Craig Bellamy, Joe Cole and Lee Cattermole must be near the top of the list Stuart Pearce is assessing for Olympic duty
We will have to wait and see which three over-age players Stuart Pearce picks in his otherwise Under-23 GB Olympic football squad, but here is my chosen trio.
Craig Bellamy: Sir Bobby Robson always maintained the Welsh forward/attacking midfielder was technically better than Michael Owen, and most pundits would agree. Granted, his problematic knee condition requires careful managing but he has been Liverpool's best player this season and, off the field, would serve as an unusually challenging mentor to Pearce's youngsters.
In the past, there were times when Bellamy's perfectionist streak made him uncomfortably high maintenance but growing maturity dictates he is no longer prone to throwing chairs at coaches or brandishing golf clubs at team-mates. These days Bellamy's still highly demanding, if slightly more diplomatic, presence could only help raise the individual bars of those around him, but it would also offer Pearce's team pace, width, the ability to play on the half-turn, positional versatility, technique, flair and goals.
Moreover, as Eddie Niedzwiecki, one of his former coaches at Manchester City, once put it: "There is no 'I' in football for Craig – he cares about the team, not himself. Craig's a top, top professional who wants to be the best. He's a winner."
If Pearce were to feel tactically on his toes by a character so rigorously inquiring that Bellamy insists on personally interviewing every staff member applying for posts at his football and educational academy in Freetown, Sierra Leone, it would only be a good thing. Above all, though, Bellamy is wonderful to watch and we should all savour his game while we can.
Joe Cole: The erstwhile England midfielder, currently enjoying a successful loan spell from Liverpool with Lille in France, is simply too special to miss out on both Euro 2012 – as he surely will – and the Olympics. A gloriously gifted, tactically fluent footballer capable of filling a few roles and who fully understands the importance of possession retention, he can only help educate the youngsters around him.
Similarly, his experience of big tournaments with England must assist the GB squad's cause. He could also counsel Pearce, and his fellow players, about the danger of burning out after half-time as theoretically inferior opponents hog the ball.
With regret, Cole just sneaks into the over-age bracket ahead of Swansea's Leon Britton. The 29-year-old was a year behind Cole at the FA's old school of excellence at Lilleshall and despite failing to make the grade at West Ham, after playing in all four divisions with Swansea he has finally emerged as a real Premier League name.
In January, computerised statistics revealed that Britton had a better pass completion rate than the Spain and Barcelona midfielder Xavi – 93.3% accuracy as opposed to a mere 93%. Even so Cole's superior powers of improvisation and invention bag him the place.
Lee Cattermole: At 24 the Sunderland enforcer just slips into the over-age bracket, but he's in my GB trio for an important reason: whatever the latest tactical or formational fashion, top teams invariably benefit from the inclusion of ball-winning, anchoring midfielders capable of disrupting passing rhythms.
He may not quite be a Fernando Redondo, or even a Roy Keane, but it is no coincidence that when Cattermole plays well, Sunderland invariably play well. Renascent under Martin O'Neill's management, he can call also on his Uefa Cup experience with Middlesbrough and plenty of England Under-21 caps.
From Cattermole's viewpoint, the chance to play with individuals such as Cole would only improve his sometimes underrated passing, and perhaps help banish the inner anger he often appears to play with. Certainly he will need to measure his tackles more thoughtfully in front of overseas referees, but the suspicion is that this Olympic summer could prove an epiphany for the man dubbed "Clattermole".
Explanatory notes
I've excluded David Beckham because good as his dead-ball ability will always be, he is past his best and more suited to sports diplomacy/politics than on-field combat. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are of the same vintage but find themselves excluded because they desperately need to put their feet up following their considerable exertions with Manchester United this season.
Craig Gordon once cost Sunderland a record £9m fee for a British goalkeeper but after awful luck with injuries, the Scotland keeper is now sidelined by Simon Mignolet's excellent form at the Stadium of Light. He is likely to be available on a Bosman this summer but possesses the talent and experience to have been a potential over-age GB player before narrowly missing out.
Also considered before being discarded were the Northern Ireland and Manchester United defender Jonny Evans and his international team-mate, West Bromwich Albion's Chris Brunt. Read More
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