Tim Sherwood's World Cup best XI

• 1/11 Goalkeeper - Manuel Neuer  (Germany)

  Quite simply, he’s the best. The presence he brings to bear is a big factor. You never see him making those kind of saves that goalkeepers make for the benefit of the cameraman. You know the type, two feet off the ground when the moment doesn’t really require it. He does what he needs to do and no more. He makes himself big in one v one situations. And he is a great sweeper. Any through balls, he just deals with them. He’s got fantastic feet. He’s a winner. I read that he has played a lot of games from a young age at Schalke. It is a great advantage. That’s the problem with English keepers: they don’t play at the top level enough. Our best keeper had to go out on loan to get his chance.

• 2/11 Right-back - Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina)

  He plays a bit more conservatively for Argentina than he does for Manchester City but he has still been excellent. Against Tottenham last season he was relentless. It was the 85th minute, they were winning 4-1 and he was still flying down the wing. I was in the technical area wondering whether I should stick my foot out and try to tackle him myself. He’s a great competitor. You never hear any players in the English game criticise him. He is very well-regarded by his fellow pros. There are no histrionics from him. He doesn’t throw himself on the ground. If he gets kicked he picks himself up. If he kicks someone else he picks them up. Everyone would want him on their team. 

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• 3/11 Centre-back - Ezequiel Garay (Argentina)

  We came up against him twice last season at Tottenham when he was playing for Benfica and I notice that Andre Villas-Boas has just signed him at Zenit St Petersburg. That doesn’t surprise me. Garay is a fantastic defender who is always a threat at set pieces. Best of all, he just doesn’t leave anything to chance. He never tries to play his way out of trouble. If he feels he might give the ball away he knocks it into the stand. Too many people judge defenders on what they do when they get the ball. How about just defending? We suffered last season at Spurs from individual errors. I would tell the defenders that no one was going to criticise them if they didn’t Cruyff-turn someone on the edge of their area. Garay is a classic defender.

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• 4/11 Centre-back - Mats Hummels (Germany)

  He is in a similar mould to Garay. Thiago Silva just misses out. It showed against Germany just how much Brazil miss him when he does not play. Hummels is a big lad who is a threat at set pieces. Germany play a high line with defenders who aren’t great runners. Hummels’ biggest asset is not pace, it is the way he reads the game. He knows when to play and when to knock it. When the ball comes into the area he has a happy knack of getting his head on it. He’s always there. It will be more difficult against Argentina because he will not have a typical striker to mark. Centre-halves don’t like that.

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• 5/11 Left-back - Marcos Rojo (Argentina)

  There is a shortage of left-backs who can really defend. Rojo is from the old school. He defends, he stops crosses, he holds his position and he knows when to cover his centre-backs. He doesn’t want to play like a winger, like modern full-backs in general. Rojo reminds me of Stuart Pearce – the size of a centre-half but a really good, dogged left-back. When asked, he can go on the overlap but his priority is to defend and he does it really well. It will have to be a big performance from him against Germany in the final but he is perfect for the way that Argentina play.

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• 6/11 Midfield - Toni Kroos (Germany)

  Like many of the Bayern Munich players, he can operate anywhere. He can do it as an attacking midfielder, a sitting midfielder. His range of passing, long or short, is excellent, and he can score goals off both sides. I think the best player in that position, with that kind of versatility, has been Xabi Alonso over recent years but Kroos is right up there too. The important thing about players like him is that they link the play from back to front. Defenders feel comfortable giving them the ball. They know when to slow the game down and when to speed it up. They don’t have to fly into tackles because most of the time they are able to read the game well enough that they can intercept it.

• 7/11 Midfield - Paul Pogba (France)

  He will be one of the best players in Europe if he is prepared to learn and develop. He is still growing as a player and I don’t know him as a character but I hope he keeps his feet on the ground. He can do so much. He has great pace which means he can get to people and win the ball. He can break forward into the box and he has incredible energy. He’s still making bursts forward late in the game. As well as breaking the game up, he is capable of carrying the ball forward. He can pick it up and run with it between the lines.

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• 8/11 Midfield - Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

  He has been such a threat throughout in Brazil. We know what he’s going to do, cut in off the right, but it’s stopping him that’s hard. He stretches teams and allows the No 10 space. His running without the ball is clever. Most of all he has simply been one of the most exciting players to watch. As well as his attacking, Robben tracks back well. When he gets a chance he’s a cool finisher. As for the diving, he’s admitted that he has a problem at times. But if he’s on your team and winning penalties, no one worries about it. It’s always been that way. We complain about opponents doing it but, secretly, we are not that critical of our own when they do.

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• 9/11 Attack - Thomas Müller (Germany)

  My player of the tournament. Not everyone seems to get him. Maybe it’s because he’s gangly, wears his shin pads low and his socks down. Look at what he contributes. I wonder if Pep Guardiola had doubts about him before he took over at Bayern. But technically he’s brilliant and his running without the ball is better than anyone’s. His energy is incredible and he can finish. He scores goals and he assists. He can play anywhere up front, he’s wholehearted. You can see how much he wants to be top goalscorer. I know that youngsters love watching Neymar and Ronaldo but if I was in their position I would be studying what Müller does. He affects games all the time.

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• 10/11 Attack - Lionel Messi (Argentina)

  He’s had an average tournament by his standards but he’s kept Argentina alive. His four goals have been crucial. His defenders and midfielders understand that they can stop Germany winning the final. And they know Messi gives them the hope of winning it. Argentina would never collapse in the way that Brazil did in the semi. They have too many characters. I think Messi might be carrying an injury. But he’s different, special and even not fully fit he’s capable of winning you the World Cup in a moment. He’s waiting for that chance, and when it comes there’s no one you would rather it fell to.

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• 11/11 Neymar (Brazil)

  A close call as I’ve been impressed with James Rodriguez. Obviously, the capitulation by Neymar’s team-mates makes it a bad World Cup for the hosts but without him it could have been a disaster. He had all the pressure and he delivered. He dragged an average team along. The kid seems to take pressure very easily. He did it at Barcelona last season. Rodriguez has had less expectation but he has six goals and looks the part. Neymar gets my vote – just.

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