Astrology & The England Football Team
Raymond Dommenech, the manager of the French national football team, famously refused to play Robert Pires because he "didn't trust Scorpios". I think he should be applauded for explaining his decision with such clarity. Many managers make similar baffling decisions without being able to justify them.
It got me to thinking, possibly (and probably) inspired by Danny Baker's 5Live radio show, about which star sign make the best footballers. If we were to pick the England team based purely on star sign which would be the best one to choose.
Cue some research... (DISCLAIMER: This post may leave you with the impression that I have too much time on my hands. Not true! This post is an a example of what insomnia does to the brain)
Libra supply the best team, but only by virtue of having a goalkeeper.
Scorpio or Aquarius have possibly the best outfield line-ups.
Saggitarius have the best back-four. Capricorn are overly blessed in midfield and Aries boast an exciting midfield and four goalkeepers (sadly three of them will probably have to play in defence).
And finally, Gemini can barely scratch together a midfield, let alone a team. They also have the unenviable task of trying to get Lampard and Gerard to play together.
If you want to play with the full dataset, there's a table with sortable columns. (Data from (mostly) Wikipedia. with an honourable mention for the official Sunderland AFC site and it's wack flash interface)
Here's the full teams you I managed to pull together...
1. LIBRA (4-2-4)
It's an attacking 4-2-4 line-up with Shola Ameobi and Gabriel Agbonlahor both being asked to curb their attacking instincts and help out in midefield.
| Goalkeeper | Paul Robinson | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence | Wes Brown | Kieran Gibbs | Ryan Shawcross | Ledley King |
| Midfield | Kieran Richardson | Scott Parker | ||
| Strikers | Shola Ameobi | Gabriel Agbonlahor | Carlton Cole | Jermaine Defoe |
| Subs | Cameron Jerome, Andy Dawson, Nyron Nosworthy | |||
2. SAGGITARIUS (4-4-2)
The best defence of all the teams but the midfield looks a little one-dimensional and no subs!
| Goalkeeper | Stuart Taylor | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence | Ashley Cole | John Terry | Gary Cahill | Leighton Baines |
| Midfield | Paul Robinson | Matthew Bates | Steve Sidwell | Matthew Taylor |
| Strikers | Michael Owen | Danny Wellbeck | ||
| Subs | None | |||
3. CAPRICORN (4-5-1)
A patched up defence with Huddlestone and Whitehead dropping back in to defence which they have done in past emergencies. An exciting midfield and options on the bench.
| Goalkeeper | Robert Green | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence | Michael Mancienne | Danny Higginbotham | Tom Huddlestone | Dean Whitehead | |
| Midfield | Jack Wilshere | James Milner | Lee Bowyer | David Dunn | Kieran Dyer |
| Striker | Emile Heskey | ||||
| Subs | Jonathon Greening, Gavin McCann, Andy Carroll, Leroy Lita | ||||
4. PISCES (3-5-2)
A full team, but one that's a mid-table Permiership team at best, although it does boast five players with at least one full England cap to their name.
| Goalkeeper | Steve Harper | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence | Curtis Davies | David Murphy | Gareth Barry | ||
| Midfield | Theo Walcott | Michael Johnson | Danny Murphy | Jack Rodwell | Tony Hibbert |
| Strikers | James Beattie | Luke Moore | |||
| Sub | Ishmael Miller | ||||
5. LEO
A team that includes the calamity prone Titus Bramble and David James would no doubt be a joy to watch, but only for all the wrong reasons. Lacks firepower.
| Goalkeeper | David James | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence | Phil Jagielka | Titus Bramble | Anthony Gardner | Joleon Lescott | Wayne Bridge |
| Midfield | Michael Carrick | Tom Cleverly | Matthew Etherington | ||
| Strikers | Kevin Phillips | Gary McSheffrey | |||
| Sub | Andrew Taylor | ||||
And the two 'nearly' squads...
AQUARIUS (4-4-2)
No 'keeper and the midfield might be lacking in creativity and pace, but it's a strong line-up with plenty of options and experience on the bench.
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| D | Jamie Carragher |
| D | Jonathon Woodgate |
| D | Steven Taylor |
| D | Nicky Shorey |
| M | Jermaine Jenas |
| M | Phil Neville |
| M | Nicky Butt |
| M | Owen Hargreaves |
| A | Darren Bent |
| A | Peter Crouch |
| Subs | Anton Ferdinand, Gary Neville, David Wheater, Dave Kitson, Andrew Johnson, Nicky Barmby, Scott Dann |
SCORPIO (4-4-1-1)
Again, no goalie, but an exciting midfield with Cole and Wright-Phillips swapping wings. Alan Smith is pushed up front to support Rooney.
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| D | Rio Ferdinand |
| D | Michael Dawson |
| D | Martin Taylor |
| D | Justin Hoyte |
| M | Joe Cole |
| M | Paul Scholes |
| M | Jimmy Bullard |
| M | Shaun Wright-Phillips |
| M | Alan Smith |
| A | Wayne Rooney |
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