u/reliablereindeer

Opinion piece in the telegraph.

Leaving out Beckham is ridiculous. Here is the logic they used

"That means there is no place for two of the highest-profile players of the past three decades, captains David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. Not least because both incurred knockout-round red cards that severely affected England’s progress. Neither could be said to be at their best in terms of fitness or form."

I agree about Rooney but in what way was Raheem Sterling at his "best in terms of fitness or form" at the world cups? He showed promise in 2014 but with no end product, he was poor in 2018 and left 2022 early. One goal and assist against Iran and two assists against Panama, both of which were thrashings and so had little impact to the final result, is enough to usurp David Beckham's three crucial goals in tight wins across 3 tournaments and 6 assists (only beaten by four players in history).

Don't understand the logic of having John Stones so high up but missing out Harry Maguire all together. To me, they are a pairing and should be next to each other.

Think the '66 bias is a bit strong in the top half. I don't suspect George Cohen at right back had as much impact to England's campaigns as players such as, for example, Kane, Lineker or even Pickford had.

Full list:

30. Raheem Sterling

31. Steven Gerrard

32. Terry Butcher

33. Sir Tom Finney

34. Bukayo Saka

35. Sol Campbell

36. Michael Owen

37. David Platt

38. Johnny Haynes

39. Ashley Cole

40. Jimmy Greaves

41. Chris Waddle

42. John Stones

43. Peter Beardsley

44. Peter Shilton

45. Jordan Pickford

46. Harry Kane

47. Paul Gascoigne

48. Gary Lineker

49. George Cohen

50. Jack Charlton

51. Ray Wilson

52. Roger Hunt

53. Nobby Stiles

54. Martin Peters

55. Alan Ball

56. Gordon Banks

57. Bobby Moore

58. Sir Bobby Charlton

59. Sir Geoff Hurst