3 Of the best?

[Dark Savante]

OK, I'm curious. Easy thread really. All I want to know is in the English Division 1 or PL era, who are the top 3 players you have seen at each of these positions on the pitch?

GK
1.
2.
3.

LB
1.
2.
3.

CB
1.
2.
3.

RB
1.
2.
3.

LM
1.
2.
3.

CM
1.
2.
3.

RM
1.
2.
3.

SS
1.
2.
3.

CF
1.
2.
3.

Simply fill in each section. Please don't be biased...if they aren't United players who you think were honestly the best in each position...don't MAKE it so....


Can I just add on that these lists are personal..go with what you feel and not what the consensus is.

ALSO add the club on at which said players made their impression on you...as some players have been at multiple clubs and were stellar at only 1 or 2 out of x

[Numquam Moribimur]

DS are we talking about this year or our time watching football ? Ta

EDIT: wait i am retarded..............:o :D

[Dark Savante]

DS are we talking about this year or our time watching football ? Ta

EDIT: wait i am retarded..............:o :D

I was just about to Edit it and this on:
Can I just add on that these lists are personal..go with what you feel and not what the consensus is.

:o

[Vermont Red]

I haven't been watching long, so almost everyone on my list is still active.

GK
1. Fridel
2. Given
3. Cech

LB
1. Cole
2. Heinze
3.

CB
1. Ferdinand
2. Gallas
3. Campbell

RB
1. Neville
2.
3.

LM
1. Giggs
2. Pires
3.

CM
1. Keane
2. Scholes
3. Gerrard

RM
1. Ronaldo
2.
3.

SS
1. Bergkamp
2. Rooney
3.

CF
1. Van Nistelrooy
2. Henry
3. Shearer

[sitati_kituyi]

GK
1. Peter Schmikes - United
2. David Seaman - Arsenal
3. David James when in form - various

LB (tough!)
1. Denis Irwin - United
2. Lee Dixon/Nigel Winterburn - Arsenal
3. Ashley Cole - Arsenal

CB
1. Jaap Stam - Manchester United
2. Tony Adams - Arsenal
3. John Terry - Chelsea

RB
1. Gary Neville - United
2. Lauren - Arsenal (always, and still, underrated)
3. Gary Kelly - Leeds

LM
1. Ryan Giggs - United
2. Robert Pires - Arsenal
3. Harry Kewel - Leeds United

CM
1. Roy Keane - United
2. Patrick Vieira - Arsenal
3. Paul Scholes - United

RM
1. David Beckham - United
2. Cristiano Ronaldo - United
3. Freddie Ljungberg - Arsenal

SS
1. Denis Bergkamp - Arsenal
2. Gianfranco Zola - Chelsea
3. Paolo di Canio when on form - West Ham

CF
1. Thierry Henry - Arsenal
2. Ruud van Nistelrooy - United
3. Alan Shearer - Newcastle

Many worthy mentions as well, and for those shocked by my choices, I started following football the *very* year after Cantona retired, his inclusion would be a lie as I never saw him play.

[5_EUROPEAN_CUPS]

GK
1. Schmichael
2. Southall
3. Grobs (when he wasn't on the take)

LB
1. Irwin
2. Cole
3. Winterburn

CB
1. Hansen
2. Stam
3. Adams

RB
1. Babbel
2. Dixon
3. Neville (inbred ****)

LM
1. Giggs
2. Pires
3. Kewell

CM
1. Souness
2. Keane
3. Vieira

RM
1. Overmars
2. McManaman
3. Hleb (scary how good this lad looks thesedays)

SS
1. Dalglish
2. Bergkamp
3. Scholes (not really a SS but deserved a mention somewhere and given his scoring record it could be argued)

CF
1. Rush
2. Shearer
3. Henry

[yikchi]

My list consists of players i remember in my childhood living in Hong Kong (late 80's) & about the last 10 years
the years in between are lost (around 89 to 95) since there's no coverage of football/soccer in the U.S. and the Internet is not popularized just yet.

GK
1. Schmikes
2. Southall
3. Pat Jennings

LB
1. Irwin
2. Stuart Pearce
3. A. Cole

CB
1. Stam
2. Rio
3. Sol Campell

RB
1. G. Neville
2. Gary Stevens
3. Finnan

LM
1. Giggs
2. Ginola
3. Duff

CM
1. Keano
2. Scholes
3. Gerrard

RM
1. Beckham
2. C. Ronaldo
3. McManaman

SS
1. Cantona
2. Sheringham
3. Bergkemp

CF
1. Shearer
2. RVN
3. Henry

[The Guv'nor]

I haven't filled out all areas as I think just guessing at ones I'm not sure would be pointless. Also at my age I can't go more than 14 years back really (apart from those I've seen highlights of).

