Our greatest ever team

[Keita]

Was having a "discussion" down the pub about our greatest ever team and players ever to wear certain numbers, Like our best ever number 10 was Johny Barnes etc. But the numbers we had less answers for was numbers 2, 3 ,4, 5, 6 shirts? I know Neal, Kennedy, Nicol, Whelan and Hansen spring to mind but can you think of any otherswho have worn those shirt numbers that are "greats"?

[Old red eyes]

Alec Lindsay

Emlyn Hughes

Mark Lawrenson

Peter Cormack

Phil Thompson

 

Could go on all night.

[Cunny]

Yeats

Hyypia

Jones

Smith

[Keita]

Kavarme?

[Earl Hafler]

My XI would be

 

Reina, Babbel, Hansen, Hughes, Nicol, Souness, Whelan, Beardsley, Dalglish, Barnes, Rush.

[Murphman]

Alec Lindsay

Emlyn Hughes

Mark Lawrenson

Peter Cormack

Phil Thompson

 

Could go on all night.

 

 

Alec Lindsay is nowhere near good enough for our best 11. He only managed a couple of England caps and was as one footed as Riise.

[Rich Gobey]

My XI would be

 

Reina, Babbel, Hansen, Hughes, Nicol, Souness, Whelan, Beardsley, Dalglish, Barnes, Rush.

 

I'm not sure you'd have needed Souness and Whelan in that midfield.

 

Actually, you wouldn't have need all eleven players, you could probably have got by with nine or ten.

[charlie clown]

Alec Lindsay is nowhere near good enough for our best 11. He only managed a couple of England caps and was as one footed as Riise.

 

and I bet he didn't get half as many own goals.

[fred milne]

I'd go with this:

 

1. Clemence

2. Neal

3. Kennedy

4. Lawrenson

5. Kennedy

6. Hansen

7. Dalglish

8. Gerrard

9. Rush

10. Barnes

11. Souness

 

Lining-up in a 4-3-3:

 

Clemence

Neal Lawrenson Hansen Kennedy

Gerrard Souness Kennedy

Dalglish Rush Barnes

[Gunga Din]

Reina

babbel

Nicol

Hansen

Hyypia

Kennedy

Souness

Whelan

Barnes

Gerrard

Dalglish

Rush

 

 

I think there are players in the current team that only for nostalgic memories of other players in bygone and more successful era'swould be in everyones best 11. Hyypia for me every bit as good as and centre half we have ever had, and Reina, who has to deal with the back pass rule and a ball that swerves about like a balloon, is for me the best keeper we have ever had.

[Gunga Din]

Alec Lindsay is nowhere near good enough for our best 11. He only managed a couple of England caps and was as one footed as Riise.

 

 

i think the same could be said for Alan Kennedy. he was one of my favourite players as a kid, but he was the weak link in that side in the early 80's, although the fact he kept scoring important goals in finals means that point gets over looked more and more as time goes on

[Mike]

i always thought lawrenson rather than hansen was the better of the two defenders. hansen was the better player

[Gunga Din]

i always thought lawrenson rather than hansen was the better of the two defenders. hansen was the better player

 

 

LAwrenson looked the better player simply because he was great at those last ditch sliding tackles. the fact is though, Hansen had no need to do that as much as he read the game better and positioned himself better, a bit like Hyypia and Carra now. Carra gets caught out more than Hyypia, thats why you see him sliding in at the last minute, flinging himself in front of shots etc. Hyypia just reads the game and doesnt need to do that as much as he rarely gets caught out

[D.Boon]

Reina

Nicol

Thompson

Hansen

Babbel

Souness

Gerrard

Hughes

Barnes

Dalglish

Rush

[Mike]

LAwrenson looked the better player simply because he was great at those last ditch sliding tackles. the fact is though, Hansen had no need to do that as much as he read the game better and positioned himself better, a bit like Hyypia and Carra now. Carra gets caught out more than Hyypia, thats why you see him sliding in at the last minute, flinging himself in front of shots etc. Hyypia just reads the game and doesnt need to do that as much as he rarely gets caught out

 

lawrenson was a f***ing great defender, im not having that.

the fact is you need complimentary partnerships at centre half.

 

by the way, i did say that hansen was the better player.

Edited April 25, 2008 by Mike

[fred milne]

Hyypia for me every bit as good as any centre half we have ever had.

We've been particularly blessed with having great CBs over the years and Hyypia is clearly one of those. If he avoids injury I reckon Agger will be another.

[Gunga Din]

lawrenson was a f***ing great defender, im not having that.

the fact is you need complimentary partnerships at centre half.

 

by the way, i did say that hansen was the better player.

 

I'm not saying that Lawrenson wasnt a great defender, he was, but i think both HAnsen and Hyypia, and probablyThommo as well,w ere better, although my judgement mey be clouded somewhat because i cant stand Lawrenson

[RP]

It's hard to remember now, because he makes such a tw*t of himself on tv all the time, but Lawrenson was a hell of a Centre Back.

[Gunga Din]

Reina

babbel

Nicol

Hansen

Hyypia

Kennedy

Souness

Whelan

Barnes

Gerrard

Dalglish

Rush

 

 

I think there are players in the current team that only for nostalgic memories of other players in bygone and more successful era'swould be in everyones best 11. Hyypia for me every bit as good as and centre half we have ever had, and Reina, who has to deal with the back pass rule and a ball that swerves about like a balloon, is for me the best keeper we have ever had.

