England hasn't had a decent player since Paul Gascoigne

Gascoigne was a great player

plenty of decent players down the years imo

Weak bait, more Scholes is the best English player I've ever seen, Wilshere not far off though.

Agree with Harry, though also believe no player in an outfield position would have made a World X1 team since 1966.

a certain D. Beckham anyone?

Bale?

I would say that Paul Gascoigne is arguably the best player that England has ever had.

Just a real shame that he was lacking it mentally, and had serious issues away from the playing field.

Obviously difficult to compare players from different eras. Who knows what Duncan Edwards might have become ?

Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Jimmy Greaves, and many more.

Yes, Scholes is surely one of the best, but how you can mention Wilshere in the same breath as Gascoigne just beggars belief.

I didn't mention Wilshere in the same breath as Gazza, but Scholes.

Never really saw Gascoigne at his peak, and by all accounts his peak was early before his leg break aged 22.

Wilshere is a phenomenal player, only those that watch every Arsenal match know what I mean, the kid's got everything and will no doubt be in contention for man of the tournament in Brazil.

Scholes was ten times the player that Wilshere is, was, and ever will be.

Le Tissier. But we didn't know how to use him - not even Hoddle.

Wilshere is a phenomenal player, only those that watch every Arsenal match know what I mean, the kid's got everything and will no doubt be in contention for man of the tournament in Brazil.

Three words, ladies and gentlemen:

William. Ralph. Dean.

Carlton. Lloyd. Palmer.

What has Jack not got ?

Schooling Barca: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_pCG9Cmio
Schooling Brazil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1alkWzv_9NE

Be thankful he's English.

whats wrong with rooney ?

hes an odious piece of work but a great footballer

It,s a sad indictment of English football thet they don,t have lots more in contention.

Stanley Mathews one of the best English players not mentioned. Got his team promoted to first division a year before we won the world cup at the age of 52. 

Duncan Edwards most potential.

since gazza ?

donny osmond 17 Jan 14 16:55 Joined: 02 Mar 08 | Topic/replies: 45,719 | Blogger: donny osmond's blog
whats wrong with rooney ?

hes an odious piece of work but a great footballer



Walking around the pitch flapping ya arms and sulking like a kid doesn't qualify as great in my eyes.

maggot 17 Jan 14 16:28 
Scholes was ten times the player that Wilshere is, was, and ever will be.


AMEN

What did Scholes do for England, that say Maradona did for Argentina. He never played beyond the last eight of an international tournament, never made the team of the tournament. OP is right, Gazza is England's best player in the last 20 years.

a certain D. Beckham anyone?

Wilshere is a phenomenal player, only those that watch every Arsenal match know what I mean, the kid's got everything and will no doubt be in contention for man of the tournament in Brazil.

harry2.1 17 Jan 14 19:59 Joined: 05 Apr 10 | Topic/replies: 2,693 | Blogger: harry2.1's blog
What did Scholes do for England, that say Maradona did for Argentina. He never played beyond the last eight of an international tournament, never made the team of the tournament. OP is right, Gazza is England's best player in the last 20 years.

Why is Scholes apparently a worse player than Gascoigne because he didn't "play beyond the last eight of an international tournament" and Gascoigne did?

If Lineker hadn't scored two penalties and Spain hadn't failed to score two penalties, Gascoigne would never had got "played beyond the last eight of an international tournament".

Would that have made him a worse player?

Mick Mills for me

Would`nt argue with the OP.
Reckon collectively/potentially,England could take one of their best ever squads to a World Cup since 90` to Brazil.
Depends how brave W`oy is with the selection process, still some oldies to send out to grass.
It`s about getting the balance right, though the game is especially biased towards pace these days.

mactheknife 17 Jan 14 20:38 Joined: 06 May 03 | Topic/replies: 4,881 | Blogger: mactheknife's blog
Would`nt argue with the OP.
Reckon collectively/potentially,England could take one of their best ever squads to a World Cup since 90` to Brazil.
Depends how brave W`oy is with the selection process, still some oldies to send out to grass.
It`s about getting the balance right, though the game is especially biased towards pace these days.

