Trevor's #One2Eleven

Former England striker Trevor Francis picks a dream team from the men he played with.

Trevor Francis was the first £1m player - but who did he rate? The former England striker joined Fenners and Merse to pick a stellar side - arguably the best the show has ever seen, playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Here's Trev's #One2Eleven...

GOALKEEPER - Peter Shilton

I played with him at Nottingham Forest and with England. I realised when I was at Forest just how important it is to have a top goalkeeper and when I went into management at QPR I was constantly trying to keep George Graham at Arsenal away from David Seaman. When I left the club, he was sold. When I went to Sheffield Wednesday I signed Chris Woods - which surprised one or two because we had Chris Turner and Kevin Pressman - but Woods, who was the England goalkeeper was available so I didn't waste that opportunity.

RIGHT-BACK - Viv Anderson

It was a top up between Viv, another Nottingham Forest player, and Micky Mills. Mills played in the 1982 World Cup. He could play either side - you couldn't tell if he was left or right footed. But I just think that Viv Anderson with his athleticism has the edge. He was a big help to me because when I was playing on the right of midfield, as I often did in the early part of my time at Nottingham Forest, it didn't come naturally to me and it was such a reassurance to have him behind to cover up on the defensive side of things. He could go forward, defend and was a big threat on set-pieces.

CENTRE-BACK - Pietro Vierchowod

Pietro Vierchowod is an Italian international who was in the 1982 World Cup winning squad but didn't play because of Claudio Gentile. Gentile was a top player but in my opinion, this guy was better. He wasn't the biggest at 5'10" or 5'11" but he was very muscular. He had muscles on his eye lashes and his greatest attribute was his pace. Diego Maradona said that he's the best defender that he's ever played against. I played against him for England and never enjoyed it because I was quick but he was so much quicker. He played for the likes of Roma, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Juventus and Sampdoria.

CENTRE-BACK - Kenny Burns

I played with Kenny at Birmingham City when he was a centre-forward and very good centre-forward. We didn't see eye-to-eye at times and there were many in the game at the time who felt that I wouldn't go to Nottingham Forest because Kenny had already gone a year prior to that, but that never entered my thinking and when I got there I saw a changed man. In that one year that he had left Birmingham, Brian Clough made him into a real man. That '77 season when Forest won the league, he was voted the Player of the Year. He was an outstanding player - physical, not nice to play against.

LEFT-BACK - Kenny Sansom

He played 86 times for his country - only Ashley Cole has surpassed that in recent times. Kenny was an outstanding defender. He never went to ground; he got forward and had great technical ability. He could play great balls into the front, he crossed a good ball. For me he was the obvious candidate.

MIDFIELDER - Graeme Souness

I was asked by the President at Sampdoria who I'd recommend to sign because Liam Brady was moving on to Inter Milan. Our President tried to sign Bryan Robson but there was no way Ron Atkinson was going to let him leave Manchester United, so I advised the President to go and watch Liverpool play Roma in the European Cup Final. There were another two days left before the window closed. Sampdoria paid £650,000 for Souness. He was a top, top player - physical, a great passer, good tackler, could score a goal.

MIDFIELD - Bryan Robson

He's probably been one of the greatest midfield players that England has ever produced. He was absolutely fearless. Today we hear about holding players and players playing in the hole. What about a player who could do everything? That was Bryan Robson. He could defend, head it, attack, pass. He used to time his runs brilliantly into the penalty box and get on the end of a move. He was an outstanding goal-scorer. He was the all-round midfield player for me.

RIGHT MIDFIELD - Glenn Hoddle

Glenn played one more time for England than I did - 53 times - but in my opinion he should have had 100 caps. He didn't because in those days the majority of England managers played a rigid 4-4-2. The balance of Ray Wilkins and Bryan Robson was a good balance but Glenn had natural ability. If he had played in France, Italy or Spain he would have played 100 times because he was so gifted, so skilful. He was probably the best passer of the ball I've ever seen and a scorer of spectacular goals.

CENTRE MIDFIELD - Liam Brady

Liam played for seven years at Arsenal and seven years in Italy. He had two years at Juventus where I think he won the Championship on both occasions. He was released and Michel Platini came in his place. We were the benefactors of that at Sampdoria because I enjoyed the service that Liam provided. He was with us for two years then went to Inter Milan, where he played with Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge and then he went to Ascoli before returning to England to play at West Ham. His left foot was like a wand. A lot of players need a lot of space to dribble past players but he could do it in really tight areas and when teams in Italy would defend so deep, he had the natural ability to weave his way through. He was one of the cleverest players I've seen in possession of the ball.

LEFT MIDFIELD - John Robertson

John provided the cross that gave me the chance to score in that European Cup final. John was Nottingham Forest's best player and Brian Clough regularly told players in the team that. He would say to us 'if you don't know what to do with it, just give the ball to John Robertson'. At the time, around 1979/1980 I would go as far as to say he was probably the best player in Europe. That wasn't recognised possibly because of the fact he was Scottish but he could play with his left or right foot and had the ability to drive to the line. I was always told to make sure that I was at the back post because nine times out of 10 that ball was going to come to the back stick.

CENTRE-FORWARD - KEVIN KEEGAN

I've had to leave Mancini and Vialli out of the team, plus Birtles, Bowles, Woodcock, Ferdinand and Bob Latchford. Kevin was an unbelievably talented player with Liverpool but then went to Hamburg and was European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and again in 1979. He was an inspiration to me when I went on England duty. The work that he used to put in on the training field was exceptional. He deserved all of the success that he got. He was an outstanding striker.
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