Francis Jeffers picks his #One2Eleven on The Fantasy Football Club
Friday 3 April 2015 18:39, UK
Former Everton and Arsenal striker Francis Jeffers joined Fenners and Merse to pick his #One2Eleven.
Jeffers, who played up front for both the Toffees and the Gunners, as well as for England, was in the studio to select the best team out of the host of footballing talent he has played alongside in a career which spanned more than 15 years.
So, without further ado, here's who he selected...
GOALKEEPER: Neville Southall
The best goalkeeper in my eyes who ever lived. I played with David Seaman, who I do not want to disrespect, but Neville was special.
CENTRE BACK: Richard Gough
He came to Everton late in his career at 37 or 38, and was an unbelievable athlete. The way he looked after his body was an example to the young lads and he was a sensational footballer. Top drawer and a great lad as well.
CENTRE BACK: Tony Adams (c)
The best English centre half I have ever seen. I could not believe how easy he made things for himself by dictating where other players moved. He made the game so simple and was a great footballer.
CENTRE BACK: Martin Keown
An absolute animal. He took every training session as though it was the FA Cup final, and wore his shin pads to training, but what a player.
RIGHT WING BACK: Ray Parlour
He was like the glue who made all the world-class players stick together, he was the one who always worked harder than most and that is why he was always in Arsene [Wenger]'s team most weeks. Top drawer.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Patrick Vieira
What could you say about him? An absolute man mountain who had everything you want in a modern-day midfielder: he could run, tackle, score a goal and head them away in his own box. I cannot speak highly enough of him and a great, great player.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Robert Pires
This may surprise a few people, given who I have chosen up front, but this lad was easily the best player I ever played with. He could do everything and was a magician on the pitch. He was flat footed, but was the best player every day in training and he was normally the best player on a Saturday too. I used to just sit and watch him after training and I was in awe of him.
LEFT WING BACK: Ashley Cole
A great player both up and down. A great, great defender. People talk about him going forward, but not many went past him going the other way. A fit lad up and down and how many caps did he get for England? Top drawer and a top, top player.
FORWARD: Dennis Bergkamp
He was top drawer. I used to watch him after training or during training sessions and he used to pull things out of the air or lift things over goalkeepers. He was a top, top player.
STRIKER: Wayne Rooney
I cannot speak highly enough about him. On stats alone he is probably the best English player of all time in terms of goals and caps. People have their own opinions about who is the best and why they are the best, but on stats alone you cannot knock him.
He came into Everton’s team at 16 and people wrote him off, but it was never the case. If he played well when he was 16 in the first team, then we knew we had a chance of winning games. He can do anything he likes, can’t he? He can do it all. I watched him the other night spray balls around for England. But for me, if I am manager, then this is his best position.
STRIKER: Thierry Henry
Last but not least. It is hard to speak about him as you feel like you are just saying the same things. When I got to Arsenal he was only early towards breaking Ian Wright’s goalscoring record, but people were starting to sit up and take notice of him.
I could not believe how good a finisher he was. When he first came into the team, a lot of people said he was not a natural goalscorer. I remember him actually coming out and saying he thought he was a wide player early on, as he took a bit of stick at Arsenal when he first came in. But for me, once he got the other side of defenders there was no coming back as his pace was electric. And I had to sit on the bench most weeks watching him.
