - Harvey - Sheedy

Dean - Sharp

Subs: Martyn, Wilson, Jagielka, Reid, Morrissey, Latchford, Lineker

I've only been watching Everton since 1994 though, so I'm hardly a qualified source when it comes to commenting on anyone who played before then.

weres howard kendall , good team bar for h k

Blue Tit · February 21, 2013

^^ and Alex Young

Bruce Wayne · February 21, 2013

Surprised more people haven't mentioned Tommy Lawton. Scored pretty much a goal a game for us and for England, and would surely have had many more if WW2 hadn't come along.

scratchnsurf · February 21, 2013

Bruce Wayne said:
Trevor Steven in over Kanchelskis, Wilson in for Baines, and someone else up front instead of Latchford.

Would be one of Tommy Lawton, Alex Young, Graham Sharp, Linekar or Rooney.

That, for me, is the hardest choice.

alpha1 · February 21, 2013

1. Southall
2. Stevens
3. Baines
4. Ratcliffe
5. Labone
6. Reid
7. Ball
8. Kanchelskis
9. Dean
10. Lineker
11. Sheedy
Subs.
West, Wilson, Watson, Steven, Harvey, Sharp/Rooney

Bruce Wayne · February 21, 2013

scratchnsurf said:
That, for me, is the hardest choice.

Had Kanchelskis been around for more than 1.5 seasons I think he'd have got the nod, but Steven was excellent for a number of seasons. As a player I think Kanchelskis was probably better, but Steven had a better impact.

Blooy · February 21, 2013

I would wager today's team would beat any team in the past. Mainly because of improvements in fitness and technology.

Fleming33 · February 21, 2013

Blooy said:
I would wager today's team would beat any team in the past. Mainly because of improvements in fitness and technology.

Interesting thought that.

Wonder how good the team of '84/'85 would be if they had the technology we have today...

DanEFC92 · February 21, 2013

Puzzled by the amount of Rooney shouts tbh

Black Belt Jones · February 21, 2013

Can't have Gary Stevens starting right back for an all time Everton XI surely? I mean he was great and all but we're talking over a century of the royal blue jersey here. He's the best in my time but I'd be surprised if there weren't superior players going back a bit.

Tony Kay was meant to have been some player - also left back but career finished in ignominy with a betting scandal (from his time at Sheff Wed). Actually did time for it which seems ridiculous from today's perspective.

wiggie · February 21, 2013

Eggs said:
....Wilson was outstanding. I remember at that time it was between him and Karl Schnellinger (West Germany) who was the worlds best. I do think the 1970 Championship side sets the standard - Colin Harvey said the mid-80s team wouldn't have lived with them.
There is no right or wrong answers to this thread, but how many caps has Baines won in comparison to Wilson. The likes of Johnny Morrisey was a wizard left winger and would rarely get a mention but the likes of him Harvey and Kendal, Tommy Wright et al need to be considered.

Agree with every word with this

Black Belt Jones · February 21, 2013

Blooy said:
I would wager today's team would beat any team in the past. Mainly because of improvements in fitness and technology.

No chance mate - winning is a timeless attribute and the teams of the past totally eclipse our current side in that dimension. I mean fitness and technology is one thing, the size of your balls is quite another. And no one had a bigger, brassier pair than William R. Dean. Legends like that find ways to win that just aren't available to normal players.

sheeds · February 21, 2013

scratchnsurf said:
That, for me, is the hardest choice.

100% , kanchelskis was immense for that season as good as I've ever seen at goodison

thebluefox · February 21, 2013

Black Belt Jones said:
Can't have Gary Stevens starting right back for an all time Everton XI surely? I mean he was great and all but we're talking over a century of the royal blue jersey here. He's the best in my time but I'd be surprised if there weren't superior players going back a bit.

Tony Kay was meant to have been some player - also left back but career finished in ignominy with a betting scandal (from his time at Sheff Wed). Actually did time for it which seems ridiculous from today's perspective.

tony kay wasnt a left back mate

BirkenheadBlue · February 21, 2013

Black Belt Jones said:
No chance mate - winning is a timeless attribute and the teams of the past totally eclipse our current side in that dimension. I mean fitness and technology is one thing, the size of your balls is quite another. And no one had a bigger, brassier pair than William R. Dean. Legends like that find ways to win that just aren't available to normal players.

Depends on how you're rating it tbh.

If you just dropped Dean (as he was then) into today's game, he'd not just struggle, he'd be a complete non factor - as would many of the players from our 80's team tbh. The game today is played at a pace that is completely unlike that of either of those eras (particularly Dean's) and the fitness levels are on a completely different plateau.

If however there was some way of neutralising those factors and relying just on ability (for example, giving those players of the past all the nutritional, technological and sports science advantages today's players have had throughout their development) then it's a completely different argument.

Saying this is not doing a disservice to the players of the past, it's just acknowledging that it's a COMPLETELY different game these days. It's all very well saying "they'd find a way to win", but heart and balls can only carry you so far when you're blowing out your arse after 20mins because the pace and fitness levels are something completely alien to you.