Who is the Premiership’s greatest player ever?
Update: The decision is made here.
Who would you put on your list of the greatest Premiership players? Thierry Henry? Eric Cantona? Alan Shearer?
There is some ambiguity surrounding the meaning of ‘great’, so I’ll specify it as that player who had the most positive impact on his team’s fortunes over an extended period of time, in the Premiership.
Note that we’re judging the impact of players in the Premiership only - this means from the 1992-1993 season to the 2006/2007 season, AND that we’re talking just about the Premiership and not Europe or the Championship or that player’s contributions in other leagues (limiting it this way restricts the number of contenders and makes it easier to choose).
With this criteria in mind, let me know who you think would be a suitable candidate for the ‘Greatest Premiership Player’ title and why?
Once the nominations are in, I’ll shortlist the candidates and evaluate each one of them before picking the winner at the end of the week.
So go on, put your list in the comments.
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Discussion - 151 Responses
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Henry. Just look at his record!
positive impact ??
only 1 name in my opinion and i support Liverpool.
Ryan Giggs.
There is only one, and his name is Ryan Giggs.
my vote also goes to giggs … who else has been with a single team for the period tat Giggs has been at ManU and performed as consistently as him and won trophies
Ryan Giggs is obviously a prime candidate and everyone respects him, no matter where their loyalties lie. If it isn’t Giggs, it has to be Henry for sure.
Henry, increased the flair in the prem to make it more attractive
And in the last four years, Lampard for Chelsea.
What about Arsenal (apart from Henry)?
when i read the post the only person who came to mind was giggsy
but that hez the favourite another name that pops is of
scolsy
not coz i am a man utd fan but mostly because i have never seen a player perform at his level for 8-9 years at the heart of a midfield and still be the humblest characters around.
Success never has went up to his head and though he does the spectacular on occasions, he chooses to limit himself to the extraordinarily effecient passing realizing that if he has a poor half in the middle, man utd as a team plays poorly.
Being the performance carrier of the team has also never looked too heavy for his shoulders. And this season, the way he re-applied himself was really classy and legendary.
Robbie Fowler!
Peter Schmeichael, he has to be the greatest Premiership player. The ultimate nightmare goalkeeper for any best Premiership players to score against. Even Ian Rush from Liverpool admits Schmeichael was the best goalkeeper he had ever encounter. Not many people apprieciate what goalkeepers had gave to Premiership since mostly attackers or midfielders usually stole the limelight. But eversince Schmeichael arrival in Premiership, his impact was huge, and made more fans to appreciate goalkeepers more even until now.
Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique and his attacking threat.He experienced his most successful years in English club Manchester United, with whom he won the 1999 UEFA Champions League to complete The Treble.
Throughout his career in Premiership, Schmeichel scored 11 goals, a great feat for a keeper. Although he doesnt score as much goals as the likes of José Luis Chilavert or Rogério Ceni(score the most amount of goals for a goalkeeper(72 goals). But goals doesnt made Schmeichael what he is, thats only the plus side of him, but his clean sheet records tells it all.
He holds the record for the greatest games-to-clean sheets ratio in the Premiership, and possibly in the world, with 42% of the games he played in the Premiership ending without his team conceding. Although David James holds the record for most clean sheets, he has played many more games than Schmeichel, and so his ratio percentage is lower.
Even till today, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers ever. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the “125 greatest living footballers”, at the FIFA 100 celebrations.
As much as I love Man Utd players like Cantona, Giggs,Keane, Shcoles, Gary Nevil, Irwin, Beckham, Bruce,Palister, Solsjaer, as greatest Premierships. To me, Peter Schmeichael still stand out the most, there no goalkeepers like him, ever by far in.
Nowadays, new goalkeeper stars are in the making in Primiership with the lights of Petech Chech, Reina and Foster,but even they commented before they were inspired by Schmeichael. If not for his inspiration that what he had gave to Premiership and also to the world, we wouldnt be seeing alot of world class goalkeepers around today.
Giggsy is the man.
gigsy of course, why united playerz
BENAYOUN!!! is the best player the world has ever seen!
who else whould it be if its not THIERRY HENRY!!! He is the player that took the Premiership to the highest level!! His goals has its class of it’s own!!! His speed, I bet no defender can catch him!! His skills are over the rainboww!!! He is the ultimate player every club would like to have!!
Cantona
He was the one to instill the spirit into United that still carries them today. It was his dedication, passion and drive (and example) that led to guys like Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, etc to put in extra training just to provide that extra push. A tradition that still lingers on at United.
Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, and so many others can become greats like Fabregas, Rooney, Lampard and Terry
To be real, it’s difficult to choose outside Manchester United. I’m a fan of the team. and the title record of this club in the premiership is simply too good.
If you wanted to pick outside Man United, it’d have to be Henry, but his record is just not as good as a lot of Man United players, which indicate that his impact was not as big. Success is meassured in titles, and therefore impact is meassured that way too, even though it might be wrong.
Therefore my pick is a Man United player: Peter Schmeichel.