How many times has that been said,every European championship/World cup. The fact is our coaching system is poor,too many mediocre managers/coaches,frightened of losing their jobs so they stifle players with their bland approach to the game couple that with the usual collection of football pundits bigging our footballers up every Saturday.We are never going to win anything.

Alan Shearer

Still the best centre forward I've seen

How many times has that been said,every European championship/World cup. The fact is our coaching system is poor,too many mediocre managers/coaches,frightened of losing their jobs so they stifle players with their bland approach to the game couple that with the usual collection of football pundits bigging our footballers up every Saturday.We are never going to win anything.
........................................................
Daff,

Its the first time ive thought like that about an England squad for many a year.You need to factor in where the tournament is being played & how other countries have moved on also, but England definitely have an opportunity to come out of this WC with pride.

Mac you're right about one thing,other countries have moved on,England have not imo.Young players are making way for big money signings.
We are not developing our youth enough,players are retiring and walking into big jobs without working their way up the ladder.

Wilshere is a phenomenal player, only those that watch every Arsenal match know what I mean, the kid's got everything and will no doubt be in contention for man of the tournament in Brazil.

Either

a. You're fishing

or

b. You're to be congratulated on an amazing ability to type while confined in a straitjacket.

Wilshire has been unlucky with injuries mind.

wilshire

Gerrard far better than scholes ever was.

wilshere looked the nearest thing ive seen to gazza for a while...runs at defences and commits defenders before laying off the ball...this creates gaps/space/openings...haven't seen much of him this year...think people think he aint what he threatened to be....pre injury...don't knock him ....hope he gets back on track

scholes was great at what he did.....finding a free man...fabulous shot on him...expert at late for a tackle....run at defences to open them up.....no

At last someone who knows what they're talking about AKA black shuck.

Not fishing, he's the best we've got, don't hate, appreciate.

If only we were able to field a British side, we`d rule the world.

Over the years.

Agree with OP re Gascoigne. England not had a player like him since he crocked himself. The most exciting player in an England shirt I have seen.

Imo, at his best Michael Owen is the best world class forward we have had in the last 20 years - name an England forward since who could have scored a goal like he scored against Argentina (or who could have dived as well to win a penalty against them  in a subsequent World Cup match).

Gazza had ability but was a fragile footballer in every respect.
Beckham on the other hand managed to rise to every challenge.
Which was better?
Beckham unless you are a total thundercats retard.

owen when he was a whippet was a great England player....gazza was a threat to any team...when he got booked in the semi...I knew it was over for us...because it was him and the others against the opposition....sad moment in our football history ....but gazza was and still is a legend

I dont rate David Beckham as one of England`s best whatsoever, to me he was a hyped up bigtime charlie, who would & could dominate the set piece.
Take that away from his game & he was no better than many of the young kids trying to make their way today at that level.
Nice enough lad though.

brngtwt 17 Jan 14 23:02
Beckham... managed to rise to every challenge.

Was Gascoigne really all that???

Beckham better than Gascoigne

put gazza and becks on a par with nile ranger...

gazza once scored a canny goal agen the scots,matt le tiss done it on a regular basis.

the best English player by miles was bobby Charlton, weve had some good players , gazza, hoddlee, etc , but sorry beckham rising to every challenge, he scored a free kick that helped put England through to the finals and that really about it,

Pathetic how this has turned into the usual club tribalism with everyone thinking their player's the best.


Anyhoo, Fowler for me. If it wasn't for a couple of terrible injuries that decimated his pace he'd be talked about alongside Romario.

Gascoigne wasn't that good imo.  He could play a bit, but couldn't wasn't a player you could rely on to produce consistently.

World cups since 1990: England squad players who played abroad.
1994    didn't qualify
1998    none
2002    owen hargreaves
2006    david beckham
2006    owen hargreaves
2010    none

I don't think the Premier League is the best in the world.
English players are not in demand abroad.
Beckham went to Real Madrid to sell shirts.

