the best XI

i thought about my best eleven. how should i choose it?

it is a big headache, because there are so many criteria to base your selection on:

the formation

is it because you like the player, or is it because he is damn good there?

is it supposed to be all-time, or current?

just to name a few.

of course everyone wants kaka, messi, just to name a few in his team but i think i tried to balance these three in answering my question as to who my best 11 are.

toldo, lahm, de jong, borowski, baraja, vieira, aimar, kaka, van der vaart, overmars, vicente, giggs, podolski almost made it.

i tried to think of a right winger, but couldn't really find one.

so in the end, it's this:

1. van der Sar

well, you can't expect me to put lehmann in. but he's there since so long ago. interestingly my strongest memory of him are the two goals he conceded against croatia in the 3rd/4th placing at france 98. but it was a strange and frustrating game.

22. clichy

elegant defender who is dependable and reads the game well.

13. chivu

cultured defender. captain. playmaker from the back. deadball specialist.

5. toure

solid as a rock. committed. lion-heart. scores important goals.

6. trabelsi

athletic. always dangerous on the attack. i just don't know why he is playing for man city.

18. sneijder (number at ajax: 10)

playmaker. double-footed. versatile. deadball specialist.

8. fabregas (number at arsenal: 4)

dictates the tempo of the game. elegant, classy and intelligent.

15. iniesta (number at barcelona: 13)

intelligent passer who links everything together. makes decisions that don't jeopardise the team. versatile. scores important goals. good off the ball running.

10. bergkamp

the number 10. need i say more?

9. ibrahimovic

temperamental. arrogant. but a genius, all the same. flamoyant, stylish.

7. villa

complete forward.

looking at my selection, i realise that the players are all very fluid. sneijder can easily play on the left; iniesta can easily slot into right mid. chivu and toure both roam up at times, especially when the team is trailing. trabelsi and clichy are very good going forward. villa and zlatan can drift as well. so it is a very fluid formation.

the only weakness is of course the dirty work in midfield.