I think the Premiership has seen many amazing players over the years. Eric Cantona has blessed The Theatre of Dreams, as has Roy Keane. Recently Christiano Ronaldo has created a huge impact on the Past Season, and obviously, Ryan Giggs is extremely suited for the title of best premiership player, Taking the Red Devils to 9 Championships, including the Treble of 98/99
Arsenal have a big name that seems to Rocket through peoples minds…..HENRY. The superstar French has dazzeled all with his great performances at Highbury. However, his time at The Emirates Stadium seems to have let him down some what.
People also seem to Forget Chelsea’s little star italian, Zola. A formidable force for such a small player, and definatly a favourite with Fans Everywhere.
To be truly Honest, i feel that the Role should go to the Great Dane, Peter Schmeichel, for his fantastic achievements at Man Utd, and for simply being the Greatest Goal Keeper the Premierships ever seen. (Forget Cech, Ol Pete wouldn’t have to wear a head brace, he’d just get on with the job!!!)
It’s easy just to look at the top teams and forget about everyone else, but keeping your team in the division is just as important as winning trophies for your team. For that reason I think it should be Le Tissier. Apart from anything else he is the scorer of the greatest premiership goals.
I’m also surprised no-one has mentioned Gerrard. He was pretty much the only world class player at Liverpool when they won the Champions League.
Based purely on your criteria, Id give it to Keane who had a had a much longer term impact than Cantona. As a youngish Arsenal fan I’m not really to aware of how much Cantona helped change Man U’s fortunes between 92 and 94 tho. I also think as good as Giggs is, has he ever been the main man? I think from Arsenals point of view Dennis Bergkamp was the main Pillar of Arsenals transition into one of the big teams, but Thierrys probably the player who has had the biggest impact. Hes also hands down the most talented player to ever grace the premiership.
Heh! You know what? I would say Ryan Giggs too.
I might have thought of Cantona, but look at the time Giggs has spent in the club and the no of titles. While others might hate Cantona, I doubt anyone would hate Giggsy. He’s also been very dignified throughout. And that’s a lot of positivity there. Keano and Cantona have had those moments of indiscretion, unlike Giggs. (For a United fan they will always be special). But from a neutral, Giggs edges them out.
Keano.
I’ve got to jump on the bandwagon and say Giggs as well. We all know his history and just how skillfull and important he has been to united and the premiership, but wat has made him so special to me is the way he has started to reinvent his game as he has got older and slower. His age may not let him rocket down the left touchline or beat defenders as much as he used to, but he has taken all his experience and natural skills to move inside into a more general role more often. It takes a real special player to adapt and change his game, and hopefully this will lengthen his career.
Dennis Bergkamp
Ryan Giggs
Goalkeepers:
Peter Schmiechel, David Seaman
Defenders
Tony Adams, Gary Pallister, John Terry, Steve Bruce, Colin Hendry
Midfielders
Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Gianfranco Zola, Patrick Vieira, Juninho
Strikers
Eric Cantona, Denis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Robbie Fowler, Ian Wright, Alan Shearer.
Those are all players i’d put up for consideration in their respective positions. But, over all best players, i’d have to give to Gianfranco Zola - what a legend!
Following your stipulation of greatest impact for his team in just the premiership I’d have to say either Cantona or Keane.
I’m a Gooner, so Bergkamp would get third place… His masterclass that was the 97/98 season led us to our first Premiership crown and our first title since 91!
Similarly when ManU had to do without Cantona for a season (karate kick) Blackburn won the title.
When they had to do without Keane for a season (long term injury) we won the league.
i am a united fan but i have 4 players now.
henry 4 arsenal
giggs 4 man u
lampard 4 chelsea
gerrard 4 liverpool
I chose players only from teams which have won the EPL and hence my list is limited to players from Arsenal(3 Titles), Blackburn(1 Title), Chelsea(2 Titles) and Man United(9 Titles).
My nominees -
Thierry Henry
Patrick Vieira
Alan Shearer
Frank Lampard
Eric Cantona
Ryan Giggs
Roy Keane
Peter Schmeichel
giggs, ronaldo, rooney, cantona, shearer, henry
no way lampard!!!!! never lampard
giggs , beckham, scholes
giggs , beckham, scholes
y did u all forget abt beckham?
Paulo Di Canio!!!
Laudrup / Le Saux /Desailly /Zola for Chelsea? Good ones but not so good as Cech Lammmard Terry
Bergkamp/ Vieira /SOl CAMPBELL for Arsenal. But no1 is HENRY
SCHOLES IS UNITED’S PLAYER.HE IS THE PASSING GAME HIMSELF.I do n know why we had to bring in Veron.Since then we destroyed owr midfield.We had scholesy play his game after Veron’s departure, and everything was ok like the old times.Remember the 06-07 season.When Scholesy doesn’t pass the ball noone can.You acn put so many players in United’s best but without scholes as their partner it’s meaningless.Keano,Cantona,Beckham,Giggs,Schmeichel,Ince,Neville aand so many others but they were never so wise as Scholes.he changes games.
Newcastle had shearer and gary speed everyone else crap.
Ahmed if you want players like Le Tissier,we had better craps in the premiershi.you like Paolo Di Canio ,too?
