Jaap Stam has named an all-time XI of former teammates, and it makes for some team.
The new Reading manager has selected two Irish players, four former Manchester United teammates, four footballers he played with at AC Milan, former international teammates and a striker he played with at PSV.
Edwin van der Saar starts in goal. The back four features three former Milan defenders, Cafu, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, and Denis Irwin, Stam’s former United teammate.
Roy Keane anchors midfield alongside Clarence Seedorf, the only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs – Milan, Ajax and Real Madrid – and Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp is selected to play as an attacking midfielder.
Marc Overmars, the former Barcelona and Arsenal winger, plays on the right wing, Ryan Giggs on the left and Ronaldo, the Brazilian striker who played alongside Stam at PSV, starts up-front.
Stam really has played with some of the best players of his, or any, generation. His all-time XI of teammates is also so good, Stam couldn’t find a place for Paul Scholes, one of United’s greatest ever players, and Kaka, the former world player of the year.
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