Of course it helped immensely that the rest of the room was about to reach that same level of saneness that I had reached after two hours of heavy drinking. Anyways, me and a few friends started this debate about football and soon everyone in the room was arguing with us, trying to convince us that our beliefs were wrong.

What had us going for hours? I simply asked my friend to name me a perfect 11 of active players, if transfer money was not an option, and the team only had one year, to eliminate “upside” and “future talent” from the conversation. I also pointed out that a concentrated effort had to be made to make the team's chemistry work as well (so putting a bunch of great but similar players together would not be an option).

After quite a lot of shouting and swearing the full pub (about 20-30 blokes) came up with the following team:

Goalkeeper:
Edwin Van Der Saar – One of the few keepers able to intimidate opponent strikers before even a single save is made. Tall, with long spider-like arms, he has unbelievable reflexes. No wonder it wasn’t easy to score against Manchester United last season.

Defenders:
Roberto Carlos – He is an 'OK' defender, but boy is he a special wingback when you need him to support the attack. He is clearly at the back end of his career and might no longer be considered an automatic choice for best left wingback, but he still has the support of the majority.

'There is still no-one better than Beckham to ship in precision crosses'


Rio Ferdinand – I know many people dislike him, and to say he is no gentleman would be the understatement of the year. The fact is, however, that he has all the physical and athletic gifts to be the best defender in the game. It is a matter of getting that through to him.

Philip Lahm – He fits the bill of the modern-day defender. He's capable of stopping anyone in front of his own goal, and is a quality player even when his team is on the attack. Lahm also has the necessary discipline to lead a group of defenders into a battle and come out not having conceded a single goal.

Eric Abidal – A great defender/winger who is often overlooked due to the fact that he does not play for a media magnet team. Anyone catching a French international game has been in awe of the talent this guy has. Take him over many high profile players and believe me, you will not be disappointed.

Midfielders:
Florent Malouda – Malouda is another low-profile French star. He reminds me a lot of a young Thierry Henry without the striker skills. He’s an attack-minded player who can definitely help any team with his dealings on either wing.

Gennaro Gattuso – Another player who is near the end of a successful career. What sets him apart from his younger brethren is the fuel inside him. I cannot imagine what he would not be willing to do to win. He is absolutely fearless, and he is a leader from the moment he sets foot on the pitch.

Kaká – This genius is a 'no brainer'. Kaká is so good even the opposition’s fans applaud his every trick. He brings the joy and fun back into professional football. It is true that he can be goofy at times, but just let Gattuso get on him in those situations, and otherwise enjoy the show.

David Beckham – I know what you are about to say. Becks isn’t even the best English midfielder. He does not need to be, but with this group you simply need a winger who can whip in precision crosses to make life just that much more simple. There still is no-one better than Beckham at that.

Strikers
Ronaldinho – I should simply write “no comment!” and then move on. Go up to any footy fan and tell him to name you the five best forwards currently in football and Ronaldinho is probably the only one guaranteed to be on the list every time.

Miroslav Klose or John Carew – The bruiser striker. I cannot decide between the two as both are absolute monsters. You cannot prepare for them. Their sheer power and mass is too overwhelming to keep them in check for 90 minutes. So I’m leaving the door open here, I’ll let you decide who you think is the better of the two. Again, they might not be the best available, but they are the best next to someone like Ronaldinho.

There they are, then. The 11 we’ve eventually agreed on (or maybe we didn’t, I can’t remember). The most hurting omission was my favourite, Thierry Henry, but after what was practically a year of absence he’ll have to prove his worth once more.