I’d say Schmeichel (the Great Dane) and Seaman for goalkeepers. Others would have to include Zola (the mighty midget), Shearer, Giggs, Henry, Bergkamp was a freak. The list goes on.
[Ahmed]
Wasn’t it surprising to see Gerrard show up pretty late in the comments?!
Wow! So many to chose from, I can not think of anyone more deserving of the title than Ryan Giggs. I am a Liverpool fan but consistency at such a high level is Ryan Giggs.
Teddy Sheringham
thenry,keane,veira and shearer he managed to look good playing for newcastle!!
and mine goes to Ryan Giggs, brilliant!
Big Al.no ones gonna score more goals than he did
ediur gudjohnsen
Has to be Henry, Shearer, Van Nistelrooy, Zola, Patrick Viera, Keane, Speed and Shay Given
Lampard’s impact in chelsea was two years ago Drogba took over this year so to even put him in contention for top player is ludacris.
I think there have been very many great players in the top clubs,and i think we should measure great players by the individual contributions they gave to their clubs.I’m an united fan and i have tremendous respect for giggs,cantona,schmeichel and keano,but lets face it, united back then was very strong,and none of them was expected to carry his team on his shoulders all by himself.Thats why i go for gerrard and henry as the best.For the past 5-6 seasons Arsenal was built around henry and without him they underperformed tremendously,he single handedly carried the team to the first ever undefeated season in the premiership,scored spectacular goals,highest goal scorer in arsenal historym and even this injury plagued season he came in as a sub and helped them sink the eventual winners,Hats of to henry and i hope his future in barcelorna is great.
Gerrard on the other hand helped,well repeating gerrard’s achievements would be criminal and anyone who doesn’t already know of gerrards history should be hanged for commiting football treason i believe we all no he is the heart and life of liverpool.
So i’d give it to gerrard then henry in that order seeing as in gerrard had to work with makeshift players nd still got the club to win two trophies
Alan Shearer is the greatest EVER!!!!!!!!!!!
im sayin frank sinclair. also the best ever keeper has to be paul jones he is awsome
my choices are
cantona
shearer
le tisier
keano for utd
scholey
beckham
and giggs.
@spizzy
I don’t buy this Gerrard crap. Pool has always been a ‘one-man-team’. Remember, before Gerrard there was McMannaman? He used to be the scouser’s Requelme. Did exactly the same as Gerrard (except win the CL). Before him, you can argue Barnes and Rush. Interesting that none of them get mentioned?
my vote; dennis bergkamp, zola, le tissier, giggs, cantona & shearer
after reading some more comments, I do have to think back and remember, Scholes, Berkamp, Catona, Shearer, Giggs, Schmiekle, Giggs, but my all time favorite player is not the best to all but is to me Gunnar!!!! Ole!!!
So obviously it’s Giggs or Henry, right? But I find it far more interesting to talk about ‘great’ in terms of impact on the EPL in all its facets (not just results).
Is it wrong for me to think that the greast EPL player should be English, or at least British? Surely Alan Shearer has meant more to the Premier League than anyone else for a longer period of time.
As a United fan I definately want to tip my hat to Giggs - certainly the memories he’s given us (me) will never be forgotten. Beckham too deserves some serious credit for being the poster child for the EPL for quite some time and bringing merchandise sales to a ridiculous level. But when one thinks of the greatest player one doesn’t immediately think ‘winger’.
After giving this some great deal of thought though I’m actually leaning towards Bergkamp. His arrival at Arsenal essentially signalled their resurgence and has concreted their place in the modern EPL as a superclub. His success prompted several other clubs to bring in a foreign attacker to add spark and creativity (eg Zola, Di Canio). More importantly his success allowed Wenger to come in and, over time, field a side with as many foreign players, mostly French and Dutch, as Englishmen - an approach also adopted by other big name clubs (eg Liverpool’s Spanish-centric squad and Chelsea’s African-centric squad). Surely Bergkamp’s arrival has had more impact on the nature of the modern EPL than any other player.
Thus whilst he’s no doubt nowhere near as popular as Mr. Shearer, I would definately give him the nod.
Bergkamp. Sheer class. Won the Double both before and after Henry arrived.
@Dbeech
What about Cantona?He is the first foreigner who achieved everything you said.He ’s the reason why SAF bought non british players and Henry has admitted that Cantona opened the road for french people
Matthew Le Tissier had a massive impact at a struggling club. Playing with other good players is the easy bit. Carrying a club pretty much on your shoulders for years surrounded by lesser lights and becoming the first midfielder past 100 goals (when only a handful of strikers had got there) surely marks out Le Tissier as being among the greats of the Premiership. Sadly, he was English and English payers aren’t allowed to be skillful, only ‘ard-working!
obviously henry look at his record hes da best and i memba watching a programme on sky 1 best ever prem players he was no.1 others are bergkamp keane vieira gigs cantona not schmiecal never lampard what the hell all he can do is shoot and hes only been okay since chelsea won the prem
Gary Speed!
