As promised, here is some information on some of the less commonly drafted players in my team.
Gary Bailey - For eight consecutive seasons at Manchester United (78/79-85/86) Bailey made at least 30 appearances for Manchester United keeping 161 clean sheets in 375 appearances. He also won 2 England caps which given the English GK's available in this era including Shilton and Clemence is impressive as is his being included consistently as an overage player in the England under 21's side (
Source). He picked up a major injury which largely ended his career in Europe at the 1986 World Cup when he was only 27 (which is young for a GK). Even when United conceded a lot of goals he still played well such as in a 6-0 loss to Ipswich where he was at fault for none of the goals and saved 3 penalties (
Source) or a 5-3 loss to West Brom where he was man of the match (
Source). In 2012 Peter Schmeichel included Bailey in a list of his 5 favourite GK's of all time to watch (when changed to best he swapped him out for one of Peter Shilton, Sepp Maier, Neville Southall, Dino Zoff and Manuel Neuer) (
Source).
Henning Berg - Henning Berg played regularly for four seasons at Blackburn from 1993-97 (where Blackburn finished 2nd in 93/94, 1st in 94/95, 7th in 95/96 and 13th in 96/97) before spending 3 seasons at United between 1997 and 2000. During this period Berg played as both a CB and a RB. As a CB he is described in
this post on Pes Miti del Calcio by Interista93 as follows "he showed strength, playing with intelligence and composure, making fierce tackles and being excellent at anticipating the ball especially with the head."
Gordon McQueen - Gordon McQueen was a Scottish CB who won 30 caps between 1974 and 1981 (While playing for Leeds and Manchester United) and was included in the PFA Team of the Year for Division 1 in both the 1974/75 Season and the 1977/78 Season. McQueen was inducted into the Scottish football hall of fame in 2012 which was a year earlier than Martin Buchan was. When he moved to Manchester United from Leeds in February 1978 it was for a then British record transfer fee of 495,000 pounds. McQueen was tall (1.91 metres) and strong in the air. On his death in 2023, Bryan Robson described McQueen as "one of the best centre-backs I had the privilege of playing with" (
Source) and that "He was strong and brave, and ahead of his times in being a defender who could play out from the back and contribute as much in attack as he did in defence" (
Source).
Noel Cantwell - Noel Cantwell was an Irish LB who after signing for Manchester United in 1960 spent 7 years at the club winning 2 league titles and an FA Cup. When playing at West Ham prior to signing for Manchester United he was one of the three mentors that Bobby Moore had (
Source). When referring to Cantwell Bobby Charlton stated that "...sometimes the quality of his playing ability was overlooked, but he was a defender of considerable class, strong on the left side and with a very nice touch" (
Source). In a 2005 obituary, journalist Brian Glanville described Cantwell as follows:
Essentially a left-back, though versatile enough in the years after he had moved, in season 1960-61, to represent Ireland at centre-forward, Cantwell was a strong header of the ball, an excellent positional player and, those were the days before the four-man defence and the overlapping full back, always eager to move upfield and have a crack at goal. He scored 16 League goals for West Ham, and another 19 for Manchester United.
Source
Sofyan Amrabat - Sofyan Amrabat is a Moroccan Defensive Midfielder who currently at the age of 27 has won 55 caps for Morocco. Amrabat was included in the CAF team of the year in 2023 and the IFFHS Africa team of the Year in 2022 as well as being chosen by Gazzetta dello Sport as the best African Player in Serie A for the 2019/20 season. He was included in numerous teams of the tournament for the 2022 World Cup including by The Guardian, Kicker, and L'Equipe. At that tournament he has the most possessions won and recoveries in the defensive third by any midfielder at the 2022 World Cup (
Source). At Fiorentina (where he has played from 2020 to 2023), Amrabat passes a lot and passes accurately (
Source). In those 3 seasons, Amrabat had pass completion rates of 87.8%, 90.1% and 88.8% (
Source).
Johnny Giles - Johnny Giles was an Irish midfielder who was a key part of the great Leeds team of the late 1960's and early 1970's and was chosen by the Republic of Ireland as it's golden player of the previous 50 years at the UEFA jubilee awards in 2004 (over the likes of Roy Keane, Paul McGrath, Denis Irwin and Liam Brady). Giles was included in the PFA 1st division team of the year in 1973/74 (the first season in which the PFA chose such teams). Giles formed a great partnership with Billy Bremner at Leeds with Giles being more of a creator and Bremner more of a ball winner but both were capable of doing the other task. Chris Kamara described Giles as follows:
“Not only was [John Giles] strong but he could see a pass that was in another world – the vision – and he would land it on a sixpence for the players in front of him.
“And Billy was his little combative midfield player alongside him but Johnny had that vision and passing ability that was something else. He could see in the dark.
“He was my all-time favourite domestic player but I would have to say Pele was my favourite player.
Source
