EPL team of the decade-midfield

carlop

dyl10 wrote: »

Duff should be in the poll, I don't think he's there on an Irish bias(he made more of an impact on the premiership than Robben). Andy Reid shouldn't be there, Downing is a better contender than he is.

Giggs and Pires/Ronaldo for me probably. Ronaldo will win out because of recent memory syndrome.

Ronaldo will win out because he had an almost unparalleled impact on the premiership in the few years he was there. It's harsh on Pires who was a great player, but Ronaldo and Giggs have these places nailed down, and deservedly so.

Morzadec

dyl10 wrote: »

Duff should be in the poll, I don't think he's there on an Irish bias(he made more of an impact on the premiership than Robben). Andy Reid shouldn't be there, Downing is a better contender than he is.

Giggs and Pires/Ronaldo for me probably. Ronaldo will win out because of recent memory syndrome.

Ah c'mon I hate the chap but to suggest he is there on anything other than merit is ridiculous. You're talking about a player who was one of the top 5 in the Prem for about 5 years, and probably the best for about 2-3.

The amount of goals he scored as a winger was something no one had ever seen before in football let alone the Premiership, not to mention assists etc...

He picks himself in my opinion and I'm surprised he's not well into the over 90% choice bracket. Really see no justifiable way of not including him.

Spiritoftheseventies

Morzadec wrote: »

Ah c'mon I hate the chap but to suggest he is there on anything other than merit is ridiculous. You're talking about a player who was one of the top 5 in the Prem for about 5 years, and probably the best for about 2-3.

The amount of goals he scored as a winger was something no one had ever seen before in football let alone the Premiership, not to mention assists etc...

He picks himself in my opinion and I'm surprised he's not well into the over 90% choice bracket. Really see no justifiable way of not including him.

Yes very suprised some people made so much noise complaining about Duffs inclusion. They really should know better. Has been plagued with one injury after another injury which hasnt helped.

greendom

Pires > Giggs but not as good as Ronaldo imo

Rekop dog

Kinda funny Liverpool didn't have a winger of note for the last 10 years!

JPA

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Yes very suprised some people made so much noise complaining about Duffs inclusion. They really should know better. Has been plagued with one injury after another injury which hasnt helped.

He's talking about Ronaldo there!

Anyway I think at his peak Pires was better than Giggs at his peak, although Giggs longevity gives him the advantage.

Spiritoftheseventies

Rekop dog wrote: »

Kinda funny Liverpool didn't have a winger of note for the last 10 years!

shush. Dont get "the others" started

Frisbee

At their peak Duff and Robben were amazing, but the peak only lasted about 2 years so neither deserve to be in the team of the decade imo considering they both only had two outstanding years.

Morzadec

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Yes very suprised some people made so much noise complaining about Duffs inclusion. They really should know better. Has been plagued with one injury after another injury which hasnt helped.

I was talking about Ronaldo in my post.

Yeah Duff probably justified in inclusion in the poll, but to be honest he doesn't come near winning one of the spots for me. There would be 6 or 7 at least I think who I would place above him

OPENROAD

First choice has to be Robert Pires, formed a great partneship down the left with Ashley Cole, don't expect Pires to get the votes here which is a shame, but to actually see him play in the flesh regularly I think people would recognise what a great player he was.

Second choice for me would be Freddie, a degree of bias from me on this one, but would certainly have him ahead of many of the nominations, great winger who could always get himself in the right spot to score many many goals.

GLaDOS

Went with Pires and Giggs myself.

Is including Andy Reid a joke? I laughed anyway!

L'prof

OPENROAD wrote: »

First choice has to be Robert Pires, formed a great partneship down the left with Ashley Cole, don't expect Pires to get the votes here which is a shame, but to actually see him play in the flesh regularly I think people would recognise what a great player he was.

Second choice for me would be Freddie, a degree of bias from me on this one, but would certainly have him ahead of many of the nominations, great winger who could always get himself in the right spot to score many many goals.

