Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) One of the best, as the World Cup showed. My favourite memory comes from his time at Parma when he saved an important penalty. He immediately ran around the back of the goal to celebrate with the fans, even though the ball had not gone out of play! ‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘this lad is special, if not mad’
Centre-back: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) A ball-playing defender, Rio is the complete player. On his day, he has everything you would want: strength, pace and consistency. Off the field, he is a character. In the make-up of a decent squad, you need somebody like that
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Centre-back: Sol Campbell (Portsmouth) Sol is a rock. Granted, he does not have the same flair as Rio, but he instils enormous confidence. Before this year’s World Cup, he had played every minute of the past four international tournaments for England — what pedigree that is. Now he is at Portsmouth, I am expecting a few clean sheets this season
Centre-back: John Terry (Chelsea, captain) To complete my defence, I need JT — nobody would get past it. Strong, brave and an incredible blocker, no wonder he was chosen as England captain. Stevie G speaks with his feet; JT is a better communicator and is in the best position on the pitch to orchestrate everything
Right wingback: Javier Zanetti (Internazionale) Ah, the one with the monster thighs. Zanetti has a tremendous engine and could run up and down the right flank all day. A bad player does not win a century of caps for Argentina
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Centre midfield: David Beckham (Real Madrid) The first time I met Becks, he was on the training pitch, clipping balls on to the top of the crossbar. ‘Who does he think he is, showing off?’ Gradually, I realised he was just practising and it was this determination that made him so good. Is he more celebrity than substance? At his best, he was not
Centre midfield: Paul Scholes (Manchester United) At the 2002 World Cup the rumour was that Scholes had the chance to join a big Italian club. He was not interested. He is an honest, possibly underrated guy who loves his life and club. When United were at their peak, Scholes was brilliant, perfecting the art of running late into the penalty area
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Centre midfield: Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) Controversial midfield, I know, given my Liverpool connections, but you have to admire United. During my time at Anfield they had a work ethic we did not. For the past 15 years Giggs has epitomised this, and you have to respect his loyalty, which probably sounds strange from somebody who is at his sixth club!
Left wingback: Ashley Cole (Chelsea) You can understand why Chelsea wanted him. In such a demanding position, he has the ability to break forward and defend in equal measure. A good team man and a funny guy when he needs to be
Centre-forward: Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) I had better put him in, otherwise he would tell me off. Robbie at his best was an awesome player: accurate, good with both feet and brilliant predatory instincts
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Centre-forward: Michael Owen (Newcastle United) He has this annoying habit of scoring against me. Frequently. He did it last season, toe-poking the winner for his first goal at St James’ Park. Yes, the injuries have hindered him, but he has the intelligence, as he gets older, to adapt and improve his game
David James is a judge for One Love, an Umbro-sponsored football art prize (Dec 2-March 25, The Lowry, Manchester). For details, visit www.parkerharris.co.uk