City XI (89-09): Wingers

The choice for the right-wing position, as you might expect, came down to two exciting youth team graduates from different decades. Both emerged during difficult times, both became huge crowd favourites, and both ended up seeing moves to rival Premier League clubs not quite work out.

David White, a member of the successful 1986 Youth Cup side, was equally at home on the right flank or upfront. Tall and strong but fast as a whippet, he was lethal on the shoulder of centre-halves, and with his pin-point crossing as dangerous on the wing, forming a good understanding with Niall Quinn. He was, of course, one of three players to grab hat-tricks in the infamous 10-1 drubbing of Huddersfield in '87. He also scored 50 goals over three seasons at the start of the nineties, including a four-goal brace at Villa Park.

The only other real contender for this position was Shaun Wright-Phillips, undoubtedly the fans darling of this last decade. Another to come through the ranks, he was and still is a peculiar player to watch; pace to burn, tremendous balance, control that at times looks almost accidental, and a waspish tenacity that must frustrate the hell out of full-backs. If only his crossing was as good as White's.

As for the left, well that one was a little more tricky. I ended up with a shortlist of four, all terrific to watch in their own right; Peter Beagrie, Mark Kennedy, Martin Petrov & Robinho.

Beagrie was a real showman, too much so sometimes, turning defenders inside-out before going back for a second serving rather than whipping in a ball. Signed from Everton in 1994 for £1.1m after they'd brought in Anders Limpar from Arsenal, the fans quickly took to him. Sadly Beags' time here was blighted by injury, managing only six appearances in his last two years. During the 94/95 season under Horton, though, he was excellent as we played some brilliant stuff but somehow contrived to finish in a disappointing 17th. On his day, Beagrie was a super player, a proper 'chalk on his boots' winger with great close control and the ability to make defenders look very silly.

Another who had obvious talent but whose time here was brief was Mark Kennedy. He perhaps didn't have the grace on the ball and balance of a Beagrie, but he did posess an absolute hammer of a left foot and played a pivotal role during the 99/00 promotion season. He was maybe another who couldn't quite take his form into the Premier League, but there's little doubting the lad was good to watch.

More recently, Martin Petrov, a player who when focused can make a mug out of any right-back, but who when off the boil can be terribly frustrating to watch. Him missing large parts of last season through injury was a big blow, but he was tremendous during his first year. His main assets are undoubtedly his acceleration and overall pace. Whenever he gets the ball he's always looking to give and go, and over a few yards there aren't many who will have a chance of catching him. Well capable of accurate crossing, aswell, we've probably not made the most of his talents in this respect, and the additions of Santa Cruz & Adebayor may help, if he gets the games that it.

The man most likely to keep him out of the side is record buy Robinho, whose good first season in England seems to somehow have been judged a hugely disappointing one by fans of other clubs. We wouldn't deny that he was generally awful away from home, like we wouldn't deny we were probably not his first choice, but to average a goal every other game during your first year in a new, more physical league, i'd say that's pretty good. I'm not sure how much more people could expect of him, but they seem to think he should be spending most of the game tracking back, he shouldn't, he's an attacker, his job's to attack. Yes, his mannerisms are sometimes a bit off, or he might go missing when sides are giving him a kicking, but that's par for the course, he's a supremely-talented South American winger/forward, not a rough and ready, numbnut centre-half. What i do know is that he's a unique talent, and what he lacks physically he makes up for with skill, pace, a great footballing brain and the ability to make a goal from nothing.

Picks: David White & Robinho