If you could be a footballer, who would you be?

[9 to 5]

To make this less fanboyish, pick one who is/was a player for your own team and someone who wasn't. >_>

Tugay - Just an awesome passer of the ball. Very creative player, a bit how I tried to be in my younger days before I found out all I was really good at was being a fox in the box. Not pacey but knows where to be on the pitch and hits the ball so sweetly. Good for the occasional wonder goal off the volley too. Just a pure Rovers legend.

Paulo Maldini - A pure professional. To play for a top club like AC Milan for so long shows what a player Maldini was to the game. Never caught of postion and just so tough to get away from him. Surprised myself a bit with this choice, but looking at it being a professional like him and playing for 20 years at the top with a top club and being rated so highly is what I would have loved from a career in football personally.

[Liam]

For my team:

Brian McBride - True professional, leads the line well and always gives 110% no matter how we play. The fact that he is still scoring goals in the Premiership at the age of 34 shows that he still can offer something when enough strikers are over the hill.

For another team:

Didier Drogba - It would have been Shearer if he was still around, but Drogba embodies all I like about a striker at the moment, proper crash-bang style forward play, not afraid to put himself about and get stuck in, and when he is on form, he is one of the most dangerous forwards to play against. Sure, he has some attitude problems, but other than that, I just like his style.

[R.W.]

Matt Derbyshire - Quick, good finisher, and a Blackburn lad playing for his hometown team. Just like me, apart from the playing for the hometown team part :-(

From another team:-

David Beckham - I just want the cash to be fair.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Surprisingly, probably Teddy Sheringham. A massive long career, idolised by numerous clubs (including Spurs, Man Utd, Forest, West Ham) and widely recognised as having an excellent football brain.

Also he played for Spurs, then went and won loads of stuff with Man Utd then came back to Spurs again. Whoo.

Also Robbie Keane, purely because he got to play for plenty of teams in early career (Norwich, Inter, Leeds) before going to Spurs in his early twenties and becoming a big fan favourite. I love his drive and determination and the goal against Blackburn last year was just pure class.

I'm counting Sheringham as a Forest or Man Utd player

[ADG]

Dado Prso - The kind of striker I've always liked and I feel every team needs, very much in the Mark Hately mould for Rangers. He's a big physical presence and will always give 110% even after getting his head smashed open. Also great with the ball at his feet, a great player and will be fondly remembered at Rangers.

Paul Scholes - Scholes to me is the best player in the English game. Last season with his injury United looked poor and uninspired at times in the middle of the park, but Scholes always puts in the effort and he is one of the most creative players ever to play in the English league. Never gets the notice he deserves because he doesn't play up to the media, he just does his job.

[AJ]

Ryan Giggs - You don't often see this kind of loyalty in the top flight any more. 16 years and still playing (awesomely, might I add) for Man Utd. Age is seemingly not a factor since he's almost as quick and agile now as he was back then. Unselfish, top class bloke and he scores some http://youtube.com/watch?v=k4CIziU38yYs as well.

Tony Yeboah -

[a. #63]

Juninho Pernambucano - Maybe the best free-kick taker in the world. I just love to watch his game. Also has good skills and vision that makes him a great all-around player to the midfield.

Gennaro Gattuso - The kind of player I'm in my sport. Aggressive, hard worker. Plays for the team all the time. Adds much to defense with his style. Wins balls and makes attacking possible for players around him. And he also makes big money, what I will never do

[Timmoru Suzuki]

From my team:

Phil Jagielka - Is there anything he can't do? His passing is fantastic, he's quick, he doesn't score many, but when he does they tend to be beauties, his tackling is great and he reads the game SO well. That is his best quality IMO. For a recent example, I went to the Fulham game recently, and you just got the sense, Jags could 'see' things before they happened, like Fulham players would be making runs no-one else picked up on, but Jags did and cleared-up.... It was like a sixth sense at times. This isn't always the case, but Jags is the best player we have, and no disrespect to anyone else but its by a fair stretch.

I might be tempted to be Del Geary because that fucker NEVER gives up on anything, he's the dictionary definition of relentless.

As for another team....Wayne Rooney maybe? Say what you want, but you want to be able to play like that. There are others obviously. I'm a huge Solskjaer mark, when he plays!

[IAceI]

Super Kevin Phillips. I'll use Kev as my teams player I guess since that's what he's remembered for.

Awesome finisher, great speed, good history, quality player.

Jermaine Defoe

Clinical finisher, pacey, hot wife.

Edited February 14, 2007 by IAceI

[stokeriño]

Gianfranco Zola - First off, I was nicknamed Zola for YEARS because I looked so much like him. Second of all, I have never come across a more professional, more talented player in any team ever. The Little Italian Wizard is simply king.

Tony Adams - Just...because. I was always a defender when I played at school.

[Buford Ripley]

Dennis Bergkamp - Just a sublime player and one of the best to wear an Arsenal shirt.

Diego Maradona - No matter how much of a fat arse he is now he knew how to play with the ball at his feet.

[Iain76er]

George Best.

[Farmer Reil]

From my team: Craig Disley. He's just one of those players that gets on with the job. He doesn't complain, he doesn't throw a hissfit every time he's not picked (unlike someone I used to like ), and he can play anywhere in midfield pretty much. He's nothing spectacular, but he's one of those players who you can rely on to not be shit.

From other teams: I was going to pick Gattuso, but since someone else did, I'll go with Andrea Pirlo. He's a bit like an improved, upgraded version of Craig Disley really. A box-to-box player, Sitting in front the defence (although he can play anywhere in midfield equally well), making sure danger is removed, and setting up scoring opportunities, as well as scoring his own goals from 400 miles away.

[Guest Ringu]

Robbie Keane. I love the way he plays and I love the guy himself based on the interviews I've read with him. Just awesome.

David Beckham Money and women throwing themselves at you really.

[Hajjhowe]

David Beckham. I could still live here, get boatloads of cash, and a smoking hot wife.

Plus I'd have all of whatever accomplishments he had before.

[Turbo Yannis]

John Terry

Amazing player and seems like a nice bloke

Jan Koller

So I could look down on people, literally.

Wait, Victoria Beckham? Smoking hot?

Edited February 15, 2007 by Turbonegro

[hailstonehoward]

tony yeboah - the man the legend!

[NobBe Nobbs]

tony yeboah - the man the legend!

[Hajjhowe]

I changed my mind, I would want to be Tomasz Radzinski.

[marksbros6]

From the Spurs:

David Ginola-Fantastic with the ball at his feet, loved by the crowd, women throwing themselves at you, legendary hair....

From any other team:

Stuart Pearce-Embodies everything good about playing for England. Today's team could do well to have a modicum of his fire and passion for the National Team.