I think it was Bergkamp. But anyway Ven der Sar usually has 1-3 such assists every season (one of our latest matches saw one of our center forwards missing such a golden opportunity).

I do think you're a bit harsh on Alumbrado. After all it was with Shilton that England missed some of their qualifictions (a perfect "save" against Poland) and he figures in some of the best moments in football. The rush of Maradonna against England in '86 and the hattrick of Van Basten in '88 spring to mind

I wasn't really referring to the influx of non-homegrown talent regarding my comment about Sky, rather the fact that the amount of money pumped into the game seems to have changed the way players actually play, i.e they don't seem to actually enjoy themselves any more, and have become increasingly driven by greed alone, and not a love of the game or loyalty to clubs, etc.  Plus it's also getting more and more expensive to be a viewing fan in this country, as subscription prices rise constantly, plus you then have the pay-per-view games as well.....I used to subscribe to Sky about a decade ago, and had a few years of enjoyment from it, but despite the coverage being much better than BBC and ITV and despite the attraction of overseas talent (which in turn increased the level of skill in the league) I feel that money has become the deciding factor in too many areas of the game, and many of the smaller clubs are feeling this acutely whilst those at the top are simply getting richer.  As I mentioned, I'm not an avid viewer or fan these days, and that means I'm unable to provide a solid argument in support of my comment, but my feeling remains, even if I can't fully substantiate it.  Maybe there's also something wrong for those parents who can't afford to pay for Sky for their football-mad kids to watch their heroes, or can't afford every new football strip that appears, season in, season out.  I guess this could turn into a whinge about consumerism if I carry on, so it's time to quit, and allow the thread to return to something more upbeat, ie, who WILL win the Premiership this season?  Beats me.

Well, speak for yourself.  I was being quite serious when I said that Oxford United would come out of nowhere and win the FA Cup...

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It is becoming increasingly difficult to take this thread seriously ... I mean, nobody's even mentioned John Burridge yet ...

Actually, not to take anything away from England's international players--I think Lampard, Terry, and Gerrard are absolutely world class (again, a shame for England that Lampard and Gerrard effectively play the same position)--but as good as England looks, they're not especially deep.  Sven Goran Eriksson has a relatively easy job picking his starting XI.  There are some obvious choices, and after that...

Wayne Rooney is fun to watch because he's strong as an ox and fearless.  He runs at people, which--having played sweeper near the professional level--is positively terrifying and more effective than you might think if the player is big, strong, and coming fast.  I'm sure it will provoke tons of contempt, but Owen has never impressed me that much.  He's very fast and a decent finisher (nice qualities, rarely combined), but he can look pretty pedestrian if you limit his space.  He's not strong enough to battle the way Rooney does.  And I've never been a Beckham fan.  Take away the bad press (and the Mars bars) and Paul Gascoigne was twice the player.  Beckham is very talented, but I must admit I never saw more than flashes of why he's one of the most famous players on the planet (must be the looks...).

Grobbelaar was a lot of fun to watch (a former Vancouver Whitecap along with Peter Beardsley) as was Neville Southall.  Throw Pat Bonner onto the list (he was at Celtic), and Shilton was barely in the top five during the 1980s.  I liked Clemence, too.

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I don't understand that.  Sky brought more money into the game and revolutionised the way it was covered on TV.  The only reason I worry about the cricket is that Channel 4 have done such an excellent job with it (although they still have an annoying habit of combining it with horse-racing coverage) that I am not sure how Sky can make it any better.

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I got some tapes from those old days (1966 final is recoloured ), quite nice to watch.
Schmeichel is indeed also a very good one, though my absolute personal favourite keeper (not qualitywise) is Grobbelaer. The minute he stopped playing for Liverpool they became boring.

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Yep I see Shilton keeping a clean sheet in two major finals (europa cup 1 and euro cup) in the same year, with a penalty included
Shilton was a good goalie, but not a super one. Ie no person from outside the UK, would list him with say Banks, Zoff, Maier or Yashin.