21st Century Best XI - Perennial Contenders

Jun 9, 2007
7,201
10,348
un
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Liverpool
personally i'd go for

gk: valdes
rb: alves
cb: pique
cb: puyol
lb: abidal
dm: busquets
cm: xavi
cm: iniesta
rw: messi
st: villa
lw: ronaldinho

you could make arguments for others. alba, ter stegen, suarez, mascherano etc. but i think that alves, pique, puyol, busi, xavi, iniesta and messi and untouchable.
Maybe a bench of;
ter Stegan, Alba, Mascherano, Rakitic, Rivaldo, Suarez, Neymar/Eto’o.

That side is insanely good...
 

ADL9798

Brownlow Medallist
Aug 18, 2009
14,481
16,908
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
Liverpool
personally i'd go for

gk: valdes
rb: alves
cb: pique
cb: puyol
lb: abidal
dm: busquets
cm: xavi
cm: iniesta
rw: messi
st: villa
lw: ronaldinho

you could make arguments for others. alba, ter stegen, suarez, mascherano etc. but i think that alves, pique, puyol, busi, xavi, iniesta and messi and untouchable.

Suarez (245 apps, 176 goals) surely ahead of Villa (119 apps, 48 goals). Aside from that good team. I miss Ronaldinho.
 
Last edited:
Apr 2, 2000
74,641
24,936
Perth, Australia
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Liverpool, Chicago Bulls.
Fowler is in the same boat with his best work coming pre 2000.

People seem to brush over Fowler but what he did at his age. If someone was doing that now. The internet and world football would be losing their mind.

I mean as a 19/20/21 year old he has three years in a row of 30 plus goal seasons.

Can anyone think of any footballer who has done that at that age?

Just trying to think of your stars... what's were Rooneys goal tallies at similar age? Messi? What is Mbappe doing albeit in a walk over league.
 
Oct 5, 2009
53,178
42,438
Adelaide
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
West Adelaide Bloods, Man City.
Fowler is in the same boat with his best work coming pre 2000.

People seem to brush over Fowler but what he did at his age. If someone was doing that now. The internet and world football would be losing their mind.

I mean as a 19/20/21 year old he has three years in a row of 30 plus goal seasons.

Can anyone think of any footballer who has done that at that age?

Just trying to think of your stars... what's were Rooneys goal tallies at similar age? Messi? What is Mbappe doing albeit in a walk over league.
messi had his first 30+ season in 2008-09, where he would've been 21 i think? amazingly he's never scored less than 41 since.

mbappe has 26, 21 and 36 and is only 20. even though it's a 'lesser' league it's quite ridiculous considering he's a wide player. neymar had a couple of 40 goal seasons at santos too.
 
Aug 16, 2011
70,780
55,795
Melbourne
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Arsenal
Fowler is in the same boat with his best work coming pre 2000.

People seem to brush over Fowler but what he did at his age. If someone was doing that now. The internet and world football would be losing their mind.

I mean as a 19/20/21 year old he has three years in a row of 30 plus goal seasons.

Can anyone think of any footballer who has done that at that age?

Just trying to think of your stars... what's were Rooneys goal tallies at similar age? Messi? What is Mbappe doing albeit in a walk over league.
R9 scored 30 in 33 at age 18, then 12 in 13 at 19 for 42 in 46 games.

At 20 he scored 34 in 37 for Barca.
 

Coolangatta

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 27, 2007
6,890
5,874
Western Australia
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Damn, after seeing this thread, now I know what I'd do if I had those Infinity Stones.

UEFA Super League, pit all these elite teams against each other, but no player can play for more than one team.
 
Jun 9, 2007
7,201
10,348
un
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Liverpool
Thought I’d re-visit this old thread. After watching Alexander-Arnold’s masterclass on Boxing Day I have no hesitation in putting him in as Liverpool’s RB at only 21. The current team now has six reps in the best XI. Firmino is also making it very hard to leave him out. Fabinho, Gini, Hendo, Milner and Matip are all worthy to be considered for the bench. What a fantastic side they have assembled.

A second XI for the Pool;
Reina
Milner Carragher Matip Riise
Mascherano Fabinho
Firmino Coutinho
Owen Fowler
 

DaRick

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 12, 2008
7,994
8,115
Brisbane
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
(See avatar)
Chelsea FC

GK: Petr Cech (obvious)
LB: Ashley Cole (obvious; Azpi/Gallas unlucky)
LCB: John Terry (c) (obvious)
RCB: Ricardo Carvalho (all-round skill set sees him get in; Gallas/Desailly unlucky)
RB: Branislav Ivanovic (better fit for the side because he was better going forward than Paulo Ferreira and more of an aerial threat, but people forget that the latter was a genuinely good, consistent RB himself - quality wise there's little to separate the two; if the RW provided more width then I'd pick Ferreira because he was a better defender in that position)
CDM: Claude Makelele (obvious)
RCM: Michael Essien (more all-round ability than someone like Kante, even though the latter is better defensively and is an interception dynamo)
LCM: Frank Lampard (obvious)
RW/RAM: Gianfranco Zola (more of an SS than an AM, but would drift in to make room for Ivanovic; Cole/Robben/Mata unlucky)
LW/LAM: Eden Hazard (obvious; Malouda/Robben/Mata get an honourable mention)
CF: Didier Drogba (obvious; quality all-round striker - Costa gets an honourable mention)

Bench:
Courtois (for mine the second-best keeper we've had in the past 20 years despite being a bit patchy)
Azpi (can fill in at all three defensive positions; incredibly versatile)
Gallas (can fill in at two positions, better defender than Cahill, Desailly unlucky)
Fabregas (would be terrific at unlocking stubborn defenses, plus can play as a SS if needed for some reason)
Kante (can fill in at two positions, better at maintaining a side's energy than Ballack)
Robben (would be a nightmare against tired legs)
Costa (obvious)

EDIT: The formation would be anywhere from a 4-3-3 to a 4-3-2-1 (Christmas tree formation).
 
Last edited:
Apr 2, 2000
74,641
24,936
Perth, Australia
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Liverpool, Chicago Bulls.
A lot has changed at Liverpool. I would have to change my team now.

GK - Alisson
RB - TAA
CB - Carragher
CB - VVD
LB - Robertson
DM - Mascherano
CM - Alonso
AM - Gerrard
FW - Salah
FW - Suarez
ST - Torres

Bench

Reina
Hyypia
Hamann
Coutinho
Mane
Firmino
Owen
 
Apr 2, 2000
74,641
24,936
Perth, Australia
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Liverpool, Chicago Bulls.
messi had his first 30+ season in 2008-09, where he would've been 21 i think? amazingly he's never scored less than 41 since.

mbappe has 26, 21 and 36 and is only 20. even though it's a 'lesser' league it's quite ridiculous considering he's a wide player. neymar had a couple of 40 goal seasons at santos too.
R9 scored 30 in 33 at age 18, then 12 in 13 at 19 for 42 in 46 games.

At 20 he scored 34 in 37 for Barca.
That's my point. Look at the names being mentioned. Fat Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe... Fowler was doing similar stuff at 18-21. He would succumb to injuries and wouldn't go on with it like Messi and probably Mbappe will.

But he did all that before the internet and social media. If Fowler was coming through at Liverpool now and doing that. People would be losing their minds.

He's called God for a reason. He was unbelievable for us before the injuries.

But for the purpose of this thread. He doesn't make my team as he did his best work pre 2000
 
Back