One City. Two Teams. United In Dominance: How Would a Manchester XI Fair against a Rest of England XI? Part 2

There is a very 'London' feel to the Rest of England XI. 

Just to recap, this is the All Manchester XI which will be facing up to the Rest Of England XI:


Starting XI: Joe Hart, Rafael Da Silva, Vincent Kompany, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Nani, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko, Wayne Rooney


SUBS: David De Gea, Micah Richards, Javier Hernandez, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero, Antonio Valencia, Rio Ferdinand, Nigel De Jong


Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson


Now we can start examining the best of the Rest of the England:


Goalkeeper:


Jose Manuel Reina: This would by far be the most difficult position from which to pick one clear better player. The competition is high amongst Liverpool's Jose Manuel Reina, Chelsea's Petr Cech and Tottenham's Brad Freidel. Both Reina and Cech can right fully claim to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world let alone England so it came down to very fine lines when choosing the better player over the past years. Looking at the respective defensive records of Liverpool and Chelsea over the past years, we see that while Cech has conceded just 83 goals over the past 3 seasons, Pepe Reina has let in 103. A 20 goal difference might seem quite large but there are reasons, first being that Cech has had a few injury problems over the 3 year period being considered and therefore has played less games than Reina (105 and 118 respectively) and also that Cech has had a much better defence and manager alongside him during the same time. 


Considering all factors, including the eccentricity of Reina and the vunreability Cech shows gathering aerial balls, I would have to pick the Liverpool keeper. He has shown more consistency in his performance and even during a period of turmoil and injuries within his defence has managed to keep a rate of conceding less then 1 goal a game. 


Defenders:

After tremendous performances over the seasons, Hangeland is a surprising yet deserving entry.

Bakary Sagna: Much has been made of how poor Arsenal's defence has been. Compared to the days of Seaman,Adams, Keown, Dixon and Winterburn, the defence these days seems to be a disgrace. Little blame for the porous defence goes into the hands of their right back Bakary Sagna though and for good reason. Even with his defenders conceding poor goals around him, Sagna has still managed to go through season after season with consistently good performances making him by far the best right back in England. When he first came to England, much of the praise was put towards his performances in attack but over the years, like every good player, he has developed his defensive game meaning that he can cover himself in glory on both ends of the pitch.


John Terry: An obvious choice. Mr. Chelsea, 'Brave' John Terry, whatever you want to call him, John Terry has been a leader like few others in the league. Besides the leadership shown since he became captain in 2004 at the age of 23, his quality is above all others except a worthy few. As explained above when talking about Petr Cech and his record for Chelsea, The Blues have had a tremendous defensive record with the former England captain at the back. 78 goals in 104 appearances over the past 3 seasons to be precise. Virtually unbeatable in the air and stronger then most strikers in the challenge, Terry's weakness over the years has been his ever decreasing speed but considering that Chelsea have still managed one of the best defensive records in the league for the past 3 seasons, it can only be said that Terry is still managing quite well. 


Brende Hangeland: The position alongside Terry was always going to be a contentious one. While Liverpool's Daniel Agger and Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen seem to have the quality above the other contenders, their persistent injury problems over the past seasons means they can not be considered starters in similar vain to Rio Ferdinand not being in the starting line-up for the All Manchester XI despite being arguably the best defender in England when playing. 


The position therefore goes to Fulham's Brende Hangeland who has quite clearly shown in recent seasons that he belongs at a much better club than Fulham. Interest from Arsenal has been profound but Fulham have remained vigilant in their effort to keep the Nordic defender amongst their ranks. Hangeland has been an ever present rock in Fulham's very impressive defence, especially during the years of Roy Hodgson where Fulham were notoriously difficult to break down (84 goals conceded in 84 matches). Similar in playing style to John Terry, Hangeland presents a powerful opponent in defence and a goalscoring threat at set-pieces as his 6 goals scored last season indicates. A winner over Gary Cahill, Christopher Samba, Martin Skrtel and Phil Jageilka. 


Ashley Cole: Another member of Chelsea's defensive juggernaut, Ashley Cole might've been pipped by Everton's Leighton Baines for the title of 'Best LB in the EPL' but Cole's performances in seasons past have been unparalleled. Not only consistency but quality as seen him being regularly given the title of 'Best LB In The World' so its not a difficult decision to put him in this squad. 


Midfielders:

Tottenham's Modric and Parker will look to dominate the center of the park.

Dirk Kuyt: In a superfluous footballing world, its easy not to appreciate the players like Dirk KuytKuyt has suffered from this mentality from football neutrals over years of fantastic productivity. 38 goals and 20 assists over the past 3 seasons is a record few can match and with the added effort Kuyt brings towards the defensive side of Liverpool's game, his impact in matches becomes even greater. Its not surprising then when you think that throughout the three years of turmoil and change within Liverpool, Kuyt has been one of the few players, alongside Gerrard and Reina who are rated as the best within the club, to be consistently starting and performing. 


