I think this is an interesting one. I was thinking about possible ‘out-of-the-box’ content and I couldn’t find anything like this online. Over the years we’ve certainly had a number of characters gracing the corridors of Elland Road and leaving their mark on the pitch.
I’m sure for many of you, choosing your all-time Leeds United side would be pretty difficult – even since this side of the new Millennium, so it got me thinking, just to make it slightly easier – how about the best non-British Leeds United XI from 2000 up until 2020?
Though, this still took a couple of revisions in my notepad. Two mugs of Yorkshire tea later and I think I’ve got it but, I’m sure you’ll probably all wanna give your two cents’ worth as well. Bear in mind also, when I say non-British, I’m excluding Republic of Ireland players, just to make my task that little bit harder (or easier?). So, there’s no Ian Harte – still a big Leeds fan it seems and, who would be a shoe-in at left-back I reckon and no Robbie Keane who would certainly be in close contention up top.
I also know that we’ve played our fair share of systems since 2000 as well – David O’Leary’s 4-4-2 made a lot of sense and we definitely had the players for it. Marcelo Bielsa experimented with a 4-1-4-1 and a 4-2-3-1 – Daniel Farke seems to be having a lot of joy with this at the minute. So, this is what I’ve gone with based on the players I was able to think of.
Who Makes The Cut?
Eventually, the old cogs started working and with a little bit of help from t’internet as well I came up with what I think is a half decent Leeds United non-British XI.
Goalkeeper: Ilan Meslier
Probably the only choice I think for me – he’s played in the Premier League with us and, for me, just about the best goalie in the Championship on balance. We’ve had a couple of decent ones over the years – Kiko Casilla did alright for us and was a bit of a coup and I liked Kasper Schmeichel as well, though we were in League One at the time. A shout out to Kasper Ankergren also, but for me, Meslier’s the number one.
Left-back: Ezjian Alioski
Has to be, right? Surely? I also don’t think there’s an alternative that really makes the grade, or comes close to “our Gianni”. If it wasn’t for Bielsa, we probably wouldn’t have seen his full potential either, considering he converted him to a full-back from a left winger. His work-rate for me stood out, as I’m sure it did for many of you lot. You can forgive his comedic antics – and I think Bielsa did because he left on the everything on the pitch, could chip in with a goal, plus that assist at the Etihad Stadium for Stuart Dallas’ last minute winner. Wow, just wow.
Right-back: Gaetano Berardi
Probably never got the plaudits I think he deserved, but for Berardi was a solid player, unlucky with injuries and a great servant for the club. I wasn’t sure about him at first – I’ve gotta admit – I didn’t know if he would be good enough, but after he started playing at full-back instead of centre-back, he looked a lot more comfortable I thought. You could probably give a shout out to Borna Sosa as well, though this was some time before.
Centre-back: Lucas Radebe
How can I not pick “The Chief”? Probably the best centre-back the club has had in this era period and at the peak of his powers one of the best in the Premier League. He could do everything. Pass, tackle, read the game, he had pace, strength, humility and was a natural leader – respected by teammates and opponents alike. I know a lot of people say Rio Ferdinand was the best for us, but I don’t think he reached his peak until he went over the Pennines to that lot. Radebe, all day.
Centre-back: Pascal Struijk
It’s taken a while, but I think we’re only just beginning to see the best of Struijk in a Leeds shirt. I could have put him in at left-back, but he never really looked comfortable out there and this season, he’s coming into his own in the middle. Looks like a future skipper, comfortable on the ball and reads the game well – I think there’s a lot more to come from him. Shout-outs also to Paddy Kisnorbo (Australian), who was a class act for us in League One and even Roque Junior (remember him?!), though we only had him on loan.
Right-wing: Raphina
I don’t think any option comes close to the Brazilian, especially for the impact he had for us. I remember when we signed him – I know a lot of people didn’t know too much about him, but I was immediately excited having seen how he’d performed in France and he tore up the Premier League in our first season. For me, he’s probably the best signing we’ve made in the last five years or so.
Leeds United have signed Brazilian winger Raphinha from Rennes ✍️ pic.twitter.com/JEidbT6Lax
— GOAL (@goal) October 5, 2020
Left-wing: Harry Kewell
You really can’t argue with me there. If you’re a bit too young to remember him, check out the YouTube clip below, because this guy was a talent and whenever he was on the ball, you just knew something was gonna happen. For me, at the time, I think you could put him up there with Ryan Giggs as the best left-winger in the Premier League, albeit Giggsy did it for longer, more consistently. But, yeah, great player.
Central midfield: Olivier Dacourt
Probably one of the most underrated players in that last great Leeds team – the one that reached the Champions League semis. Dacourt was a real talent, looked majestic and effortless on the ball and I think, pretty unlucky that a certain Patrick Vieira was doing the business for Arsenal at the same time. I think he often went overlooked, but you could definitely mention the two in the same breath when talking about great French midfielders of that era.
Central midfield: Meteusz Klich
I could have easily gone for Erik Bakke here, who was key alongside Dacourt in that midfield, though Klich was transformed under Bielsa and looked like a completely different player after just one season. Great for a goal, a hell of an engine, could pick a pass and probably one of the most underrated box-to-box midfielders in the Premier League of the last few years. I was actually surprised clubs weren’t snapping our hands off for him after our first season back in the big time.
Attacking midfield: Pablo Hernandez
He’s the reason why I didn’t go for a system that had two strikers and is probably a bit of a rogue shout, though for me, I don’t remember a player having a more important impact on us as a squad than Hernandez in the timeframe that he performed for us. He was probably the most important player in Bielsa’s system – the creative force that made everything tick. Even at 30 plus, he was easily the best player in the Championship by a distance and he even did it in the Prem for us. A class act.
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Moments we will never forget, Pablo's magic and Bera's passion to celebrate this important goal, Leeds Legends, never will be forgotten 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/hXZGQskbln
— Leeds Fan (@LeedsFa46388489) May 21, 2021
Centre forward: Mark Viduka
I don’t think any of you are surprised by this. Easily the best striker we’ve had in 25 years and at the time, he was probably in the top echelon of forwards in Europe. Put fear into defenders, scored many different types of goals and, on his day, completely unplayable. I probably don’t need to go on to be honest. Honourable mentions to Chris Wood who did it for us in the Championship and who can forget our League One promotion season with Luciano Becchio? But, Viduka, all day.