Yes, England have not had and do not have decent players.

English players tend not to move because they command high salaries and transfers, because the English league is rich. Players are reluctant to move because they can pick up the best salaries in a place where they don't have to take the risk adapting culturally and linguistically.

If there haven't been any good English players since Gascoigne then why have so many players won champions leagues? When asked to name an XI of players he'd managed recently why did Ancelotti include Terry and Lampard?

This thread is full of the usual ill-informed cliches, probably from people who have read 'inverting the pyramid' and are now convinced that they know everything there is to know about football.

This thread is full of the usual ill-informed cliches, probably from people who have read 'inverting the pyramid' and are now convinced that they know everything there is to know about football.

.......................................................

And here was me thinking this was just a friendly thread, a few guys throwing around some thought`s/opinions.

There's nothing friendly about it mate, it's deadly serious

The best English player of any era was Greaves.

We had Gazza up at Glasgow Rangers for a few years.
The players & fans took to him really well.
He was a wee it daft & caused a bit of trouble now & then through his high jinks, but he was a grand lad to have around on the whole.

Sergei_Rebrofl     18 Jan 14 12:05 


There's nothing friendly about it mate, it's deadly serious.

...................................................................

You seem to have been offended by this thread in some way Sergei?

Players are reluctant to move because they can pick up the best salaries in a place where they don't have to take the risk adapting culturally and linguistically.


You think these rich Arab and Russian clubs haven't tried to sign them? Course they have.


This thread is full of the usual ill-informed cliches, probably from people who have read 'inverting the pyramid' and are now convinced that they know everything there is to know about football.


You think the JSA scumbags on this forum read

Football is  simple gamethe best English player ever depends upon the era you grew up in, it's like if you asked people when was a forum like this at it's best or most interesting, they will give you the year they first joined, same with football, people will the name the best English player they grew up watching rather that the best player ever because they haven't lived through all the eras I hth.

The best English player will naturally come from the 60s and 70s.
This was when football, world football reached its peak. It could
be compared say to popular music, it has nothing to do with when
someone grew up it was simply better at a certain time.

What about Ian Wright, world class.

Its a strange one lfc, ive not yet reached 50 but well aware that the best teams that Scotland ever produced, Aberdeen apart, were all from that era & full of scot`s players.
The Celtic team that won the European Cup in the 60`s were all from a 25 mile radius of their ground for instance,or something daft like that?

Ian Wright, superb shout, best natural finisher the Premier League has ever seen, yet another English player overlooked by England alongside Le Tissier.

Wright was unfortunate he was around at the same time as some brilliant centre forwards.

At the time we had Shearer, Sheringham, Ferdinand, Fowler, Andy Cole and latterly Michael Owen.

Any three from those seven would be on the plane to Brazil if they were still around.

icantbelieveyousaidthat
17 Jan 14 22:56
Joined:
11 Aug 06
| Topic/replies: 307 | Blogger: icantbelieveyousaidthat's blog
Agree with OP re Gascoigne. England not had a player like him since he crocked himself. The most exciting player in an England shirt I have seen.

Imo, at his best Michael Owen is the best world class forward we have had in the last 20 years - name an England forward since who could have scored a goal like he scored against Argentina (or who could have dived as well to win a penalty against them  in a subsequent World Cup matchGrin)


I find this an interesting post/comment because for me this was the best team i have seen since the gascoigne era and is also why i cannot understand the people ramping beckham as his insane moment in the game cost us the chance of going far in the competition imvho

owen was at his pinnacle at the time and was like a whippet...he didn't just have pace his finishing was also top draw...

beckham himself at the time was also playing very well, however, it just went down as another failure when i think we would of gone on to win the game and owen potentially could of won us the tournament he was so good, anderton at the time was good and the blend of the team top draw...the injuries since are history but is also the reason beckham should never be known as a great

Seaman; G Neville, Adams, Campbell; Anderton (Batty 96), Beckham, Ince, Le Saux (Southgate 70); Scholes (Merson 78); Owen, Shearer.

best team i have seen i might add

gaza will still remain on his own the greatest skill player i have seen from england

Interesting thread.