Y just 1 player Y not pick a Premiership team
P.Schmeichel
G.Neville J.Terry T.Adams A.Cole
D.Beckham R.Keane R.Giggs
S.Gerrard
E.Cantona
T.Henry
My opinion… (sorry Bilal but its another Manchester United)
Roy Keane.
Giggs any day
Cantona second
Zola an Ole r also legends and have left thier mark in the EPL
Simple-Roy Keane
Nikos,
You make a good point about Cantona. Of course his success with United undoubtedly had an impact. But the key to United’s long period of success, IMO, was the English (and British) players coming through its youth system. In the case of Bergkamp, I feel his success in the team is what led to a transformation in how Arsenal went about their business which in turn has greatly impacted on the attitude other clubs try to create a good football side in the EPL.
Also, despite being a lifelong Cantona fan, I have an aversion to selecting someone as the greatest EPL player ever who karate kicks people in the head
.
Abramovic.
Nah, he had a great impact even if he’s not a player.
I reckon Cantona.
henry no.1 zola no.2 roy keane no.3 bergkamp no.4
you re right DBeech
i cannot believe how little people have said lampard…
i know he hasnt been the real deal for england in last couple of years but his record for chelsea is top class!
he has broken numerous records… scored a huge amount of goals for a midfielder in one of the most competitive leagues around… he would definetly be in my list along with henry, giggs, zola, gerrard (few years time)
alan shearer
eric cantona
roy keane
dennis berkamp
Ole Gunnar Solskjae
theirry henry
My first thoughts were for Keano.
Mainly for his ability to not only play brilliantly and pull a game out of the bag, but for his ability to bring the best out of others at important moments.
Schmeichel comes a close second, for similar reasons.
Honourable mentions to Henry, Shearer, Gerrard.
Between these 5 for me: Schmeical, Keane, Zola, Bergkamp, Henry.
Im trying not to be a biased United fan but i really can’t help it. All were beyond class and legends but i guess i saw more of the United players and noticed how big there impact was more than i did with the others.
So the final 2 are Keano and Schmikes. Think i’ll have to go with the one and only Peter Schmeichal, the greatest of Danes. He’s my second favourite ever player, after Henrik Larsson. He has my vote over Keano because his contribution and influence were certainly imense, made even more so because he was a goalie!He saved us many a time, was often the difference between 3 points or 1 point, made the defence feel confident and the whole squad knew they could rely on him. The prem will never see another like him. Cech doesn’t even come close!
Right now Drogba without a doubt.Amazing scorer for chelsea Not that cheating diver Ronaldo, before Cantona a legend for man U.
What, no mention of George Best???
Ok, scratch that, George Best is pre-permiership…
Ryan Giggs : “He’s won it nine times” , says it all. Seriously no one can really deny that, Gerrard , Henry , Zola etc have all been really good , but Giggsy has just been tremendous since it all began , scored in every season too , 9 premiership medals , FA cups , a Carling Cup . Check the stats , they don’t lie , hell I’ll crown him now the best premiership player ever , UNDOUBTABLY : Step forward Mr Ryan Giggs ! I know it , you know it , WE ALL KNOW IT
My opinion is that the best ever played in premiership is definetly Giggs.
Henry..:)
surprised there isnt more mentition of patrick viera his dominance in the mid field was only matched by roy keane.it is hard to seperate individuals from team success i agree with earlier comments that steven gerrad has had more impact at liverpool than most other players single handedly laeding his team.but i think my overall pick is roy keane he was the best midfeilder of his generation and his presence allowed man u to play beautifull football and enjoy the most success
Giggsy!!!
Between Cantona, Bergkamp, Zola, Giggs, Keane & Henry; gun to me head I’d say Cantona.
Def. has to be gigsy the gonger tho henry the goner comes in closely in 2nd..
LAMPARD…..all the way…just because he still has 3-4 years to go and the way he is performing…..yup…if not presently he soon will be one of the greates ever….giggs has been gr8 but not the MVP of Man united
i cant belive some people are actually serious about putting Fat Frank as their greatest ever player of the Premiership….are you serious ?? the guy has been consistent for what 2 years when they won the double….last year was Drogba…
The others who are saying Gerrard need to wake up too (and im a Liverpool Supporter).
I said initially Giggs and i still stand by that. But upon reflection i would say that Bergkamp is a close second followed by Keane.
I dont think that you could loko past those 3 in my opinion.
if you wanted to round out the top 5 you would put Schmeichael and Viera. Henry would be in your top 10 as would Shearer but he isnt the greatest. IMHO he isnt even the greatest at Arsenal, and all that arse kissing is what made him such an obnoxious turd and made it so hard for Gunners to deal with the fact that he has left.
WOW! These posts don’t look like a broken record: giggs… giggs… giggs… giggs.
Without a doubt he fits Ahmed’s bill perfectly: big impact over a long period of time, but everyone forgets the defensive players like Denis Irwin and Tony Adams. They never seem to get enough praise, only criticism. If for a whole game they play brilliantly, but they make a single mistake in the last minute, everyone suddenly forgets all the great tackles and interceptions the made throughout the reast of the game. What happens if Giggs or Henry make some ominous mistake? “Yea mate, sure he didn’t score on that play, but did you see how he dribbled past the defender?”
