The Villan: If you saw all those players - and I saw most of them too - you almost certainly saw Ruud Gullet in his prime. I actually got to see Pele, Alcindu and Edu as well. I reckon that Ruud Gullet was the best player, whom I ever saw close up. He was also quite happy to be "invisible" if that was what his team needed. That is a pretty subjective statement of course. I was in the old Rhein Stadion in Düsseldorf, when England's honest triers were complacently swept aside by the Dutch in 1986.
However, I would disagree about the skill levels of England players nowadays. Steve Gerrard will put his body in front of a full blast kick from anyone and actually get the ball under control. Michael Owen can take the ball from practically anywhere within reach of the arc of his body and send it goalwards in one movement. I do not think that it is skill, which the current players lack. This is essentially the same England team, which took Germany apart before the last World Cup. They would not have a prayer against Germany at the moment, of course. It is not skill that is missing though. It is more like confidence and intuition.