GK: 1. The Great Dane
2. Cech
3. Seaman

LB: 1. Mr.Dependable
2. Ashley Cole
3. Undecided (O'Shea on 02/03 nutmegging Figo, drag backand smashing the bar form?:p )

CB: 1. McGrath
2. Campbell
3. Stam

RB: 1. G.Neville
2. Undecided
3. Undecided

LM: 1. Giggs
2. Ronaldo
3. Robben

CM: 1. Robbo (80's)
2. Scholes. Paul Scholes.
3. The Irishman

RM: 1. Ronaldo
2. Beckham
3. Kanchelskis

8/9 United players:cool: Special mention for Kinkladze as well, I liked him, was an exciting player at a massive club :cool:

SS: 1. Cantona
2. Zola
3. Bergkamp

CF: 1. Henry
2. Shearer
3. Undecided between Hughes or Cole.

[Invincible]

GK
1.Peter Schmeichel
2.Cech
3.Shay Given

LB
1.Heinze
2.Ca$hley Cole
3. Dennis Irwin

CB
1.Jaap Stam
2.Rio Ferdinand
3.Sol Campbell

RB
1.Neville(more recently)
2.I have no idea
3.no clue

LM
1.Giggs
2.Pires
3.Robben

CM
1.Keane
2.Scholes
3.Gerrard

RM
1.Beckham
2.C. Ronaldo
3.??

SS
1.Rooney
2.Zola
3.Bergkamp

CF
1.Ruud Van Nistelrooy
2.Henry
3.Shearer

[johno]

GK
1. Great Dane
2. Given
3. Seaman

LB
1. Irwin
2. Cole
3. Bridge - amazing talent that's almost never recognized

CB
1. Addams
2. Stam
3. Sol - Spurs/Anal

RB
1. Neville
2. Lauren
3. Finnan

LM
1. Giggs
2. Pires
3. Duff - Rovers

CM
1. Keane
2. Vieira
3. Scholes

RM
1. Ronaldo
2. Beckham
3. Gerrard - should be mentioned somewhere

SS
1. Bergkamp
2. Cantona - United
3. Dwight Yorke - Villa/United

CF
1. RvN
2. Shearer
3. Henry

[SirManchester]

GK
1. Schmeichel - Manchester United Football Club
2. Given - Newcastle
3. David Seaman - Arsenal

LB
1. Dennis Irwin - Manchester United Football Club
2. Ashley Cole - Arsenal
3. Ian Harte - Leeds

CB
1. Jaap Stam - Manchester United Football Club
2. Sol Campbell - Arsenal
3. Rio Ferdinand - Leeds/ Manchester United Football Club

RB
1. Gary Neville - Manchester United Football Club
2. Marcus Babbel - Liverpool
3. Dan Petrescu - Chelsea

LM
1. Ryan Giggs - Manchester United Football Club
2. Robert Pires - Arsenal
3. Harry Kewell - Leeds

CM
1. Roy Keane - Manchester United Football Club
2. Steven Gerrard - Liverpool
3. Dietmar Hamann - Liverpool

RM
1. David Beckham - Manchester United Footbal Club
2. Steve McManaman - Liverpool
3. Andreij Kanchelskis - Manchester United Football Club

SS
1. Eric Cantona - Manchester United Football Club
2. Gianfranco Zola - Chelsea
3. Paolo Di Canio - West Ham

CF
1. Alan Shearer - Blackburn/Newcastle
2. Thierry Henry - Arsenal
3. Teddy Sheringham - Tottenham/Manchester United Football Club

[Vermont Red]

RM
1. David Beckham - Manchester United Footbal Club
2. Steve McManaman - Manchester United Football Club
3. Andreij Kanchelskis - Manchester United Football Club


Was he really that good at United?

[Stud83]

2. Emil Zola - Chelsea

Is that a clone of Heskey and Zola? Man, this guy must be good :eek:
;)

[The Guv'nor]

Dwight Yorke

Completely forgot him! Feel guilty now. What a first season he had. Top scorer and top of assists if I remember correctly.

A few years before that he was one of my favourite players when he was at Villa.

