JACOBSEN’S COMBINED EVERTON X WEST HAM SIX-A-SIDE TEAM
In the lead-up to this Saturday’s Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United, we asked Lars Jacobsen, who was a player for both teams, to choose a six-a-side team that consisted of three teammates from each team.
The former defender acknowledged that he had made a difficult decision by leaving out important players from his final lineup. Below is a justification for his choices.
This is challenging since, in my opinion, I would choose more Everton players than West Ham players because the squad was superior at the time. However, selecting just three from each is difficult, so I have to give up on Tim Howard, who I believe to be the better of the two, and choose Robert Green instead. He was a superb goalie as well. He may not have been a true creative player in the contemporary sense, but as a goalkeeper, he was excellent and made a significant contribution to our West Ham team.
Leighton Baines – Everton
When I got to Everton, Baines wasn’t really playing. David Moyes liked physical players and he was a small guy, but he had the breakthrough that season and he was unbelievable. On the ball, his delivery was phenomenal and perfect for the way we played at the time with guys like Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini in the box. He could run all day and was such a great guy, I really liked him. I made sure everyone I have picked in this team also had the personality to match their abilities.
He was raised in Denmark, yet he is from New Zealand. We became close quite fast and spent a lot of time together when I went to West Ham. Even though he was still a young man and not very good, he had the physical package. After training, we used to work together a lot to attempt to improve things like his long passing. He obviously made excellent development and went on to become one of the best players in the game, even captaining West Ham at one point in his career. His career outperformed mine, and I’m thrilled that all of his hard work paid off.
Mark Noble – West Ham
This was tough but I need to pick Mark Noble – Mr West Ham. It was between him and Scott Parker, but I have to select Noble because he was a top guy as well as a great player. The way he carried himself was first class. He was about 22, but it felt like he’d already been around forever. He was taking all the penalties and would always clean the dressing room after the game. I’d call him a real team player, and a real West Ham man.
Again, this was quite difficult for me; I couldn’t decide between Mikel Arteta and Ossie. One of the best players I’ve ever played with, in my opinion, is Mikel. He was a top-tier player who even had his own team surrounding him, something I had never seen before. However, Ossie was an Everton supporter; despite his diminutive stature, he had a huge impact on the game. He was a goal scorer and a huge asset to games. He was a fantastic player who was underappreciated. Tony Hibbert also deserves honorable consideration. He may not have been the most gifted player on the team, but he had a tremendous amount of drive and determination; players like him are rare these days. We fought for the same position.
Phil Neville – Everton
I need to have Neville, our captain. He had a lot of experience playing for Manchester United and England. He was another great guy and good player. I always remember playing United and we were losing 1-0 at half-time – they were very strong that year. I was injured at the time but in the dressing room and Phil said to the group, ‘We need a big tackle’. I remember thinking it was a pretty strange thing to say, but then the team go back out in the second half, and he went in hard on Cristiano Ronaldo. Goodison Park exploded in response – the fans went crazy. It turned the atmosphere; we drew 1-1 and then went on a really good run of form.
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