The surprise Portsmouth favourite named in ex-West Ham United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Fratton great’s dream defence

And the Pompey hall of famer has placed former Fratton team-mate Hermann Hreidarsson at the heart of his back line.

James has also told of the bizarre story involving the huge Icelandic favourite, which is perfectly in keeping with the Hermanntor’s leftfield and much-loved antics.

The former Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and West Ham man has assembled his perfect back four, in an interview with Lord Ping.

Ashley Cole, who he rates as the game’s best-ever left-back, gets the nod with Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville at right-back.

James rates Rio Ferdinand as the best defender he’s worked with, with the Manchester United and West Ham great partnered with perhaps a slightly surprising shout in Hreidarsson.

He said: ‘Hermann Hreidarsson has to be in there. He is my best friend in football and was as mad as a hatter, but he was the most honest and loyal person you could ever meet. He could play left back or centre half.

‘He could impersonate Elvis! When I was playing in Iceland, I left my passport on a small island and he went and collected it for me in his rubber dinghy! I love the guy.’

As well as lauding Hreidarsson, James ranks FA Cup-winning captain Sol Campbell as the best skipper he’s ever operated under.

The England international told how Campbell played a central role in luring James to Pompey in 2006.

He said: ‘Sol Campbell at Portsmouth was a great captain. Sol was a bit of an enigma when it came to his preparation for games.

‘He loved the massage table! Sol and the massage table were united for so long! What Sol would do as the captain of Portsmouth was to argue on behalf of the team for the right thing.

‘I think that the captain’s role is more important off the field, and Sol was someone that was concerned about every single detail off the pitch that could affect a team’s performance on it.

‘He was very vocal, not argumentative, but vocal. If Sol had an opinion on something he would share it.

‘We won the FA Cup in 2008 with a decent team - arguably, it wasn’t the best group of players that Portsmouth had in that era - Sol was instrumental in that. Sol was a very important player during those first couple of seasons I spent at the club.

‘I phoned Sol before I joined and asked him “Are you here for a pay day? What’s the ambition of the club?”

‘He said to me: “Jamo, I’m here to win and we’re going to have a real go.” As soon as he said that, I said: “Sign me up, I want to play behind you.” I had numerous captains at different teams, but I can’t think of anyone that was more dedicated to being a captain as Sol was.’

James also spoke of his affection for Fratton Park and the affinity he retains towards Pompey to this day.

He said: ‘There was something about Fratton Park.

‘Fratton Park took me back to my childhood at Watford. The stands were a hundred years old, packed with 17,000 raucous fans.

‘The pitch had a big lump in the middle of the goal area - it was 2009-10, playing Premier League football, but it was a pitch that was akin to something from 1985!

‘It was a loveable ground - even the training facilities at Portsmouth were archaic at the time. I remember my time at the club fondly. ‘