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Those who are serial readers of the site will recognise the name Suhail Seedat. He’s the man behind our tactical previews and overall commentary on the current topics surrounding the beautiful game. You can follow him on Twitter: @SuhailSeedat.

Previous Favourite XI: Roger Domeneghetti
Next Favourite XI: Chris Quinn

The formation I’ve chosen is a conventional 4-4-2, Harry Redknapp style.

Apologies to the thousands of players who weren’t chosen, if you are reading [they're not - Ed]. World class players such as Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cryuff and even Gareth Bale aren’t featured.

Goalkeeper: Gigi Buffon

A lot of the players chosen today are based solely on looks and there’s currently no better looking goalkeeper than Juve’s number one. Neville Southall could have contested this but he was a generation or two early for me. Making his debut at the tender age of 17 for Parma, Buffon made his big money move in 2001 to Juventus for a whopping £32m - “all of that for a goalkeeper“, someone from Sky Sports would shout. £32m plus a bit gets you Andy Carroll. For a world class goalkeeper over the last decade, he’s been worth every single penny.

Right-back: Markus Babbel

For a defence, it is essential to get a German in because of their reliability, efficiency and co-ordination. And they always peak in tournaments despite having a bad season. The current Hertha Berlin manager will look back fondly at his time spent in his home city and at Liverpool amassing 15 trophies. His energy, hustle and positioning would make Holger Badstuber blush.

Centre-back: Marcel Desailly

The current ITV pundit was part of perhaps one of the best assembled sides in modern football history. The former Marseille, AC Milan and Chelsea defender was a stalwart during Fabio Capello’s first spell at the San Siro. When he was converted to play in a defensive midfield position, he took to it like a duck to water, demonstrating his application, sheer intensity, brute force and ability to read the game. The Ghanaian won pretty much everything for club and country including the Qatari League in 2005.

Centre-back: Alessandro Nesta

Whilst Desailly may have been one of the best defenders in the 90s using his size, Nesta was and still is one of the most elegant defenders in world football. His grace, poetry and beauty in defending is like watching Roger Federer playing at Centre Court in Wimbledon. He’s not the most cultured on the ball like Franz Beckenbauer, but certainly one who made defending look like an art and effortless. A sense of tranquillity, calmness and a canny knack for the dark arts, Nesta is a joy to watch to this day.

Left-back: Paolo Maldini

The green-eyed Milanista is potentially one of the best defenders to have crossed the white line. His model looks attracted many a fan but it was his model professionalism which had many wooed. Debuting at the age of 16, his impressive career spanned 25 years, during which Maldini won seven Scudetti and five European Cups, to name a few of the medals in his bloated cabinet. One of the most sad things about Maldini’s career was he didn’t get a single international honour despite being in some very good teams, certainly on paper. The Maldinis of this world are few and far between.

Right midfield: Pavel Nedved

A gushing piece by yours truly for a contributor to The Equaliser illustrates my undeniable respect and adulation for one of the most under-rated creative players of the last generation. His long blond hair flapped as he weaved through defences with ease on his dynamite right foot; the Czech was an instrumental part of Lazio, Juventus and one of the most exciting Czech sides in 2004. The Furia Ceca, as he was lovingly nicknamed by the Juve fans, was probably one of the best Eastern European players to have been produced over the last 20 years.

Central midfield: Xavi

The orchestrator. The conductor. The artist. His magic wand of a foot mesmerises and bewilders the opposition into a hallucinogenic state of mind before carving them open like a cerebral mass murderer. There was a period of time where the genius (the word is apt in this case despite its over-use) may have not been what he is today. He was at times sidelined and could have been moved to Manchester United.

Thankfully, by staying at Barcelona Xavi has become a representation of holism and an organic approach as to how football could be run. But, could he do it on a wet Wednesday night in Stoke?

Central midfield: Steven Gerrard

Cometh the hour, cometh Steven Gerrard. One of the most talented players to have not yet won the league in England. His sheer determination and leadership by example has got him into this team. He lacks charisma and the good looks, but bringing Liverpool out of the grave when dead and buried with the flowers and wreath placed in two finals consecutively shows immense character. A sensation of gung-ho, full blooded Britishness.

Left midfield: John Barnes

Some of the youngsters’ memories of Barnes are his rap, presenting Channel 5 football and buying Rafael Scheidt. To Watford and Liverpool fans, he was absolutely majestic. At one point, he was classed as the second best player in the world to Diego Maradona, who is perhaps the greatest ever. Barnes was part of what was one of the most entertaining and exciting sides in English football in the late 80s, starring along with Peter Beardsley and John Aldridge with Kenny Dalglish managing - how Liverpool could do with a Barnes right now.

Tantalising, powerful and extraordinary, the Jamaican-born England international was electric and a proper YouTube player, had it had been invented then.

Striker: Hernan Crespo

One of the cleanest finishers in the game. The Argentine was a right nuisance for the opposition. He wasn’t the archetypal Gary Lineker type who would knock the ball over the line to add to his tally; he had flair, elegance and touch to contribute outside the area. His movement too is a lesson to all budding footballers wanting to ply their trade on the world stage. Credit to him for continuing to play at the top level with Parma but at 35, it’s only a matter of time until he calls it an end to a marvellous career.

Striker: Gabriel Batistuta

His part in bringing the Scudetto to the Olimpico for the first time in 17 years will not be the only memory of Batigol. His power, tenacity and predatory instincts made him one of the excellent archetypal number 9s in world football. On the contrary to his playing style, Batistuta is now a keen player of polo and manages a ranch in Argentina.

Substitutes:

Pepe Reina

Look up Camarero on YouTube and you’ll know why. A flamboyant character and with a bottom the size of a London bus, he definitely makes the squad.

Lilian Thuram

There are very few players who wears glasses, besides Edgar Davids, and he has a look of an Oxbridge graduate which makes him a definite for the squad. A real class act of the game whose versatility would be incredibly handy.

Zinedine Zidane

Some, if not most, reading this would be screaming as to why Zizou fails to make the eleven. It’s because he robbed most of the world of seeing a more graceful exit than headbutting Marco Materazzi, no matter how tempting that sounds. On his day, he made the game look so easy; a pure natural talent.

Lionel Messi

Until he scores in England, he doesn’t make the eleven.

Ronaldo

The original one, not the oily, hot pants wearing one. Seeing Ronaldo weekly on Football Italia was an absolute treat, linking up with Vieri, Zamarano or Recoba, sprinting past defences, looking as phenomenal as Usain Bolt does running the 100m. A true master in the school of goalscoring whose career was cruelly cut short because of injury. His goofy smile will always be remembered.

Tags: Alessandro Nesta, Gabriel Batistuta, Gianluigi Buffon, Hernan Crespo, John Barnes, Lilian Thuram, Lionel Messi, Marcel Desailly, Markus Babbel, Paolo Maldini, Pavel Nedved, Pepe Reina, Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Xavi, Zinedine Zidane