Scott Parker: Its often difficult for a player from a mediocre club to be given the recognition he truly deserves, it usually takes a move to a big club challenging for titles for that to happen. Scott Parker broke those boundaries after his tremendous performances for West Ham last season, albeit performances failed to keep his side in the Premier League. A player constantly one move away from being considered one of the best in the league, Parker's career took a nose dive after his failed move to Chelsea early in his career and since then has embarked on a trek to reach the heights he was never given the opportunity to reach. A player shunned by England managers time and time again in favour of the partnership of Gerrard and Lampard in midfield, Parker has recently been inducted into the side and his performances leave one to wonder how different England's fortunes would've been had he be given a greater role. At 30, Parker is arguably at his peak and his move to Tottenham could resurrect his sides chances of a Top 4 finish. 


Luka Modric: Scott Parker's partner at Tottenham will also be by his side for this team as Luka Modric joins Terry and A.Cole as the automatic selections in this side. Coming into England, much was made about his short statue and whether he'd pass the old cliche question if he was strong enough for the league, a question even more ridiculous when considering the impact of past players like Juninho, Zola and Scholes. Modric settled into the league quickly but as a LM rather than the playmaker he was made out to be. After starting as a CAM, working his way to LM, Modric's fantastic passing ability now finds him as arguably the Premier League's best, and most sought after, CM. Fitting perfectly in either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formation, Modric was the key player in Tottenham's surge towards the 4th spot in 2009/10. After failing to get his transfer wish to Chelsea this season, one would wonder how Modric's mentality will be coming into the new season but whatever the case, his quality is not to be doubted. 


Juan Mata: In the Manchester XI, we had two signings from Spain as part of the starting line-up while Aguero was part of the bench. Juan Mata is another big signing from Spain and like the others mentioned, has shown no problems in settling into his new team, Chelsea, and has looked to add a lot of pace and creativity to an old, slow and lethargic attack. A very versatile player capable of playing on either wing, in the center of midfield or as a striker, Mata's would fit into any formation Villas Boas will look to settle on. Playing as a left winger mostly for Valencia, Mata's main strength was his explosive speed, technique and scoring ability (46 goals in 176 matches). Though he is new to the Premier League, he already looks class and his performances for the past seasons with Valencia warrant his place in the squad. 


Strikers:

Drogba and Van Persie make the perfect striking partnership, on paper.

Robin Van Persie:  He came as a relative unknown, shot to fame, had the expectations to be the new 'Denis Bergkamp' but now with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri gone from Arsenal, Robin Van Perise has by far the most pressure on his shoulders to succeed. Eventhough it is expected that Arsenal will have a tough time getting into the Top 4 this season, that doesn't mean that the pressure to get into the Champions League is of their shoulders, especially that of Van Persie who is now the captain and offensive lynchpin of the side. Injuries have been a dark side to his game but there is no doubting his immense quality, one of the most gifted strikers on the ball, his finishing ability is up there with the best, be is inside or outside the box. 


Didier Drogba: One look at Drogba sends shivers down the spines of many strikers, standing at 6 foot 3, he might be shorter then Peter Crouch but his pure physique is what sets him apart from other tall strikers. Drogba came into the league with a reputation of being a dominating center forward but it was clear that he needed to bulk up and bulk up he did over the years, after initially struggling with the expectations due to his price tag and the pace of the league, Drogba solidified his status as one of the England's best strikers in 2006 but it wasn't till 2009 that Drogba upgraded that title to one of the World's best with an amazing season of not only 29 EPL goals but 10 assists as well. Drogba has evolved his game as his Chelsea career has gone on. From being a goalscoring target man, Drogba has improved his technical game and is now much more involved with the creating goals as much as he is in scoring them.


Bench: Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Leighton Baines, Charles N'Zogbia, Frank Lampard, Darren Bent, Luis Suarez.


Manager: David Moyes

Eventhough there is only one Everton player in the squad, who is on the bench, David Moyes is undoubtely the best manager in the league outside Manchester. Arsene Wenger might seem a dead-on choice but the fact that he has failed to win a trophy since 2005 and with the continued deterioration of his squad since then means that he can not be placed on the same pedestal he was 3-4 years back. David Moyes on the other hand has worked wonders with one of the smallest budgets in the League, culminated by the fact that Everton have not permanently signed a player for over a year (2 years if you do not include free signings). Still, he has managed to not only keep them afloat in the league but also maintain their status as a top 8 team. 


Tactics:

A 4-2-2-2 with a lot of movement amongst the front 4 due to players like Kuyt, Van Persie and Mata

Similar to the Manchester XI, the Rest of England XI will have a 4-2-2-2. With Terry and Hangeland's both lack of speed, playing a high line would be highly discouraged. That being said, the defending ability of both should not be doubted and therefore with a the protection of Parker in front of them and the wing backs, there should be much of a problem if a slightly deep back-line is adopted. Ashley Cole and Bakary Sagna would provide width with their attack forays as both Mata and Kuyt would have tendencies to cut in and get on the score sheet. 


With the deep line and the firepower upfront, there has to be a link between the two and Modric is the perfect man for that role, playing as a deep playmaker, he can collect the ball from the defenders and distribute it to the flanks with accuracy and with pace in order to set counter attacks. Parker will sit alongside him in a deeper position to protect the back four. Mata and Kuyt, both comfortable either on the wings or in central positions, will be wingers on paper but will have the license to cut in if they need to do so to increase the goal scoring chances, the switching of position will be done in uni-sense with Van Persie occupying one of the flank roles. Drogba will maintain a central position to be in position to finish any crosses or passes that come through into the box, with Van Persie, Modric and Mata all great at creating chances, the number of chances shouldn't be a problem.