Don’t get me wrong; Giggs is my favorite player, but if i would have to choose a ‘premiership greatest ever’ it would be Tony Adams. Oh, and dont even mention Ronaldo, Gerrard or Lampard, they still have much to prove.
The fact that Giggs gave the most impact was because he being in the Priemiership too long,^^. So long that his legs giving away the pace and his speed getting slower each season but he still keeps on going, tha we gotta respect that. Tony Adams, yeah his great, how about David Seaman, his great too, how about Klinsman? Dennis Wise? Mark Huges? Brian Robson? Zeco? PaulGascoign?
All this players can be greatest but Giggs usually the obvious option because he has being here long enough!^^ He had encounter with all this great players before troughtout his career wtih Man Utd, he has being seen great players come and go.
But I still feel Peter Schmeichael still the best! Cause his performance was inspiring and the impact way much bigger then Giggs.^^
thierry henry is was the best player of Priemiership
I am so disappointed… its like 90% in here is man utd fans… you cant get a real discoussion when its 90% vs. the rest… i think Henry has had the greatest impact… just look at the midias at the moment… i dont think ive ever seen a that big circus around one player… And thats in denmark… Its got to be like 10 times as much in england… no doubt here… its Henry…
Cantona hands down. A title every year he played in the League. He lives and United lose the title. That says it all.
Followed by Giggs. 9 Premiership titles and counting
There is no doubt, Henry. I haven’t seen a player to his standards. To any defender or goalkeeper, Henry is hell.
Henry? How many Prmiership titles in his belt?Just only 2 for the your info. Is he the all time highest scorer ever in Premiership? I believe Alan Shearer is the all time highest ever scorer in the English Premier League with 260 goals. Henry might beat his record if he stays longer,lol.
Is he even GREATER then Dennis Bergkamp? You ask any hard core old timer Arsenal who is regarded as the best striker in Arsenal for 1992-2007, they will surely all answer Dennis Bergkamp. Cause his performance has always being inspiring and had made the greatest impact till the day he decided to retired as Gunner’s. Which automatically made him a legend in Arsenal’s heart.Bergkamp has been regarded by many football pundits such the as the great Pele as being the greatest foreign player to grace the English game.
Henry was Arsenal’s top Premiership goalscorer in almost every season since he joined the Arsenal,so what? Why Henry achieved so much but still doesnt have impact that Dennis Bergkamp has? Maybe Henry was one short to equal Dennis Bergkamp Premiership titles.
Even the home match against West Bromwich Albion,on April 15, 2006,, the Arsenal supporters dedicated the original “Supporter’s Day” match theme (one of the designated theme days Arsenal prepared to celebrate their last year at Highbury before moving to the Emirates Stadium) to “Dennis Bergkamp Day”, to commemorate Bergkamp’s time at Arsenal. Dont think Henry have that kind of day from supporters,since his move to Barcelona,lol.
So plz, although I am a Man Utd fan, but even I love Dennis more then Terry Henry.The greatest in Premiership doesnt have to be wining titles, awards, most goals or whatever records, is true in some ways. But mostly is all about how much the player had gave to game of Premiership. And Dennis Bergkamp did gave alot, Bergkamp scored 121 goals for Arsenal in 424 appearances, and set up a further 166 goals in his Arsenal career. Which made him the top three assist makers in Premier League history. A feet that very few strikers can achive.
Thats why I still stick with Peter Schmeichael!wuahahaha
hey remember Paul Gascoigne?
dennis berkamp, henry or cantona
they really knew how to play football
Gazza played 4 years in premiership 2 for boro plus 2 for everton.
jack saunderson u make no sense benyeoun is gd but is a bit if a twat …. it all abowt Di Canio
Paul Scholes - extremely underrated, yet the fulcrum of several supremely successful ManU lineups. He’s got the ability to hold on to the ball and knows exactly what to do, every single time. No frills player, but can get past defenders effortlessly when goal’s in sight. Move over Henry and Cantona, Paul Scholes was, is and will be(hopefully) the best club on earth’s Mr. Reliable. Whenever a defender doesn’t know what to do with the ball in a crucial juncture, he passes to Scholes and trusts that he’ll know what to do with it. I think that he is a great team player and one whom his teammates respect highly, and hence should be given a high place in history
i agree wid most people on ere giggs is well da best player in da premiership by far cum on united for da new season n im going 2 all da matches agen cum on!!!!!
im a chealsea fan so im guna say zola,lampard and john terry bt if no wid any ov dem i say ronaldo or giggs der was both brill last season.
Stacey …. sorry im struggling to understand what you have typed there…English please….
Anyway…. EVERYONE ELSE…i was the first to say it and if you are all talkign about the greatest Premiership player, you are talkign about the past 15 or so years…not just the past 4 or 5 or even 9 (for all you Cantona lovers)
What name other than Ryan Giggs stands out as consistency and quality.
If you want Impact there are alot of different names you could throw into the hat….Cantona, Schmeicael, Bergkamp, Henry, Zola, Beckham etc etc
but the question was “WHO IS THE PREMIERSHIPS GREATEST PLAYER EVER?” Answer = Ryan Giggs
Start a new thread about the biggest impact on the Premiership and you will get peoples favourites from their clubs. So it is all a pointless question.
