TheFA.com is asking international legends from different eras

TheFA.com is asking international legends from different eras to name their ultimate England team, and this week it is the turn of Sir Bobby Robson, who managed England to the World Cup semi-finals in 1990

If there is anyone qualified to speak about England players from different eras, it is Sir Bobby Robson.

As plain Bobby he won 20 England caps between 1958 and 1962, and went onto manage his country in two World Cups (1986 and 1990) - his adventures including The Hand of God and a penalty shoot-out against Germany watched by a record UK TV audience of nearly 30 million.

Even now he sees the current crop of England stars at close hand as manager of Newcastle United.

With such a wealth of experience, it is perhaps not surprising that the majority of Bobby's team is picked from before his time as England boss.

The one exception is his own Captain Marvel, Bryan Robson. "He was three players in one - a tackler, a goal maker and a goal taker," says Sir Bobby admiringly.

The hardest position to fill was right-back with Sir Bobby mulling over two candidates.

"Don Howe was a great player but in the end I went for Jimmy Armfield. He was just that bit quicker and would link up well with Stanley Matthews. Basically he would give Stan the ball and let him do the rest!"

SIR BOBBY ROBSON'S ULTIMATE ENGLAND XI

Goalkeeper - Gordon Banks (1963-72) 73 caps, 0 goals
Won the World Cup in 1966 but is perhaps even better known for a save he made four years later against Pele in Mexico. He kept 35 clean sheets for England and might have won more caps but for a car accident which saw him lose sight in one eye

Right-back - Jimmy Armfield (1959-66) 43 caps, 0 goals
An elegant defender who could use the ball, Armfield was a loyal one-club man with Blackpool who went to the 1962 World Cup and was also a member of the 1966 squad as understudy to George Cohen. Fans still hear him as a Radio5 summariser

Central defender - Bobby Moore (1962-73) 108 caps, 2 goals
Moore won three major cup competitions at Wembley in successive years, The FA Cup in 1964 with West Ham, Cup-Winners Cup in '65 and then the World Cup the following year. Tragically died of cancer in 1993 and the age of 51.

Central defender - Billy Wright (1947-59) 105 caps, 3 goals
The first name on the England teamsheet for more than a decade, Wright made history by becoming the first international to pass the magic 100 caps. His marriage to pop star Joy Beverley of The Beverley Sisters was the 1950s equivalent to Posh & Becks 

Left back - Ray Wilson (1960-68) 63 caps, 0 goals
One of Sir Alf Ramsey's heroes of '66, Wilson oozed class and had been a Wembley winner two months before the World Cup - with Everton in The FA Cup. Started his career as a forward which explains why he usually looked comfortable on the ball

Winger - Stanley Matthews (1934-57) 54 caps, 11 goals
Football's first knight, Sir Stan was known as the Wizard of the Dribble and was famous in all four corners of the globe before the advent of colour television, let alone the internet. As a teenager he helped England beat World Cup holders Italy and he went on to become his country's oldest international at the age of 42.

Midfield - Johnny Haynes (1955-62) 56 caps, 18 goals
Haynes played with Sir Bobby at Fulham and was regarded as the best passer of his generation. Fulham valued him highly and after the maximum wage was abolished in the early 1960s, Haynes became the game's first £100-a-week footballer

Winger - Tom Finney (1947-59) 76 caps, 30 goals
No lesser an authority than Bill Shankly regarded Finney as the best player he had ever seen. For a wide player, his goalscoring record was phenomenal. Nicknamed The Preston Plumber, he was twice voted Footballer of the Year in 1954 and 1957

Midfield - Bryan Robson (1980-91) 90 caps, 26 goals
'Captain Marvel' skippered England 65 times and would surely have beaten Peter Shilton's overall appearance record had it not been for injuries, which curtailed his personal campaigns in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. Scored the fastest England goal in World Cup history, netting against France after just 27 seconds in 1982

Striker - Jimmy Greaves (1959-67) 57 caps, 44 goals
The most-natural finisher of them all, Greaves scored on his debut for every team he played and England was no exception - scoring in a 4-1 defeat in Lima against Peru. Played in the 1962 World Cup but injury cruelly saw him replaced by Roger Hunt midway through the 1966 tournament 

Striker - Bobby Charlton (1958-70) 106 caps, 49 goals
The only Englishman who was as popular worldwide as The Beatles in the 1960s. Everyone loved Bobby from his combover hairstyle to his unfeasibly hard shot. The Survived the Manchester United Munich air crash to have a glittering career, winning the World Cup and finishing with a record 49 goals for England

Sir Bobby was talking to Joe Bernstein