I'm as biased as the next person but, no Mr Premier League? :eek:

Giggs and Pires for me. My bias ruling in the selection of Pires over Ronaldo!

Eire-Dearg

What a joke of a poll!

Andy Reid?

OPENROAD

jasonorr wrote: »

I'm as biased as the next person but, no Mr Premier League? :eek:

Giggs and Pires for me. My bias ruling in the selection of Pires over Ronaldo!

I would take Pires over Ronaldo any day of the week.

Possibly should have given my second vote to Giggs maybe over Freddie, but Freddie in his prime was excellent, a very underrated player imo and certainly if he was Irish or played for utd would be more recognised here.

therokerroar

Andy Reid in a poll for a spot in the Premier League Team of The Decade, FFS :pac:

PHB

Vierra, Fabregas, Gerrard, Lampard, Makelelle, Essien, Scholes. four more names should do?

Roy Keane? Left United in 2005. He was good.

noodler

OPENROAD wrote: »

First choice has to be Robert Pires, formed a great partneship down the left with Ashley Cole, don't expect Pires to get the votes here which is a shame, but to actually see him play in the flesh regularly I think people would recognise what a great player he was.

Second choice for me would be Freddie, a degree of bias from me on this one, but would certainly have him ahead of many of the nominations, great winger who could always get himself in the right spot to score many many goals.

I think Freddie has more of the peaking early criticism than Duff to be honest. Also didn't last as long in the prem.

He had two great goalscoring seasons IIRC but I am open to correction.

I went for Giggs and Pires. Ronaldo was super effective but he was like the Venus sisters of soccer, I went for sexy Robert "Sharapova" Pires.

PHB

I'd go for Pires and Ronaldo personally. Ronaldo and Pires both switched sides enough, especially the former, to justify their inclusion.

Pepe LeFrits

Sigh...

daithijjj

Are my eyes deceiving me?, not one single mention of this little fella?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ywVLaJtNw

"Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard, and the wizard must try everything"

Claudio Ranieri

flahavaj

daithijjj wrote: »

Are my eyes deceiving me?, not one single mention of this little fella?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ywVLaJtNw

"Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard, and the wizard must try everything"

Claudio Ranieri

Wasn't a winger.

dyl10

daithijjj wrote: »

"Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard, and the wizard must try everything"

Claudio Ranieri

Probably wrong decade too...

daithijjj

flahavaj wrote: »

Wasn't a winger.

Forgive me, when i saw andy reid in the list i thought i could bring in anyone into topic.

L'prof

noodler wrote: »

I think Freddie has more of the peaking early criticism than Duff to be honest.

Are you saying Duff was better?

noodler wrote: »

Also didn't last as long in the prem.

9 seasons with Arsenal and one with West Ham.

noodler wrote: »

He had two great goalscoring seasons IIRC but I am open to correction.

Scored over 8 for 6 seasons in a row, hitting as many as 17 one season. Pires was much more prolific though.

noodler

jasonorr wrote: »

Are you saying Duff was better?

Over the course of their respective careers? Yes.

jasonorr wrote: »

9 seasons with Arsenal and one with West Ham.



Scored over 8 for 6 seasons in a row, hitting as many as 17 one season. Pires was much more prolific though.

Fair enough when did he leave Arsenal?

L'prof

noodler wrote: »

Over the course of their respective careers? Yes.

Can't even remotely agree with that one.

noodler wrote: »

Fair enough when did he leave Arsenal?

He joined in 98-99 and left after 06-07.

leninbenjamin

Pires and Ronaldo for me. Giggs and Ljunberg follow close behind, but those two were the ones who really stand out for me.

d22ontour

OPENROAD wrote: »

Second choice for me would be Freddie, a degree of bias from me on this one, but would certainly have him ahead of many of the nominations, great winger who could always get himself in the right spot to score many many goals.

