The Premier League All-Stars

The official website for the Premier League is a great place to waste a bit of online time in between the amusing cats or leaked celebrity phone photos or whatever else you sick twisted weirdos are in to.  Never more so than at the moment, since the site is running a vote for a number of different areas to commemorate 20 seasons of 'EPL' action.

Video shortlists for the best goal, save, match and celebration are excellent, (Le Tiss, Gordon, that 4-3 and Bullard)  but what today's post is focussing on is the vote for the all-time greatest team.  It gives you a selection of players for each position, all you need to do is drag and drop to form the best 11 that the twenty years have produced.

Let's walk through my selection:

Goalkeeper.
For me there is really just one choice here that stands just that little bit above the rest.  Friedel and Given have been excellent for a very long time, Seaman, Cech and James all were superb.  The greatest goalkeeper that I have ever seen however remains Peter Schmeichel.  His presence alone was enough to put an element of self-doubt into even the deadliest striker - even in a one-on-one clean through situation you still fancied Schmeichel to make the save.  His iconic starfish jump has been mimicked but never bettered, and some of his saves were breathtaking.  Add to this his invaluable contribution as an organiser of defences (through basically terrorising them into playing well) and also as a potent attacking weapon with his excellent distribution; and for me there's none better than the Great Dane

Right Back:
Another fairly easy choice.  Nowadays the best pundit around, putting the rest to shame, and for a long time the best right back around as well.  Gary Neville was consistently solid in a position that just requires you to be consistently solid.  A great foil for David Beckham, solid enough to allow Ronaldo free rein, capable of excellent delivery from the touchline and above all with a commitment to the cause that could never be questioned.

Centre Backs:
This is tougher, there are some excellent candidates on this shortlist so picking just two is not easy.  Adams, McGrath and Bruce only played for a relatively short time in the Premier League so although both superb I'm ruling them out.  Desailly was ever so slightly past his prime when he came to our shores so again he goes.  Carragher and Terry are both outstanding exponents of the last ditch, but I'd prefer defenders in my team that don't need to rely on the last ditch; plus I want players who can bring it out of defence.  For that reason my first pick is Rio Ferdinand - skilful, strong, quick and elegant - for a time around 2002-2005 Rio was rightfully viewed as one of he best centre backs in the world.  My second choice is the colossus, Jaap Stam.  He was ditched in what Alex Ferguson considers one of his few mistakes, but at the peak of his powers in an outstanding United team he was fearsome, ruthless and ever so slightly unhinged.  You shall not pass.

Left Back:
This team is getting a bit 'best of Man United' but the left back slot mixes things up.  One of relatively very few players to be an outstanding winner for two of the Sky Four Premier League clubs, Ashley Cole emerged as a quick, tenacious and dynamic young player at Arsenal where he went on to establish himself as the league's finest.  His acrimonious move to Chelsea has delivered more silverware and although he is disliked by many, few would question his inclusion in this team.  His epic battles with C-Ron were great to watch, and his general consistency throughout his career is one of the reasons why his place in the England team has been relatively nailed on for the best part of a decade.

Right Midfield:
Ideally I'd like to go for a 4-3-3 but the site only allows for a 4-4-2 and rules are rules.  That does throw up the first real dilemma here.  David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo?  Ronaldo is a machine, an athlete that arrived on the scene looking like a show pony and left it as a thoroughbred racehorse operating at a level that no-one else in the country was even close to.  His subsequent stats at Real Madrid just confirm his position as best footballer on the planet (in an alternate universe where Lionel Messi doesn't exist.)  In this team, however, the role is going to Beckham.  Why?  When you see who we have up front, you'll understand.  The best deliverer of a set piece in the entire game, D-Beck crosses will be a constant source of goals in this team.

Centre Midfield:
OK let's just cut straight to it... Le Tissier is in.
I know he won't do the work required in a two man midfield, I know he doesn't have the engine of some of the other options, I know he has a fat arse.  But even in such illustrious company the fact of the matter is Matthew Le Tissier can do things with a football that most of the others would not even think of trying. Consider that he performed miracles on a weekly basis surrounded by the likes of Neil Shipperley, Jim Magilton, Neil Heaney and Egil Ostenstad; he was not able to rely on team-mates that United or Arsenal players could do.  A one-man highlights reel, Le God is in.
The second spot requires someone willing and able to cover a hell of a lot of ground, provide some steel, tough in the tackle and with a drive and leadership befitting the crucial role he'll play in the team.  It's a straight fight between two Premier League legends between whom the ongoing battle was one of the most definitive features of the league for a few years.  Roy Keane vs Patrick Vieira.  Both have hero status at their clubs and rightly so.  I never liked Keane though, I thought he was little more than a despicable thug (a view presumably a certain Norwegian shares) and although a great player, not for me.  Paddy V goes in and, at his irrepressible 98-03 best, he will do the business.

Left Midield:
A strong field, this one.  With the possible exception of John Barnes who was in the twilight of his career at the birth of the Prem, every one of these players has been excellent.  In fact I'd say every one of them has had a spell as arguably the best player in the league at one point in time.  Only one of them has been basically excellent from the very outset though: Ryan Giggs is a Premier League institution and having redefined himself he continues to play a key role in Alex Ferguson's plans even at a ripe old age.  I'm going for the flying winger of the 90's, the first Premier League superstar - flair, pace, incisiveness and a great counterbalance to the right sided threat of his club mate Beckham.  Giggsy has clearly damaged his legacy with all the tabloid nonsense, but from a purely footballing viewpoint I'd argue his cause against anyone.

Forwards:
Les Ferdinand.  Teddy Sheringham.  Ole Solskjaer.  Dwight Yorke.  Michael Owen.  None of these strikers has been included on the shortlist which says a lot - we are really dealing with the uber-elite here.  My first pick is someone who was quite simply unstoppable for a long time.  Super Alan Shearer took no time at all settling into his role at Blackburn Rovers and scored shedloads of goals there, before a world record move to boyhood club Newcastle United.  The honours did not follow, and the nagging thought will always be what could have been if he had gone to Old Trafford (utter domination even more than they already had is the answer) but there is no questioning the brutality with which Shearer operated.  Powerful, strong, but with no shortage of pure footballing ability, the man was a goal machine - and will finally fulfil the dreams of all Saints fans who always wonder what could have been if he and Le Tiss could have played together for a few more years.

Now, the final slot to make up my all time Premier League Eleven.
Take your pick, the remaining nine are all outstanding players.  Goal factories like Cole, Fowler and Wright.  Skilful visionary artists Bergkamp and Zola.  Unhinged lunatics Rooney and King Eric.  One of them however combines the lot (excepted the lunacy, always seems fairly switched on to be fair).

Thierry Henry spent a good few years playing with an almost embarrassing ease; he was so far above the rest of the division and it looked unfair at times.  The classic debate was always Van Nistelrooy or Henry - my answer was always the Frenchman as he was so much more than just a finisher.  Able to conjure a goal out of nothing and with a swagger and style to his play that was always so good to watch, he's a hell of an addition to this side.

The Great Dane
G Nev, Rio, Big Jaap, Cashley
D Beck, Le God, Paddy V, Giggsy
Super Al, Tezza

What a team.

There you have it then.  It's good fun to do and generates a lot of great pub debate.  No doubt you'll have a different opinion, so don't keep it to yourself...let the debate begin!