And before anyone starts sprouting out about me favouring the Mancs because they are my team, think again.
I support Liverpool.
Just one KING AND THE KING IS IGWE as we all call him in my part of the world…. KING HENRY …
Gerrard for sure
As an Arsenal fan I’d have to say Patrick Vieira. He was that good even Manchester United tried to buy him! And over the time he was there Arsenal where the team to beat! OK some will say that was due to Henry but we had better days when Vieira was captain, and also 49 UNBEATEN!
Also the Vieira / Keane battles were brilliant! Gerrard wasn’t a patch on vieira when he was in his prime!
Thierry Henry (NO DOUBT!)
Henry, Giggs, Cantona, Zola, Scholes……the list is endless
[…] On Monday I asked everyone who they thought was the Premiership’s greatest player ever. […]
How can gerrard be the greatest premiership player when liverpool have never come close to winning. Its not even like he was playing for a smaller club like Ginola, di Canio, Le Tissier, etc, its liverpool for gods sake.
I think the only non arsenal or manchester players under consideration would be shearer and zola.
What is with G.Best.!?
There are many greats, but the 1 that stands out above them all would have to be Alan Shearer
He was awizerd with the ball,created chances for his team mates from the tightest angles possible and was a prolific goal scorer.Who else would it be if not GIANFRANCO ZOLA
1st Paul Scholes.
2nd Ryan Giggs.
3rd Thierry Henry.
LAMPARD IS THE GREATEST!!!!
liverpool is the greatest club ever been.
Steven Gerrard MBE champions league winner
Henry widout any doubt ….
1-therry henry
2-paul scholes
3-alan sherrah
1.Bergkamp
2.Henry
3.Giggs
4.Schmeichel
5.Shearer
6.Cantona
7.Zola
8.Vieira
9.Roy Keane
10.Tony Adams
yea these were all good but why has no-one mentioned OWEN you all loved him 9 years ago at france 98 still one of the greatest goal scorers of all time.
my team would be
schmeichel
carragher
adams
PAUL McGRATH (the legend)
pearce
viera
gerard
giggs
ince
shearer
henry
but the best has to be GOD aka PAUL McGRATH the greatest defender ever after PAOLO MALDINI who else as ever played week in week out with pure agony in their knees.
i saw the man live and no-body ever got around him
look cantona and alan shearer were the best players in the premiership pre wenger, when players like fowler,right,ferdinanad and sheringham were the henry of the time, when wenger started to bring an influx of stars - viera,henry,anelka, and on the other hand chelsea- zola and co by that time cantona had retired at just 30, the premiership went from an average league to the best in the world, the standards are 3 times as high now as it was pre foreign influx era so andy cole, fowler, giggs, alan shearer and co although they still starred in this era as well as the old they can only be judged on this era’s success basically cantona, 1992-1996 means nothing so the candidates are dennis bergkamp, vieira, schiemiechel, zola, juninho,ginola, giggs,scholes,gerard and henry. sorry but shearer quite doesn’t cut it, it’s time to except that english players always have been and are overrated average players, micheal owen flopped two world cups( 2002 and 2006-injured or not when he played he flopped)and two european championships, he has poor control of the ball he can’t run with the ball without almost falling over, he can’t pass the ball, he ha slost all his pace, he scores occassionally and i always hear that he has scored where ever he’s been like where? the world cups, european championships, ok he did well at real, ronaldo scored47 goals in 49 games for barcelona but the brazillians don’t get too excited, ur shit, 1966 was fluke and bad referring decisions, wenger, vialli and gullit made ur league when the foreigners leave u will return to ur lescotts and sidwells. one day wayne rooney will mess with the wrong person( i.e. edgar davids) and he will be taught a lesson, boy wonder, ha don’t make me laugh, why is he boy wonder? because he fouls a lot, he shoots from 30 yards, he scores occassionally, ronaldo at 20 was the best player in the world at barca, that’s a real boy wonder check you tube if u don’t believe me, cristiano is a fake version, u think shearer is a powerful shooting goal scorer what about batistuta, he scores 5 goals in 6 euro 96 games which were held in england by the way against the scots and a second string dutch team without( kluivert who when he came on the last 5 mins scored, without davids and many black stars), i mean ur philoophy is if he does well his the best, none is better without consideration for other players in other leagues until kaka scores two and knocks u out and then it’s kaka rather then previously when cristiano had the same skill level of maradonna and pele, wow. this has happened for years, when owen was new, they started saying he is the equivalent of ronaldo, but what happened ronaldo endured four years of injury and became overweight but still real madrid kept a fully fit owen on the bench instead opting for fatboy, ha. beckham can’t even dribble in the US.Gazza was good but what about barnes, racism? barnes was better than gazza. look i support arsenal henry was good, ur best ever after bergkamp and zola, but there are henry’s every year in spain and italy, roanldinho,etoo,messi,kaka,ronaldo,zidane and dozens and dozens more.compare this 1)henry 2)bergkamp 3) zola
to spain and italy 1)maradonna 2)ronaldo 3)zidane, also cruyff, di stefano, rivaldo,romario,laudrup,zico,hagi,figo,batistuta and dozens more for both italy and spain. by the way i was born here and i am 20 but the truth is ur too arrogant.