Had Freddie as my other winger.Always liked him except when playing United.. :P

noodler

jasonorr wrote: »

Can't even remotely agree with that one.

Thats alright.

SlickRic

OPENROAD wrote: »

First choice has to be Robert Pires, formed a great partneship down the left with Ashley Cole, don't expect Pires to get the votes here which is a shame, but to actually see him play in the flesh regularly I think people would recognise what a great player he was.

Second choice for me would be Freddie, a degree of bias from me on this one, but would certainly have him ahead of many of the nominations, great winger who could always get himself in the right spot to score many many goals.

that bias is beautiful.

and you do admit it, to be fair to you.

Pres, fair enough. i absolutely adore the guy, and he was more impressive than Giggs at United during that era in the Premiership.

there is no way in anyone's eyes, no matter how much a lot of us probably cannot stand the guy, can you not pick Ronaldo over Freddie.

Ronaldo is a freak of nature, whose records from the wing will more than likely never be replicated.

CHD

He wasn't on the wing all the time to break records, he played up front.

L'prof

SlickRic wrote: »

that bias is beautiful.

and you do admit it, to be fair to you.

Pres, fair enough. i absolutely adore the guy, and he was more impressive than Giggs at United during that era in the Premiership.

there is no way in anyone's eyes, no matter how much a lot of us probably cannot stand the guy, can you not pick Ronaldo over Freddie.

Ronaldo is a freak of nature, whose records from the wing will more than likely never be replicated.

Maybe not in the Premiership but, Messi eclipsed him the following season in Spain.

SlickRic

jasonorr wrote: »

Maybe not in the Premiership but, Messi eclipsed him the following season in Spain.

ok, i should have specified 'in the Premiership'.

we're privileged to watch Messi and Ronaldo play.

OPENROAD

SlickRic wrote: »

that bias is beautiful.

and you do admit it, to be fair to you.

Pres, fair enough. i absolutely adore the guy, and he was more impressive than Giggs at United during that era in the Premiership.

there is no way in anyone's eyes, no matter how much a lot of us probably cannot stand the guy, can you not pick Ronaldo over Freddie.

Ronaldo is a freak of nature, whose records from the wing will more than likely never be replicated.

We are all bias to a degree some more than others and I will admit the Freddie vote did have a degree of bias about it, (but I did see Freddie playing live many many times and was imo a very underated player.)
just like people voting for Duff, O Shea and Reid cause they are Irish.

Ronaldo was a top player but not as special as some make him out to be.

SlickRic

CHD wrote: »

He wasn't on the wing all the time to break records, he played up front.

i'm not defending him in detail.

i refuse to.

but you know the wing was his position most of the time.

and OPENROAD, name me someone else who did what he did?

i can't stand him as much as the next guy, but he was phenomenal.

L'prof

SlickRic wrote: »

ok, i should have specified 'in the Premiership'.

we're privileged to watch Messi and Ronaldo play.

I don't see too much of Ronaldo any more but, I'll always try and watch Barcelona.

Rekop dog

jasonorr wrote: »

Maybe not in the Premiership but, Messi eclipsed him the following season in Spain.

when did messi eclipse him? Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all comps two years ago and Messi scored 38 last year. Ronaldo also got 30+ in the league where messi hasn't.

OPENROAD

SlickRic wrote: »

i'm not defending him in detail.

i refuse to.

but you know the wing was his position most of the time.

and OPENROAD, name me someone else who did what he did?

i can't stand him as much as the next guy, but he was phenomenal.

Henry, Bergkamp were better players imo

L'prof

Rekop dog wrote: »

when did messi eclipse him? Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all comps two years ago and Messi scored 38 last year. Ronaldo also got 30+ in the league where messi hasn't.

In terms of overall contribution and quality of play, did you just ignore the fact that Messi also had 18 assists last season and ultimately was the driving factor for Barcelona's clean sweep?

