Northern Ireland v Belarus (15/11/2024)

MAIK TAYLOR’S BEST XI

Andy Greeves invites former Northern Ireland internationals to choose their best 11. The line-up can include players past and present and not necessarily former team-mates. Here Maik Taylor chooses his squad…

GK – EDWIN VAN DER SAR I’ve worked with some top goalkeepers like Roy Carroll, Ben Foster and Joe Hart, but Edwin van der Sar tops the lot considering what he achieved in his career and his ability. LB – JONNY EVANS Liam Ridgewell did fantastically well for us at left back for Birmingham but I need to find room for Jonny Evans because I can’t leave him out of the team. Jonny traditionally plays centre back, but he can play anywhere along the backline and he’s played left back for Northern Ireland before, so I’m going to put him in there. CB – CHRIS COLEMAN I played with Matt Upson at Birmingham, who was a great defender, however I’m going to go with Chris Coleman as my left-sided centre back. I played with Chris at Fulham. He was an absolute colossus at the back. CB – AARON HUGHES My right-sided centre half is Aaron Hughes. I spent a lot of my international career playing behind Aaron and he was a fantastic player. He had great pace and read the game so well. RB – STEPHEN CARR For this position I thought about Steve Finnan, who I played with at Fulham, but I’m going to go with Stephen Carr from my Birmingham days. He was a great professional and a wonderful club captain. LM – CHRIS BRUNT Brunty had the hardest shot I ever faced in football and the best left foot. I used to hate playing against him in small-sided games. He could deliver the ball as well as someone like David Beckham at times. He

CM – STEVEN DAVIS I have to get ‘Mr Northern Ireland’ in there! What a fantastic career he’s had. He is such a fantastic pro and he has deserved everything that has come his way. I think I played in his debut match and I’ve watched his career go from strength to strength ever since. RM – KEITH GILLESPIE Seb Larsson was brilliant during my time at Birmingham City, however my right winger is going to be another Northern Ireland man – Keith Gillespie. He was a player with so much energy who had great ability on the ball and was able to deliver incredible crosses. FW – LOUIS SAHA Louis was not just the best goalscorer I played with but also the best player. He was lightning quick and could leap higher than anyone, while his finishing ability was incredible. He was key when Fulham won the Championship (then the First Division) in 2000 01. He went on to play for Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson and I think that speaks volumes for just how good he was. FW – DAVID HEALY I wanted to get Matt Le Tissier into my starting XI as technically he is one of the best players I have ever played with. But for what he did in a Northern Ireland shirt I can’t leave out ‘Sir David’! He scored so many goals for Northern Ireland and we’ll never forget the Euro 2008 qualifiers when he scored a then record 13 goals in the campaign. SUBS ROY CARROLL – Roy was a top goalkeeper. STEVE FINNAN – He emerged as a fantastic player during my time at Fulham. SEBASTIAN LARSSON – Seb was a real livewire for Birmingham. DAVID DUNN – David was an excellent midfield technician. MATT LE TISSIER – Matt was so close to making my starting XI.

really was that good. CM – BARRY FERGUSON

Barry would be my holding midfielder. I only had a year or two with him at Birmingham City but he was so effective in the holding midfield role. He oozed quality on the ball and was able to find time and space and he never gave the ball away.

IRISHFA.COM

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