Wednesday 30 September 2015 16:30, UK
Former Manchester United and Netherlands defender Jaap Stam picked his #One2Eleven on The Fantasy Football Club this week.
The centre-back won the treble during his time at Old Trafford, but admitted he struggled to leave out the likes of David Beckham from his final squad.
With World Cup winners and a host of legends to choose from, he found it tough going to settle on a final XI, but here’s who he went with…
GOALKEEPER: Edwin van der Sar
Peter Schmeichel was in my mind as well because I played with him at United – he was very important for us, a world-class goalie. But Edwin is a typical Dutch goalie – very strong, good feet on the ball. He always knows the solution of where to pass it, so that’s why I picked him as well.
RIGHT-BACK: Cafu
I played with him at AC Milan. He’s the type of full-back we like in Holland, as well. He would take the initiative go and attack, but also come back as quick as he can to defend as well. He’s a great person as well. Of course, he played with the national team, won World Cups, and was outstanding for years and years. It was an easy pick, that one.
CENTRE-BACK: Jaap Stam
Of course I picked myself – I want to be in the team! People in England know my qualities and what I can do, and I played a lot of times with my left central defender partner…
CENTRE-BACK: Alessandro Nesta
What we say is, everybody speaks the same language on the pitch. When you play with experienced players who play at a very high level, sometimes you don’t need to say what the other one has to do. From the start it went quite well, so we formed a very good team in the centre of the defence.
LEFT-BACK: Paolo Maldini
A lot of experience – very good with young players, helping them out when they joined the team. A great person as well – a very nice person to work with.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Roy Keane
He’s the type of player who pushes everybody and keeps everybody sharp in what they need to do. He plays very simple, and it looks very easy when you see him play, but he’s so important for the team.
RIGHT MIDFIELD: Clarence Seedorf
I picked him not because he’s a fellow Dutchman, but because his qualities are great. He’s very strong on the ball, and he’s also got the stamina to go up and down the pitch. He’s very good at playing one-twos in possession and he’s got the capability to score goals as well.
LEFT MIDFIELD: Paul Scholes
I think he’s one of the most underestimated players in the world when he played. I always said ‘if there’s one player who can play easily with Barcelona, playing in small spaces, then it’s Paul Scholes’. Maybe it’s because he didn’t like the press, all the attention, but if you see him play it looks so easy.
RIGHT FORWARD: Dennis Bergkamp
He’s a world-class player – you see his skills, what he can do in a very small area. In England we know him very well, but in Holland for the national team and for Dutch football he’s been very important as well, because he stands for the football that we want to play.
CENTRE FORWARD: Ronaldo
I played with him at PSV Eindhoven – he was very young at that time but you could already see he was going to be a world-class player. When he was 17 or 18 years old he said ‘next season I’m going to be scoring 30-odd goals’, and he did.
LEFT FORWARD: Ryan Giggs
I’ve picked Giggs, and not just because of his goal against Arsenal in the semi-final and all his chest hair! When I joined United and saw him playing, it looked so easy as well. When he’d get past players his crosses were almost spot on every time. A player who can score goals as well.