[SirManchester]

:eek: Christ, I'm all over the map today. Thanks guys. Been up since the very mornin without the daily caffeine intake. :o

[holytoledo]

GK
1. Schmeichel -MUFC
2. Given -Newcastle
3. Friedel -Blackburn

LB
1. Irwin - MUFC
2. Pearce - Forest
3. Le Saux - Blackburn/Chelsea

CB
1. Stam - MUFC
2. Adams - Arsenal
3. Gallas - Chelsea

RB
1. G. Neville - MUFC
2. Dixon - Arsenal
3. Finnan - Fulham

LM
1. Giggs - MUFC
2. Duff - Blackburn
3. Overmars - Arsenal

CM
1. Keane - MUFC
2. Viera - Arsenal
3. Scholes - MUFC

RM
1. Beckham - MUFC
2. McManaman - Liverpool
3. Pires - Arsenal

SS
1. Bergkamp - Arsenal
2. Cantona - MUFC
3. Sheringham - Anywhere

CF
1. Shearer - Newcastle
2. Ruud - MUFC
3. Henry - Arsenal

[Stud83]

GK
1. Schmeichel -MU
2. Seaman - Arsenal
3. Given - Newcastle

LB

1. Irwin - MU
2. Le Saux - Blackburn/Chelsea
3. A. Cole - Arsenal

CB
1. Stam - MU
2. Desailly- Chelsea
3. Rio - MU

RB
1. G. Neville - MU
2. Dixon - Arsenal
3. Finnan - Fulham/Liverpool

LM
1. Giggs - MU
2. Overmars - Arsenal
3. Kewel - Leeds

CM
1. Keane - MU
2. Gerrard - Liverpool
3. Vieira - Arsenal

RM

1. Beckham - MU
2. Ronaldo - MU
3. McManaman - Liverpool

SS
1. Cantona - MU
2. Bergkamp - Arsenal
3. Zola - Chelsea

CF
1. RVN - MU
2. Henry - Arsenal
3. Owen - Liverpool

[benni...]

There should be one more slot for CAM but here goes..

GK
1. Schmeichel -MU
2. Given - Newcastle
3. Friedal - Blackburn (has to be the most underrated GK in England with Given) Liverpool should have kept him.

LB

1. Irwin - MU
2. Psyco - Forest
3. A. Cole - Arsenal

CB
1. Stam - MU
2. Adams - Arsenal
3. Rio/Campbell

RB
1. G. Neville - MU
2. Dixon - Arsenal
3. Finnan - Fulham/Liverpool

LM
1. Giggs - MU
2. Overmars - Arsenal
3. Duff - Blackburn

CM
1. Keane - MU
2. Vieira - Arsenal
3. Scholes/Petit

RM

1. Beckham - MU
2. Ronaldo - MU
3. Robert Pires - Arsenal

SS
1. Bergkamp - Arsenal
2. Cantona - MU
3. Zola - Chelsea

CF
1. Alan Shearer - NU
2. RVN - MU
3. Henry - Arsenal

[433tom]

GK
1. Peter Schmeichel - Manchester United
2. Peter Cech - Chelsea
3. David Seaman - Arsenal

LB
1. Dennis Irwin - Manchester United
2. Stuart Pearce - Nottingham Forest
3. Ashley Cole - Arsenal

CB
1. Jaap Stam - Manchester United
2. Alan Hansen - Liverpool (pure class even if he did play for Liverpool)
3. Terry Butcher - Ipswich Town (Bravest player I ever saw)

RB
1. Gary Neville - Manchester United (due to this season)
2. Lee Dixon - Arsenal
4. Marcus Babbel - Liverpool

LM
1. Ryan Giggs - Manchester United
2. David Ginola - Tottenham
3. Harry Kewell - Leeds (looked to be the best when at Leeds)

CM
1. Paul Gascoigne - Tottenham
2. Bryon Robson - Manchester United
3. Roy Keane - Manchester United

RM
1. Steve McManaman - Liverpool (worst career choice in history going to Spain)
2. David Beckham - Manchester United
3. Christiano Ronaldo - Manchester United (will be the best)

I decided to forget the CF and SS stuff as I needed to include Wright. :)

S
1. Eric Cantona - Manchester United
2. Ian wright - Arsenal/Crystal Palce
3. Gianfranco Zola - Chelsea

S
1. Ian Rush - Liverpool
1. Thierry Henry - Arsenal
3. Alan Shearer - Blackburn/Newcastle

[G dot Ozo]

Based on what I've seen:

GK
1. Seaman- Arsenal
2. Given- Newcastle
3. Schmeichel - Man United

LB

1. Pearce- Nottingham Forest
2. Cole- Arsenal
3. Irwin- Man United

CB
1. Adams- Arsenal
2. Stam- Man United
3. Desially- Chelsea

RB
1. G. Neville - Man United
2. Dixon - Arsenal
3. Finnan - Fulham

LM
1. Giggs - Man United
2. Pires- Arsenal
3. Overmars- Arsenal

CM
1. Vieira- Arsenal
2. Keane- Man United
3. Hamann- Liverpool

RM

1. Beckham - Man United
2. McManaman- Liverpool
3. Ljungberg- Arsenal

SS
1. Bergkamp- Arsenal
2. Cantona- Man United
3. Scholes- Man United

CF
1. Henry- Arsenal
2. Shearer- Blackburn/Newcastle
3. Owen - Liverpool