| Initially rising through the Arsenal ranks as a right back, it was in midfield where busy ball player Michael Thomas made his name in the team which brought back regular domestic success to Highbury under George Graham, and it was in the middle of the park where Bobby Robson took a brief look at the 21 year old as part of a team crammed with debutants in Riyadh as England drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia. The performances of Thomas and his fellow new boys were barely noticed as the media took to slating Robson for not winning, including the headline "Go In The Name Of Allah", and Thomas himself didn't hear back from the national coach for more than a year, by which time he had become an all-time Arsenal hero by scoring the goal which won the 1989 League championship with seconds to spare against Liverpool at Anfield. Thomas had perhaps a minor hope of a late run to the 1990 World Cup squad when Robson gave him his second cap in a 2-1 friendly win over Yugoslavia in December 1989 (the photo above is during the game), although it was the man who replaced him in the second half, and who was also winning his second cap, who would gatecrash the squad and become a national hero. David Platt's rise coincided with the fall of Thomas, who never featured in an England team again following his move to a vastly underachieving Liverpool under Graeme Souness. (Matthew Rudd) |