I too am of the view that we could go to the World Cup with our best squad since Italia 90, but I still feel that Hodgson will place his trust in the older generation of players rather than the youngsters who should be on the pitch from the start of the first game.

There's no doubt in my mind that Gascoigne is the best English footballer I have seen in my life, several levels above anyone we've seen since, including Scholes, Gerrard, Beckham et al. Before the 1991 Cup Final, he was awesome, he had the lot. Phenomenal skill, phenomenal strength, superb vision, the lot. It is a testament to his ability that he could still shine on the biggest stages even on one leg.

I have high hopes for both Wilshere and Barkley though, and I hope Hodgson has the courage to select them in Brazil.

I think Wilshere can be top class, but he's not there yet. His stalled developement over the last couple of years hasn't helped, for whatever reason it has taken place.

I think we would have beaten the 1990 Argentina side.

The BIG problem with leaving out the engine driver is that the train will run off the rails.The young players,who do have skills,will try to play too fast and be careless,giving the ball away.They need somebody to guide them,which was very apparent in some of the friendlies,and yet Frank and Stevie have their best days behind them.Somebody that reads the play well,and can control the midfield,but who?That is a missing link to the chain.

To be honest I think that one or two younger lads like Barkley or Shaw should give the world cup a miss. Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic but I'd rather they were a year or two older and had some more experience before being thrown into the bear pit that is going to a tournament with England, I wouldn't want them to crack under the pressure and **** themselves over.

would rather see us take a load of kids to the world cup, we have no chance and the best thing we can do is give youngsters experience, we cant do any worse than last time and at least younger players have no fear and energy that will be needed out there

since gazza i was struggling to think of a player that when they get the ball you are on the edge of your seat

bale on a good day has it, like le tiss he can just do something amazing but i suspect he'll come back from madrid as damaged goods, owen and rooney for a year or two looked different league, scholes is most likely the best english player for me in the last 20 years, but he wasn't flamboyant just a great box to box midfielder,

just to add to that england best 11 above, stuart pearce would be in my back four, might play lineker ahead of shearer too

felipe toro - completely agree. We aren't gonna win it so lets play shaw, wilshere, townsend, barkley and them

Chris Waddle was one of the best England players IMO.

And he actually got better as he got older. When he had stopped playing international football, i can remember him being brilliant for Sheff Wed.

P.S. =

RIP Bert Williams. An England & Wolves legend & a true gentleman

I would regard gazza as way way lower than decent
Shockingly over weight
Completely unfit could hardly run
Total loose cannon cost England and spurs big time
Dreadful effect on the dressing room wherever he went too blame for  Bryan robson and many others alcohol problems
Made the best  of a few basic tricks would struggle at Doncaster in today's world

wilshere looked the nearest thing ive seen to gazza for a while...runs at defences and commits defenders before laying off the ball

Gascoigne would run at a defence, dribble round 3 of them and tuck the ball into the bottom corner
In those days with Newcastle and Spurs he had it all, unlike dead-ball one trick pony Beckham, Gaza could beat defenders, run the game from midfield, as well as being a brilliant passer and free kick taker. At the time of that FA cup semi-final he was without a doubt the best in the world.

...and no, England haven't had anything like him since.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVMaIUSeRxA

Shearer was better for England than Gazza. Gazza potentially the best ever, but came nowhere near realising his potential. Wilshere - I'm an arsenal fan and have yet to be convinced by the hype. He certainly hasn't shown the talent of a Gazza or Scholes yet imo. Scholes was wasted by manager after manager who seemed to prefer the Gerrard/Lampard combo which never seemed to work.