HENRY IS THE BEST PLAYER IN WORLD.ARSENAL WAS BUILT AROUND HENRY AND HE TOOK ARSENAL TO A GREAT PLACE.HE IS A REAL GOD PLAYER
HENRY IS THE BEST PLAYER IN WORLD.ARSENAL WAS BUILT AROUND HENRY AND HE TOOK ARSENAL TO A GREAT PLACE.HE IS A REAL GOOD PLAYER
He must be Rian Giggs. He is an absolut star of the EPL for the last 17 years. still he is one of the best players to fill in every position. Henry is another good player but he played 9 year in the EPL out of which 3 or 4 years as an ordinary player.
@james - What’s your point mate? You bith and bitch and bitch, but make no point…strange?!?
[Ahmed]
Is it possible to have some sort of a poll on this perhaps. It would be interesting to see what the graphs says.
Ryan Giggs is Officially the greatest player to grace the premiership, He’s the most decorated player in the league, he’s won the most trophies and personal accolades in the league including countless player of the month awards etc and all he know has left to win is the most caps ever for Utd as to which he looks like he’s going to achieve easilly.
The Only two that come close after that is Cantona and Gerrard for me… Cantona single handidly won Utd there first double after coming back from an 8 month ban and showing everybody exactly what he was capable of nobody could touch him. Then there’s Gerrard, being a United fan it pains me to say this but the guy is awesome.. bang on attitude class on the pitch captained both club and country and inspired massive wins in Europe….
All this talk about Henry is sad, granted good player but he had a team moulded around him everything went through him he was the star and arsenal were a one trick pony if he was so good how come he’s drowning now in a team full of world class players whats his record 3 in the last 10 la liga games? Is that the Henry of the Premiership?
Bastards.
How could you forget the little fella’ himself?
Juninho, of Middlesbrough glory.
The bright spark every time he played, the hero of so many seasons, and even in the twilight of his career, still managed to rip apart Man Utd. In fact, I seem to remember his 5′ 5″ frame scoring a header against them amazingly enough.
Aside from Le Tissier, each of those players were supported by 10 other great players, whereas Juninho had to do it at the Riverside. Surrounded by average to good players.
Imagine the impact he would have had elsewhere - even at Brazil he was a leading player behind the 2002 World Cup win.
He’d win it for me anyday, but in an argument between United fans, he doesn’t have a mention.
Giggs is the best british footballer of all time
SHEARER!!!
BENAYOUN
with out a dobut
I think the best player is probbaly Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer
Greatest Premiership Team Ever:
GK - Massimo Taibi
LB - Liam Rosenier
RB - Phil Babb
CB - Jean-Alain Boumsong
CB - Titus Bramble
LM - Keith Gillespie
RM - El-Hadji Diouf
CM - Rory Delap
RS - John Stead
CF - Deigo Forlan
LS - Geoff Horsefield
Bench: because they didnt turn up for training!
Giggs
Henry
FAT FRANK
Ronaldo
Gerrard
Chel$ki - Zola, Fat Frank, Terry, Cech(soon)
Lvapul - Gerrard, Fowler, Carragher
Manchester United - Keane, Giggs, Cantonna, Schmeichal, Scholes
Arse-n-all - henry, Bergkamp, Vieira
for me
1. Zola
2. Giggs
3. Schmeichal
4. Henry
5. Cantonna
6. Bergkamp
7. Keano
8. Scholes
9. Terry and Carragher(tied)
10. Fat Frank
One Day It Will Be Fernando Torreesss
Keepers -
Schmeichal
Seaman
David James
Defenders -
Tony Adams
Nigel Winterburn
Jaap Stam
Midfields -
Roy Keane
Patrick Viera
Ryan Giggs
Forwards -
Zola
Henry
Alan Shearer
No particular order.
Schmeical, Roy Keane, Giggs, Henry, Gerrard, Hypia, Zola, Beckham, Juninho, Shearer, Viera, Fowler, Owen, Cantona, Bergkamp, Carragher, Ince, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy, Lampard….. That would be my shortlist
As a geordie i have seen great players which have been fantastic for Newcastle and some of Man Utds players have been fantastic to watch BUT…the best player i have had the pleasure (well pain)of watching was Matt Le Tissier .
We would leave a game against Southampton and be saying how come one man can turn a game ….one game i would have said “yeah he got lucky” but he had a good game every game.
the list of greats and legends
just goes on and on
but my lsit of top 5 would be in the order
GIGGS
HENRY
CANTONNA
SHEARER
BECKHAM
when a zimbo speaks, he peaks with great authority, and the title goes to Thierry Henry. case closed lets publish the results
THE BEST EVER IS MICHEAL ESSIEN. THE BEST UTILITY PLAYER EVER TO BE PRODUCED
HOW CAN YOU ALL AFFORD TO FORGET ESSIEN? YOU HAVE TO BE OBJECTIVE BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Ryan Giggs is by far the best player to ever grace the premiership! I soo badly wish he was english because England would have won soo much more, but he was loyal to his country, which makes him just that little bit better. he is the longest lasting prem player at the minute, he has won the most medals ever, he has always been loyal to his club, he is 34 now and is still going as strong as ever and he would still be in my world XI now!!!! We Love You Giggsy. you should never stop playing!