Rekop dog

jasonorr wrote: »

In terms of overall contribution and quality of play, did you just ignore the fact that Messi also had 18 assists last season and ultimately was the driving factor for Barcelona's clean sweep?

Ok, just responded because you quoted the bit where he said his ‘records' will never be beaten and you said they've been eclipsed.. There's a difference between beating his records and beating his performances, which is also arguable IMO.

L'prof

Rekop dog wrote: »

Ok, just responded because you quoted the bit where he said his ‘records' will never be beaten and you said they've been eclipsed.. There's a difference between beating his records and beating his performances, which is also arguable IMO.

True but, I feel the 38 goals and 18 assists is a better record than 42 goals and 8 assists from Ronaldo the previous season.

Rekop dog

jasonorr wrote: »

True but, I feel the 38 goals and 18 assists is a better record than 42 goals and 8 assists from Ronaldo the previous season.

I suppose! Messi played more games though and was playing in a better team. Call it a draw?

L'prof

Rekop dog wrote: »

I suppose! Messi played more games though and was playing in a better team. Call it a draw?

He played two more games and while I do agree that Barcelona were better, United still won the champions league that season.

You can call it a draw if you want, not me! Anyway, waaaaaay ot here!

Rekop dog

jasonorr wrote: »

He played two more games and while I do agree that Barcelona were better, United still won the champions league that season.

You can call it a draw if you want, not me! Anyway, waaaaaay ot here!

Ok you win. I fold like origami.

CHD

Messi > Ronaldo all day everyday. That should clear it up. No draw, Messi wins. I won't be drawn into a debate about it I have made my decision.

Xavi6

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

So you are totally discluding Duff. Was going to be Giggs and and Ronaldo anyway.

And Lennon. And Reid.

We could pick Stephen Irelands granny and the vote still wouldn't change.

Nice irrelevant comeback. Unsurprising.

Morzadec

Whther Messi is better than Ronaldo is irrelevant to this poll (I for one think he is).

What is relevant is that Ronaldo was one of the most effective players to ever play in the Premiership. There's some top players on this list but none of them come close to the ability and impact that Ronaldo had in the Premiership.

Really can't fathom how anyone can leave him out of their vote. I don't kniw how people can justify their bias by claiming bias from others in other threads.

Just to be clear, this isn't a poll on 'who you like the most' or 'who you saw play in the flesh'.

It's on who was the best two wingers in the Premiership between January 00 and December 09.

From these poll results it seems that close to 35% of people on this forum either don't have a clue about football or have absolutely no concept of making an objective decision based on reason and not on bias.

Quite simply not voting for Ronaldo is unjustifiable. I don't think I need to even put 'in my opinion' in there.

I hate the chap but he was pretty much in a different class to the rest on the list

L'prof

Morzadec wrote: »

From these poll results it seems that close to 35% of people on this forum either don't have a clue about football or have absolutely no concept of making an objective decision based on reason and not on bias.

Quite simply not voting for Ronaldo is unjustifiable. I don't think I need to even put 'in my opinion' in there.

I hate the chap but he was pretty much in a different class to the rest on the list

Wasn't that clear from the whole JOS saga?

OPENROAD

Morzadec wrote: »

Just to be clear, this isn't a poll on 'who you like the most' or 'who you saw play in the flesh'.

But thats how they end up being voted on or nationality or who the player plays for i.e. JOS, Dunne....

Morzadec

jasonorr wrote: »

Wasn't that clear from the whole JOS saga?

It was yeah but I thought it may have just been United and Ireland fans. Didn't know there was a whole other set of fans that couldn't leave their biases behind.

OPENROAD wrote: »

But thats how they end up being voted on or nationality or who the player plays for i.e. JOS, Dunne....

That's how some people vote for players. i.e. the retards/partisan fans who can't vote objectively or even worse the ones that bemoan a biased vote and then vote themselves biasly to offset it (i.e. hypocrits).