I never thought Beckham was as good as the media made him out to be but he didn't have to be once he could cross and take free-kicks like that. He'd be one of the first names on the sheet for that alone.

Numerous other 'non-flair' players England have had since Gazza who were more than 'decent' at intl level.
This might be the first WC ever where the media don't build England up for a massive fall. That has always worked against the teams in the past.

I suppose Scholes tackling worked against him for England

Did the fat drunk ever win anything?

beardsley was one of englands greatest, but somehow managed to escape many england squads


beardsley 61
gascoigne 67
waddle  60
shearer 70

4 top players within 10 years or so from within a few miles of each other


not a huge amount since

Jan 20, 2014 -- 8:56PM, jermaine defonebox wrote:

Did the fat drunk ever win anything?

what in the name of ferk is that comment...anyone who saw him in his pomp knows what he was football wise....compared to what we watch in an England shirt now....you are here a lot so football must be your thing...I don't know...maybe you are too young...that can be your only excuse

Best of his generation as voted for by his fellow pros.

An unfit, overweight Gazza was still better than any England player since. Current squad are about  50/1 chance to win.

I've never seen him do much good 
A goal against world power Scotland in a friendly involving dreadful goalkeeping.
Shamed the country getting sent off in w cup and was a disruptive influence where ever he went
Committed one of the worst fouls ever seen.
Honestly can't think of anything any good just the jock goal .  Remind me ?
Just the Ultimate attention seeker .

Disruptive influence? He was loved wherever he went.

sent off in world cup ?

The goal against Scotland wasn't in a friendly

Not doing too well with your facts are you JD

guy's a wind-up merchant

Jermaine is talking sense.

How can you call a player great where by all accounts he was never consisten and never the same player after he broke his leg at an early age ?

Same thing with Cantona, it's a myth, had some great moments but he's more of an image, sticks up his collar, look like your chewing a wasp and sprint 10 yards every now and then to finish off your teammates hard work. Fergie tried it again with Berbaflop but the game had moved on.

A lot of people talking a lot of ah1te on here.....

s

Scored against Scotland? Must of been world class.

A lot of people can't spell sh!te

Gascgoine was the best player in the world in 1990/91 .The Spurs team of the day was full of journeyman - maybe the worst Spurs side ever player for player - and should have been battling relegation but they were up in the Top 4 and won The FA Cup when that was still a big deal.

After that he was injured as often as he played but when he was fit he could still be world class.

That he 'didn't do much' for England was not down to his lack of world class ability . He did play in that comical defeat away to Norway (Hit Les over the top! ) in 1993 but apart from that all England's abject failures in the 1990s happened with Gazza either injured or suspended . Can only think of the Norway game and the Germany semi finals as competitive games England lost when he was in the team . And England lost plenty of important games when he wasn't there.

When he was available for the big games v the big teams he was almost invariably the best player on the pitch: vs Holland and West Germany 1990 WC , and even as late as October 1997 in the Rome qualifier v Italy he dominated midfield . After that he went on an 8 month pub crawl with Danny Baker, Chris Evans and the Fat Bellies bloke and that was that unfortunately .

Depends what you mean by decent player, most posts have focused on attacking players. Ashley Cole has often been mentioned as being in the top 3 in his position, behind  Roberto Carlos and Philip Lahm.
Most creative English players I have seen live, Worthington, Hoddle,Gascoigne, Le Tissier, Keegan and Woodcock.

Players I would loved to have seen live, Cantona, Bergkamp, Henry, Cruyff (not Jordi),Netzer,Klinnsman and Puskas.

I mean booked so couldn't play.    Nearly same
Goal v Scotland not even sure what it was in qualifier home international. But not too important
Best player in world 1990 your tickling my perineum
I repeat what did he win as the best player in the world and did anyone even want him just spurs and they ended up paying .
Very Poor IMO never played a big match when important self imploded and dragged the squad down with him.

Why don't you do some research before posting ? Perhaps you weren't old enough to remember 1996, which would be understandable. Otherwise, you must surely be on the wind up.