Ryan Giggs - Statistically:
been in every premiership season
won 9 titles/ (runner up in a few too)
4 Fa cups (again a few runners up medals)
2 league cups
6 charity sheilds
1 Champions league
1 OBE
so all in all he has won almost the most individual trophies that any one player has won in ENGLAND
is current man u captain, has captained his country
has scored in every premiership season, is the highest scoring midfielder in the premiership ever.
will have achieved the most ever appearances for man utd by the time he retires.
i think the only record he wont have is the premierships top ever scorer and thats because hes not a striker.
many many other candidates: Seaman, Adams, Wright, Shearer, Sutton, Zola, Keane, Schmeichel, Scholes, Cantona, Henry, Gerrard, Le Tissier.
these are just the ones from the top of my head, every team has its legend but thats not what this is about. Giggs stands above them all for consistency and achievements and the general level of respect he commands from not being a media hore.
i hope no one tries to taint giggs as candidate by dragging up national honours because those who have achieved this success havent acheived domestic success anywhere near as often as Giggs. also national tournaments are generally a knock out situation so can be decided on a proportion of luck.
End of debate lets just award it to Giggs now
Most Def,
Thierry henry
Dennis Berkgamp
Eric Cantona
And of course Jose mourinho (LOL)
John Paintsil at West Ham - like Thierry Henry and John Terry roled into one.
The 5 Ledgends of the premiership
Rafael Shitz
Bosko Balaban
Titi Camara
Ade Akinbiyi
Sergei Rebrov.
5 i have to!
5.Daniel Agger
4.Thierry Henry
3.Eric Catona
2.Ian Rush
1.Steven Gerrard
All nominated playes are great. I love the reds in the EPL, but to me the greatest I have ever seen, hmm, it is so hard, Peter, Alan, Eric, Ian, Thierry, but I can only see one player, Ryan Giggs.
i hate liverpool but id have 2 say gerrard is already great and he will still be around 4 a while 2…
if not steve then either henry or giggs
Cristiano Ronaldo. Best player in the world. He is sensational!
Forget the cantona’s an ginola’s. The game has moved on so much from then.
Ronaldo will become the best player ever if he stays in England.
wivout a doubt
M Sir Alex Ferguson
1 Edwin van der Sar
29 Tomasz Kuszczak
12 Ben Foster
2 Gary Neville
6 Wes Brown
25 Danny Simpson
5 Rio Ferdinand
28 Gerard Pique
15 Nemanja Vidic
3 Patrice Evra
27 Mikael Silvestre
7 Cristiano Ronaldo
13 Ji-Sung Park
33 Chris Eagles
18 Paul Scholes
16 Michael Carrick
22 John O’Shea
4 Owen Hargreaves
8 Luis de Abreu Anderson
24 Darren Fletcher
11 Ryan Giggs
17 Luis Carlos Nani
10 Wayne Rooney
21 Fangzhuo Dong
32 Carlos Tevez
9
-Bilal 2 stop chattin rubbish dis is da team dat shud get it…
Jerzy Dudek
2. Alvero Arbeloa
3. Steve Finnan
4. Sami Hyypia
5. Daniel Agger
6. John Arne Riise
7. Harry Kewell
8. Steven Gerrard
9. Robbie Fowler
10. Luis Garcia
11. Mark Gonzalez
12. Fabio Aurelio
14. Xabi Alonso
15. Peter Crouch
16. Jermaine Pennant
17. Craig Bellamy
18. Dirk Kuyt
20. Javier Mascherano
22. Momo Sissoko
23. Jamie Carragher
24. Florent Sinama Pongolle (out on loan)
25. Pepe Reina
26. Paul Anderson
29. Gabriel Paletta
32. Boudewijn Zenden
32. Besian Idrizaj
34. Miki Roque
35. Danny Guthrie
37. Lee Peltier
38. Craig Lindfield
39. Stephen Darby
40. David Martin
42. Nabid El Zhar
GK
P. Schmeichel
D. Seaman
R. Clemence
P. Cech
C. Cudicini
P. Shilton
DF
A. Hansen
J. Terry
S. Campbell
T. Adams
A. Cole
R. Ferdinand
MD
M. Le Tissier
S. Gerrard
P. Scholes
P. Vieira
C. Makelele
F. Lampard
T. Brooking
FW
P. di Canio
D. Ginola
A. SHEARER
G. ZOLA (MY CHOICE)
D. Bergkamp
T. Henry
G. Hurst
G. Best
C. Ronaldo
R. Giggs
ERIC CANTANA AND RYN GIGGS
Sakib we are talking abuot EPl not before EPl if u talk than only one name that is George Best the Most Gifted Footballer ever the world have seen