 

 

I've jsut noticed i have 12 players in that side, Kennedy shouldnt be there, i was trying to decide between him and BArnes, and Barnes won

[Old red eyes]

Alec Lindsay is nowhere near good enough for our best 11. He only managed a couple of England caps and was as one footed as Riise.

 

I was just throwing a few names into the hat for the younger fans who would have never/hardly seen certain players. Lindsay was a decent wing half who reverted to LB and had attacking qualities. If the older fans wanted to name our best team it would be extremely hard because of all the blessed players we have had down the years.

 

I'd have Clemence ahead of Reina as he stayed at a high level for many years and Reina has still to do that. He is a great keeper but clemence would get my nod. CB's we have had loads of good ones, i'd go with Lawrenson and Thompson. RB would be Phil Neal who was also a handy LB. LB would be a toss up between Alec Lindsay and Alan Kenedy, not World class by any means but both solid players.

 

RW i would have Steve Heighway. CM Souness and take your pick from about 10 others. Case, Hughes, McDermott, Gerrard, etc. LW i'd go for John Barnes or Ray Kenedy. In attack it would have to be Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush. But Fowler, Keegan and Toshack would get close depending on the opposition. Only got to see Ian St John at the end of his career but he was a handy striker as well.

 

I'm sure most of us could pick three teams and still have to leave a lot of good players out.

[Old red eyes]

Reina

Reina, who has to deal with the back pass rule and a ball that swerves about like a balloon, is for me the best keeper we have ever had.

 

 

Goalkeepers also get more protection from the match officials these days.

[Lee W]

I'd go with this:

 

1. Clemence

2. Neal

3. Kennedy

4. Lawrenson

5. Kennedy

6. Hansen

7. Dalglish

8. Gerrard

9. Rush

10. Barnes

11. Souness

 

Lining-up in a 4-3-3:

 

Clemence

Neal Lawrenson Hansen Kennedy

Gerrard Souness Kennedy

Dalglish Rush Barnes

 

Same as that, but with Reina in sticks.

 

Taking it a step further, my bench would be:

 

Clemence

Nicol

McDermott

Beardsley

Fowler

 

(Hard to leave Hyypia out but Nicol gets in on versatility).

[Poolfrog]

Us older fans would consider Chris Lawler a prime candidate at right-back for any best XI. He was vastly superior to Phil Neal in every way. His positional play and reading of the game was superb, he had a great touch on the ball - makes Phil Neal look like he was playing on roller skates - was an excellent footballer who would pass his way out of defence rather than hoof it.

 

But apart from his excellent overall skill and defensive qualities he was a phenomenal scorer for a defender, particularly as - unlike Neal - he didn't take penalties. He was superb in the air and a constant threat at set-pieces, but also had an attacker's instinct when the ball was on the deck. As he was a former schoolboy striker before reverting to defence you could see that he had all the attributes of a centre-forward. I remember him scoring a brilliant overhead kick against Everton at the Kop end. I can't think of any of our full-backs since who would have even attempted it

 

I haven't seen any right-back since in any of our teams that could hold a candle to him. Anyone who thinks Neal was a better player obviously never saw Lawler play. It's no contest at all

[Old red eyes]

Us older fans would consider Chris Lawler a prime candidate at right-back for any best XI. He was vastly superior to Phil Neal in every way. His positional play and reading of the game was superb, he had a great touch on the ball - makes Phil Neal look like he was playing on roller skates - was an excellent footballer who would pass his way out of defence rather than hoof it.

 

But apart from his excellent overall skill and defensive qualities he was a phenomenal scorer for a defender, particularly as - unlike Neal - he didn't take penalties. He was superb in the air and a constant threat at set-pieces, but also had an attacker's instinct when the ball was on the deck. As he was a former schoolboy striker before reverting to defence you could see that he had all the attributes of a centre-forward. I remember him scoring a brilliant overhead kick against Everton at the Kop end. I can't think of any of our full-backs since who would have even attempted it

 

I haven't seen any right-back since in any of our teams that could hold a candle to him. Anyone who thinks Neal was a better player obviously never saw Lawler play. It's no contest at all

 

Bleeding hell, how old are you lol. Only got to see the end of his career and Neal stuck out in my head as our best RB as i got to see loads of him. But that is one of the points that makes this whole exercise enthralling. People tend to remember those players which they have seen. A lot of the kids today never got to see a lot of them and put those players down they liked. I dare say even older fans would tell us of players from way back that we have missed out on. Sir Roger Hunt springs to mind.

[Jim Royle]

Whats stunning is that you look through this chain and no one mentions Cally - he pplayed more games than anyone else for this club so he wasnt a bad player was he?

 

Best team ever:

 

Lawrence Lawler Byrne Milne Yeats Stevenson Callaghem Hunt St. John Smith Thompson reserve Strong

 

 

Bleeding hell, how old are you lol. Only got to see the end of his career and Neal stuck out in my head as our best RB as i got to see loads of him. But that is one of the points that makes this whole exercise enthralling. People tend to remember those players which they have seen. A lot of the kids today never got to see a lot of them and put those players down they liked. I dare say even older fans would tell us of players from way back that we have missed out on. Sir Roger Hunt springs to mind.