The "Eleven Best" or the "Best Eleven"

This is the conundrum that Liverpool needs. In fact teams would want this conundrum, and a couple of teams ( Man City and Chelsea come to mind) are having trouble sorting it out.
But what is the conundrum exactly?

Remember when your report card or now for many of you , your child's report card came home and the comment "Plays well with others" was included. But what did we focus on, the grades or marks. How we or our child compares to others.

The "Best Eleven" are those that play well with others, not necessarily, or always, amongst the "Eleven Best". This the coaching dilemma. How do coaches and managers build a squad?  What are they looking for?
Bill Shankly, the great Liverpool manager, looked for players at the top of their individual games, but more importantly, their best game was for the squad, the team, the Club. It was not for their individual glory. Shankly's personal history from a small mining town in Scotland, to his playing career, was one steeped in small "s" socialism that held that the good of the many was the highest moral objective of the individual. His view was that even the greatest talent on the pitch was on that pitch to enable the best result for his team-mates and Club. The players personal objectives were secondary.

Team Creation 

So here is the problem, who do you pick ? Is it the talented midfielder who can control the center of the pitch, can place the ball on a dime from 30 yards away, but won't train with his team mates because they aren't of his quality, and will only pass to his friends? Is it the average player that works her tail off day in day out, doesn't shoot when she should, but gets stuck in without a concern for her well being?
Who do you take from these extreme examples?
As a coach and from a player management perspective the player that works for the good of the squad, is no more important than any other player, trains hard looking to improve their own skills as well as those of their team-mates, shares their own success and celebrates the success of their team-mates. This regardless of their present skill level will bring a level of success and quality and camaraderie that is necessary to create a successful squad.
Each player on a squad, a successful squad, brings a certain level of skill to the team. Collectively these players should make the squad greater than the sum of its parts, because each player should add to their team-mates abilities on the pitch.

For this coach, the "Best Eleven" make up the best squad.
( I got that backwards last time).

Walk On

Hal White