Central Midfield: Patrick Vieira
Another player from Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ side, the tough-tackling French midfielder, Patrick Vieira, brings energy, leadership and tenacity to the midfield. The leggy Frenchman was at the heart of the Arsenal midfield for nine seasons in which he won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.
Vieira was known for his physical style of play and all-round defensive prowess; he had the bite and hard-tackling to ruffle his opponents, break down play and win the ball back for the Gunners. The midfielder even scored 34 goals in 279 appearances for Arsenal and captained the side from 2002 to 2005. He was the captain in their unbeaten 2003-04 Premier League winning season and remains one of the Gunners’ best midfield generals of all time.
Central Midfield: Lothar Matthaus
The midfield dynamo, Lothar Matthaus, is a German and Bayern Munich legend. He was Munich’s midfield engine from 1984-88 and then again from 1992-2000. He spent 14 years at the Munich club across two spells in which he won seven Bundesliga titles, but he didn’t win the UEFA Champions League despite reaching the finals twice, most famously losing to Manchester United in 1999. Matthaus was known for his passing range, timing of tackles and a powerful shot – complete box-to-box midfielder.
Nicknamed ‘Der Panzer’ after the German Panzer tanks, Matthaus’ staggering record for the German national team speaks for itself. He holds the record for most ever appearances for Germany with 150 caps scoring 26 goals, and also has the most ever appearances in World Cups by any player (25). He lifted the 1990 FIFA World Cup as the captain of Germany after losing in the final twice, in 1982 and 1986.
Der Panzer won the Ballon d’Or in 1990 and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1991 and remains the only German to ever win the latter. Matthaus was also included in the FIFA 100 Greatest Players to Have Ever Played the Game at No. 31. Diego Maradona famously wrote in his autobiography that Matthaus was, “the best rival I've ever had”.
Central Midfield: Michael Ballack
There is an ever lasting debate as to who was the better player between Stefan Effenberg, Michael Ballack or Bastian Schweinsteiger. In this list, Michael Ballack edges it over the other two accomplished midfielders. The reason for the inclusion of the former Bayern Munich and Chelsea midfielder in this all-time combined XI is his all-round play and influence on the pitch, but most importantly, his goals.
The German midfielder made his name at Kaiserslautern and Bayer Leverkusen, and then played for Bayern Munich for four seasons between 2002-2006, scoring 62 goals in 157 appearances for the Munich club. Schweinsteiger scored 68 goals for Bayern but those goals came in 500 appearances, while Effenberg scored only 16 in his 4 seasons with the club.
Ballack was an imposing midfield presence who was well known for his great passing range, commanding game-play, heading ability, physical strength and powerful shot. He won three Bundesliga titles in his four seasons with Bayern Munich. For the German national side, Ballack won 98 caps scoring 42 goals for Die Mannschaft, however, he did not win the World Cup in 2002 after he famously missed the final against Brazil due to a booking in the semi-final.
He also captained Germany to third place in the 2006 World Cup after being eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Italy. He was also included in the FIFA 100 list that cemented Ballack as an all-time great.
