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Today’s My Favourite XI comes to TFT courtesy of Calum Mechie (Good Feet For A Big Man). Calum’s side has a few global icons, a few legends of Scottish football and one or two of the players who featured in Aberdeen’s finest moment, European Cup Winners Cup glory in 1983. Throw in a little bit of cult appeal and some pretty impressive character, and it’s a very decent side.

Previous Favourite XI: Jude Ellery

Goalkeeper: Andy Goram (Retired)

Despite playing for Rangers, Goram is a legend across Scotland. As if his heroics between the sticks during what looks increasingly to be the swansong of Scottish ‘greatness’ – particularly during a memorable shutout of Holland at Euro ’96 – wasn’t enough, the wee fat goalie also represented Scotland at cricket. More importantly than any of that though, after rumours Goram had been diagnosed with schizophrenia he also inspired the best football chant of all time (there’s only two Andy Gorams) and as a result pips thin Jim Leighton (again) to the number one shirt.

Right Back: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)

I have loved Zanetti for years. His awkward DMR position almost destroyed Championship Manager 01/02 for me, until I discovered the ‘editor’ and granted him a more accurate position known to aficionados of the franchise as ‘the Luis Enrique’. He gets in partly for still being around, but his clipped finish to Argentina’s magnificent, but often overlooked, set-piece routine against England in the 1998 World Cup is a standout moment in my footballing development and demands Zanetti’s inclusion.

Left Back: Roberto Carlos (Anzhi Makhachkala)

Yes, for that free kick mainly, but also for injecting Ron Atkinson’s late-nineties/early-noughties Champions League punditry with a bit of (the good type of) colour. Big Ron’s paroxysms of protestation each time old thunder-thighs embarked on one of his epic run-ups were brilliant: “He’s only ever taken one good one!” What a one.

Centre Back: Tony Adams (Retired)

Captain, obviously. I love Adams for a lot of reasons. I love him for playing for Arsenal for twenty years. I love him for publicly overcoming alcoholism. I love him for the goal against Everton that sealed Wenger’s first title in 1998. I love him for his resolute faith, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that he will be Arsenal’s next manager.

Centre Back: Brian Irvine (Retired)

The lanky centre-back’s ‘finest hour’ (probably more accurately described as a bloody brilliant ten seconds) on the pitch came in the 1990 Scottish Cup Final when he scored the 20th penalty of an epic shootout to claim a 9-8 victory over Celtic. Off the pitch he is deservedly acclaimed (unlike Pres. Jed Bartlett) for publicly overcoming diagnosis in 1995 of multiple sclerosis, and playing on for another eight years. He’s in here for both of those reasons, but also because he ended his career by turning in a number of sterling performances for my second team, Dingwall’s Ross County.

Midfield: Matt Le Tissier (Retired)

The Scottish footballing landscape has altered significantly even in the relatively short time since I became transfixed in the early nineties. In that time, for example, there were some pretty good teams and the league was entertaining enough to hold our collective attention – Match of the Day was appended onto the end of Sportscene and reduced to highlights of one match and notable goals. As a result I honestly thought Le Tissier was French. He never seemed to play for England, but those goals were incredible: French. I love that he never left Southampton too - imagine if Bale and Walcott were still there.

Midfield: Eoin Jess (Retired)

Jess was my first footballing love and a legend in the northeast of Scotland during the game’s, repeatedly mentioned, equivalent of the Indian summer. He had boyish good looks and a horribly waxed chest, but he was quality. He scored a remarkable 80 goals in just over 300 games in two spells for the Dons, the first of which coincided with our best post-Fergie period, when we won the Cup Winners Cup (95-96) and finished runners-up in the league (92-93, 93-94): halcyon days. Jess endeared himself to me further through his sojourn in Coventry, which earned him the honour of being the only product of the (formerly great) Aberdeen youth system to play in the Premiership (at least unless Kevin McNaughton’s Cardiff win promotion this year) in my lifetime, thereby adding a bit of local colour to that exotic treat.

Midfield: Edgar Davids

As far as my brother and I were concerned the coolest footballer in the world, Davids put in probably the best performance I’ve ever seen live. The Netherlands thumped Scotland by six in the second leg of their Euro 2004 qualifier. It was a glorious attacking display: Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored a hat-trick and Wesley Sneijder scored (I think) his first ever international goal. For me, though, it was all about Davids. I have never seen a player bully so brilliantly without the ball, while being so graceful with it. He was absolutely merciless, and he was wearing shades. Class.

Forward: Dennis Bergkamp (Retired)

For me Bergkamp is the most important foreign addition to the Premier League. Having had a difficult time in Italy with Inter, Bergkamp’s move to Arsenal was a gamble on both sides. It took him seven games to score - not too bad - but the pressure was already severe and the take-deep-breath-puff-out-cheeks-exhale celebration which followed his first goal (against Southampton) showed that it had told on the great man. In that moment, a legend was born and the thinking man announced his presence in English football. A good thing too.

Forward: Ronaldinho (Flamengo)

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. The superlatives are everywhere – best player ever for two years etc. – so I’ll leave them there. Ronaldinho makes my team because I was at the Nou Camp when he did this. Some old Catalonians had to tell me to sit down.

Forward: Henrik Larsson (Retired)

Apart from being a living reminder of a time when Scottish football wasn’t crap, Larsson is a properly class act. He was brilliant at Celtic, but was always dogged by the accusation that he wasn’t good enough for English football and was scared of being found out by moving south. His response to that was at the same time nonchalant, superior, patient and devastating. First, he skipped the Premier League altogether and left Celtic for Barcelona, where he was again brilliant, especially in masterminding their victory over Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League Final. Then, aged 36, he showed that he could cut it in the Premiership after all, at Manchester Utd of all places, where he helped them win the league. “He’s been brilliant for us”, said Alex Ferguson. I never doubted he would be.

Substitutes:

Jim Leighton (Retired)

A singularly unattractive man, Leighton looks as old/young now as he did when he helped Aberdeen to victory over Real Madrid in the Cup Winners Cup final in 1983. He wasn’t too great in that match, conceding the penalty from which Juanito scored, but he retains a place in the squad for his endearing habit of raising his arm to indicate that the shot just fired at him was not worth his trouble. On one occasion I remember the shot in question humourously rebounding off the cross bar affecting a frantic panic in the Scotland defence, while my mum swears she saw one such shot fly into the top-corner. Brilliant.

Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)

My heart has ruled my head in a number of my selections and none more so than this one. Zanetti is notoriously reliable, so hopefully E-BOOO-eh? won’t actually have to play and can stick to doing what he does best: delivering piggy-backs to goal-scorers.

Scot Gemmill (Retired)

Like many Scotland mangers, I find myself unable to pick his dad (Archie retired in 1984, I miss him by a year) and can’t quite bring myself to properly pick his son, so he’s on the bench. Gemmill was, as far as I can remember, in every single Scotland squad for about a decade, but managed only 26 caps. He was in the last two Scotland squads to attend a major tournament and he didn’t play in either. He’s pipped Zidane to this position on the basis that he’s used to sitting on the bench, and won’t spit the dummy (or headbutt Eboue).

John Hewitt (Retired)

A classic super sub, Hewitt scored the winner, from the bench, in the aforementioned ’83 Cup Winners Cup final. That’ll do.

Tags: Andy Goram, Brian Irvine, Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Emmanuel Eboue, Eoin Jess, Henrik Larsson, Javier Zanetti, Jim Leighton, John Hewitt, Matt Le Tissier, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Scot Gemmill, Tony Adams