Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane - Willy Sagnol's #One2Eleven on The Fantasy FC
Friday 16 September 2016 09:02, UK
Former Bayern Munich and France defender Willy Sagnol names his star-studded #One2Eleven on the The Fantasy Football Club.
"To play with all these guys was such a dream for me," Sagnol told The Fantasy Football Club.
"I would love to be the coach of this team because you have everything. It's got talent, intelligence and nice guys.
"For me, it's one of the best teams ever."
Let's see who makes Sagnol's XI...
Goalkeeper: Oliver Khan
He was just amazing. He was not only the best goalkeeper I have ever played with but he was a big leader. He was the guy who really hated losing, particularly in training. For that, he was an interesting guy.
Right-back: Philipp Lahm
Not very strong, but Lahm was a highly intelligent player. He could play with both feet and was a very fair player.
The Fantasy Football Club
Centre-back: Lilian Thuram
My first centre-back is Thuram. He was a super professional. Just like Bixente Lizarazu, he was so professional in his way of living, getting good food, training and sleeping. He was a model professional.
Centre-back: Samuel Kuffour
With him, you knew you could go and play against any team in the world and he would always have the same motivation. It's not always easy at the highest level to play at the same level. It's quite difficult but he managed it. We were very good friends when we were together in Munich. He was such a nice guy and when you make friends out of football, it's fantastic.
Left-back: Bixente Lizarazu
I think he was the strongest left-back ever and not just in terms of who I played with, but in football history. One against one, you had absolutely no chance. He was so strong, so quick and so powerful. Also, he was a guy who could play 55 matches a season without any problems.
Defensive midfield: Claude Makele
The first spot goes to Makelele. He was small but so powerful. Like Lahm, he was a highly intelligent player. As a full-back, having a player like Makelele in front of you made football easier. He was also a good friend - he's still a good friend. We got our coaching license together after we ended our playing careers. I'm sure one day a club will be delighted to have him as their manager.
Central midfield: Patrick Vieira
Next to Makelele, I have to go with Vieira. He was a strong player. He was tall but technically very good. For me, the best midfield I ever played with was Vieira and Makelele together. At the World Cup in 2006, when France reached the final, they were so strong. Even now, I don't see any equivalent in modern football
Central midfield: Stefan Effenberg
The best captain I ever had in football. We won the Champions League together at Bayern in 2001. He wasn't the player who was running a lot but everything he did was perfect.
Attacking midfield: Zinedine Zidane
He was the best player I ever played with. As we used to say in France, you could give him a poor pass but he would give you back a present. Everything he was doing was perfect. There's nothing else to say. He was the perfect football player.
If you had Zidane in your team, the whole side was much stronger. But when he wasn't there, the team wasn't as strong anymore because he gave so much self-confidence to all the other players. We knew we had someone who could change the whole match with just one pass or one shot, who could change the match.
I played against him as well and I remember it was Bayern v Real and during the match, he was playing on the left. After 20 minutes, I asked him to change sides but on the other side, it was Lizarazu so he didn't know where to go.
As a defender, I just couldn't play aggressive against him because he was someone you didn't want to injure. Injuring Zidane was like doing something bad against football, and we all love football.
Striker: Giovane Elber
He could do everything. He would score, run and fight for the team. He was also a fantastic guy outside of football. He was funny and he did like a party too. He always knew were to run, where to go, where to stay and even to step back a bit. He knew where the ball was going to go.
Striker: Thierry Henry
We were in the youth national team together and even at 17, he was already playing like a 25-year-old. He's a fan of football. He knows everything about football. Even if you ask him the score of a game 15 years ago between QPR and Charlton, he will tell you it. He was known as the football encyclopaedia in the French national team. You don't become a legend by mistake. You can't.
Watch Willy Sagnol's appearance on The Fantasy Football Club on Sky Sports 1 from 5.30pm on Friday andf see him pick the best 11 players he played with.
