I said he was better than Rio, I remember that and I stand by it. I don't remember saying he'd get into any first 11 in the PL though, feel free to find the quote if I did say it though.
To be fair you've only mentioned "good enough to get in any squad in this league", which I think is an accurate statement. For me, any squad that has Dawson in it is better off than without, despite what many of the anti-Dawson brigade will say. It doesn't mean he should be a regular starter in the side, especially if you're a team that plays like us with a high line but when you judge a CB by his actual defensive attributes, Daws is still a top CB; Great in the air, strong tackler, positions himself well for the most part, vocal to his fellow defenders and slings his body on the line to protect his goal. You can do a hell of a lot worse than Michael Dawson, A HELL OF ALOT WORSE.
In terms of a 25 man squad I'd say yes, obviously for those sides he'd barely play but as I said in the previous post, he'd be better to have in a squad than not having at all, there are for many worse CB's to call upon than Daws. Lets make it clear though, I'm not for one minute saying Dawson is better than any CB those teams you mentioned have in their squad, I'm just merely pointing out that Dawson is a good enough CB to help improve any squad in the league.
Sorry but i'd disagree. Mourinho, Rodgers and Pellegrini have all released/sold better centre backs than Dawson so don't see how he would make the cut for any of those team's 25 man squad.
In today's match day programme, Michael Dawson was invited to select his dream team from his 10 years with us. His team was - Hugo Lloris Kyle Walker Ledley King Michael Dawson Danny Rose Aaron Lennon Luka Modric Tom Huddlestone Gareth Bale Robbie Keane Jermain Defoe Dimitar Berbatov Wow, I have been very fortunate to play with some world class players and I'm going to have to leave a lot of good friends out, players I've played with for a long time. In goal, I made my debut in front of Paul Robinson and played with Robbo for a long time, along with Gomes and Brad Friedel, but it's got to be Lloris. I'd have Kyle Walker at right back and while Gareth Bale was left back when I arrived, I like Danny Rose, a real aggressive player with so much potential. Centre halves would be the one and only Ledley King and myself ! Jan Vertonghen and Younes Kaboul are great defenders, but there's only one King. I've plays with so many great central midfielders, the likes of Michael Carrick, but I'd pick Luka Modric and Tom Huddlestone, while Aaron Lennon would be on the right. I've played with him throughout my Spurs career and he can still torture full backs. On the left....Gareth Bale-simply world class. Up front, how can I not put Keano in there ? But then there's Jermain Defoe. Dimitar Berbatov too, the list goes on. I'm just going to say all three. Can I play with 12 ? It's my team, so I'll cheat...I can't choose between them !
Thanks for this, the media have been reporting it as an embarrassing mistake that he selected 12 instead of 11. Thanks for clearing that up since the journalists can't be bothered to do any research.
At their best : -----------Robinson Corluka King Woodgate Ekotto Lennon Carrick Modric Bale -----Keane Berbatov For me. Loved JD's boots off, but Keane and Berba together were fantastic.
Yeah I'd agree with all of that mate, the only one you could make a case for is Rafa in for Carrick but in a realistic world, you could never play Luka and Rafa in a CM pairing without a DM so Carrick it is. Back four speaks for itself, as it were they who contributed most to our Premier League clean sheet record at WHL a few years back, only 8 or 9 conceded throughout the whole season at home if I remember rightly. Incredible really, especially when considering today we let in 3 in just one match. Lennon and Bale have been our best wide players, no one else comes close. Modric was a genius. Carrick was also immense in his two seasons. Keane and Berba will always be remembered as one of the best strike partnerships the Prem has ever seen. Dawson, Defoe and Rafa with honourable mentions.
