3. Jonathan Woodgate
A product of Middlesbrough FC and Leeds United's respective academies, Woodgate was an integral part of the Leeds side that featured the likes of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, as they challenged for a place in the higher end of the Premier League table, as well as in European competition. However, even at this stage of his career, Woodgate suffered from several injuries of varying severity. Even so, former Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson splashed out
£9 million for his services in January 2003. His decision to sign him seemed a masterstroke; he earned rave reviews for his outstanding performance - in fairness, one of many - against Marseille in the semi final of the UEFA Cup that season. However, he was ruled out for the rest of the 2003/04 season after sustaining a serious injury a week later. This did not deter Real Madrid, who purchased Woodgate for
£13.4 million in August 2004. After getting off to a disastrous start against Athletic Bilbao, where he scored an own goal and got sent off for two bookable offences, he later became Los Blancos' first-choice centre-half. However, his time in Madrid was again hampered by injuries, and he was loaned out to Middlesbrough for the 2006/07 season, where he enjoyed a comparatively injury-free campaign and won highly positive reviews for several excellent performances at the heart of Boro's defence. His hometown club then signed him on a permanent deal for the following season, but he was again stricken with injuries which led to him losing his place in the side. He was moved on to Tottenham Hotspur in
January 2008 for £8 million, and quickly settled in and established himself as a key player for Spurs for the remainder of that season and the one that followed. Injuries struck again though, and Woodgate missed most of the 2009/10 season with a chronic groin injury. Having played no competitive football over the course of the 2010/11 season, he was released by Spurs and joined Stoke City on a one-year pay-as-you-play contract. For much of his time at Stoke he was inexplicably employed at right-back; he struggled to replicate his performance levels from playing in his natural centre-half position and at the end of his contract, left to re-sign for Middlesbrough. Even with the plethora of defenders at the various England managers' disposal over the last decade or so, I for one believe that Woodgate is, or was, certainly capable of playing regularly at international level, or at least as cover for John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, were it not for his unfortunate injury record. Incidentally, Woodgate is the only player on this list still with an active playing career, but, at the age of 33, is unlikely to rediscover his very best form and earn a recall to the national side.