Greater Manchester Combined XI

 Hello to everybody present. My Manchester combined XI was always only going to include players from the top two clubs in Manchester; Rochdale and Wigan Athletic from League One. Oh wait, League One is actually England's third tier. Yeah, that makes sense. But jokes aside, we are only going to be including players from Manchester United & City because I don't think the Republic of Ireland's best ever defender, Paul McShane, is better than England's most effective refrigerator, Harry Maguire, and sadly doesn't even win the biggest meme award due to Phil Jones and JLingz (sorry to any Irish viewers out there). Well after that rather terrible tangent, let's get to the eleven.

Goalkeeper: Ederson

This man must really hate Alisson Becker, because if Alisson didn't exist he would be thought of as the best in both Brazil and the Prem. He beats David de Gea and Dean Henderson fairly comfortably to take the number one, or rather thirty-one, shirt.

Left-Back: Luke Shaw 

Quite possibly the worst player in the list, I really couldn't put anyone else here due to both City's left-back problem and his good form. Most people, me included, never really thought he was United quality, but this season he has proved his haters wrong. So yeah, simple choice really.

Left Centre-Back: Aymeric Laporte 

How John Stones starts ahead of Aymeric Laporte I do not know. Yes he suits Dias better, but that simply cannot be the only reason. Anyway, Laporte made my line-up despite not making my original draft, because I think he is the best option. If it were to simply not work then he would be dropped, but unlike at City he needs to be given a chance.

Right Centre-Back: Rúben Dias 

We all knew it was coming. Harry Maguire is unlucky not to start, but even if he did Dias wouldn't have been dropped. While all the best centre-backs in my selection pool prefer to play left of the center, the switch to slightly towards the right is a pretty simple one.

Right-Back: Aaron Wan Bissaka 

I think this is one selection many may not be too happy about, but I think Wan Bissaka is not overrated, and this is coming from a Liverpool fan who likes Trent. I think he should start here ahead of Walker or Cancelo, and I think if England revert to a 3-man backline he should start, also ahead of Walker.

Holding Midfielder: Paul Pogba 

Undoubtedly the hardest decision in the list, I already had two midfielders down from the start, both being the star men for their respective clubs. However, both prefer an advanced role and as I was going to leave neither of the two out I had a decision about who to play in defensive midfield. 

My shortlist read; Ílkay Gündoğan, Rodri, Oleksandr Zinchenko (yes, he's actually a midefielder) and Fernandinho from City and Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay and Fred from United. To determine the best option from City I cut out Gündoğan for being too attack-minded and Zinchenko and Fernandinho for not being as good as Rodri (in my opinion, at current ability). With regards to United it was easier, because Pogba is easily the best of the trio of him, McTominay and Fred. 

So finally it was Rodri vs Pogba, and I even considered Fernandinho again because he is close in ability to the other two. In the end I went with Pogba, because he is experienced, and yet still in his prime. So yeah, the first world cup winner in our list.

Left Attacking Midfielder: Kevin de Bruyne 

Kevin de Bruyne was always going to be here, but frustratingly both him and the man up next almost always play down the middle, not on either side. After looking at their positions in recent fixtures, I just had to rack my brains for instances when either has played towards one side. I seem to remember de Bruyne having played in this exact position, and the next man has, I think, played right wing a few times, so KDB plays to on the left of this attacking midfield duo.

Right Attacking Midfielder: Bruno Fernandes 

Another nailed-down starter, Bruno Fernandes had to start. In my opinion one of the top two attacking midfielders in the Premier League, Bruno Fernandes is brilliant to watch and always dependable when it comes to making things happen. Leading Manchester United in both goals and assists, Bruno is the main reason that they currently find themselves in the top two of the Premier League.

Left Wing: Raheem Sterling 

Our third consecutive nailed-down inclusion, I originally had him down the right due to the inclusion of Phil Foden, but in the end that just caused too many people to be out of position, so yeah, Sterling on the left.

Striker: Marcus Rashford 

I think that the emergence of Bruno Fernandes has overshadowed how important Rashford is to Manchester United. He is definitely the first or second most important player in the team and one of my favorite forwards in the league, and this is coming from a Liverpool fan.

Right Wing: Riyad Mahrez 

One of the best Algerian football players ever, Mahrez is one of the big emergences from Leicester's title-winning seasons. He nearly didn't make it in, but his position on the right wing along with his undeniable talent meant he had to be included.

Another blog post finished. I am really sorry, as usual, about the insufficient amount of posts, and I will try to release two or three posts by next Sunday. Hope you all enjoyed reading my list and please subscribe to my blog and share my blog with all of your friends and family. I hope this post finds you well and I will see you again when I post next. Noah (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)