Premier League 2019/20

[TCO]

10 hours ago, MadJack said:

Something feels wrong about calling Keane an import. Like I get that he's Irish but he played less than 25 games before coming over.

He didn't move to England until he was 19, his entire development and first senior professional season took place in Ireland. He wouldn't qualify as home grown in the modern rules. Would you consider Cesc Fabregas and Gabriel Martinelli imports? Or would you consider Jadon Sancho to be a German import? All players who moved younger with 0 senior appearances.

Keane 100% deserves to be no.1. People underrate him because he's a bit of a knob and he wasn't a flash player like Henry so there's no highlight reels of goals to get nostalgic over. He was the spine of that Man United team for 12 years, won 7 league titles and captained them to 4. Without him Ferguson's trophy total doesn't tally up even close to what it is now.

 

[METALMAN]

Yeah, even though it instinctively feels a bit weird calling someone from Ireland foreign, Roy Keane is definitely the most significant. I don’t get the calls for C Ronaldo to be higher. He had two really good seasons, sure, but the others he would usually just come off the bench, do some stepovers and fall over. Roy Keane led possibly the league’s greatest ever team, and was a hell of a good attacking player before his injuries made him drop deeper - where he was still good.

I also think Ruud van Nistelrooy should be there, and a case could probably also be made for Petr Cech, Didier Drogba and Gianfranco Zola, more so than the Chelsea players on the lists. Hazard might be a better player than Zola was, but nobody loved Hazard like they loved Zola.

Edited April 20, 2020 by metalman

[Naitch]

Drogba wouldn't be eligible for a European imports list.

Cech is a great shout though and highlights the complete lack of goalkeepers on this list. Surely at least one of the goalkeepers on their previous lists are more deserving of a place than Silva, Kante, or Hazard?

Zola was awesome but I could only see him just about cracking the top 20.

[METALMAN]

Drogba is a French citizen 🤨
 

(I didn’t read the European only bit) 

Edited April 20, 2020 by metalman

[hugobomb]

The Cech comment made me realise an even bigger omission:

Where the fuck is Peter Schmeichel on that list? Unless he joined before the Premiership rebrand in which case Cech is the most deserving keeper.

 

EDIT: Googled it, Schmeichel joined in 91 so doesn't count as an Premier League import.

Edited April 20, 2020 by hugobomb

[METALMAN]

but if its being assessed on the basis having to have moved to England specifically in order to play in the premier league - rather than simply a foreigner who has played in the premier league - Eric Cantona and Roy Keane wouldn't be eligible either.

Edited April 20, 2020 by metalman

[Adam]

2 hours ago, Naitch said:

Drogba wouldn't be eligible for a European imports list.

Cech is a great shout though and highlights the complete lack of goalkeepers on this list. Surely at least one of the goalkeepers on their previous lists are more deserving of a place than Silva, Kante, or Hazard?

Zola was awesome but I could only see him just about cracking the top 20.

David Silva is one of the best players to ever play in the Premier League and has had a big hand in all of Man City's big successes of the modern era. He is easily a Top 5 candidate for this in my opinion.

[METALMAN]

yeah I think if you're doing a best ever list there has to be some element of longevity (which is why CRonaldo might not make the cut for me) but Silva has been around and been very good for about a decade now.

[Colly]

2 hours ago, metalman said:

but if its being assessed on the basis having to have moved to England specifically in order to play in the premier league - rather than simply a foreigner who has played in the premier league - Eric Cantona and Roy Keane wouldn't be eligible either.

Leeds is in Europe mate. You're right though, this is a load of shite.

Also I only realised the other day quite how long Silva had been at City, club legend is on the cards if not already.

[TCO]

I don't think Ronaldo should be on that list. He's on it because of the career he went on to have. He had two amazing seasons at United but he also had formative time where he was a lightweight showpony and then he left at 24. Just because he went on to be one of the greatest players ever doesn't mean that should factor into it.  Van Nistelrooy got shafted and if you're putting Ronaldo in then Luis Suarez certainly requires picking too as his years match up pretty closely to Ronaldo's best 4.

[Liam]

Am I right in thinking that Manchester United went from winning loads of things to winning very little with Van Nistelrooy up front? The guy scored goals, but they played a way to enable that which cost them overall from what I remember.

However, I'm remembering the idea of them not winning a lot from an article that I might have misremembered.

[Colly]

11 minutes ago, TCO said:

I don't think Ronaldo should be on that list. He's on it because of the career he went on to have. He had two amazing seasons at United but he also had formative time where he was a lightweight showpony and then he left at 24. Just because he went on to be one of the greatest players ever doesn't mean that should factor into it.  Van Nistelrooy got shafted and if you're putting Ronaldo in then Luis Suarez certainly requires picking too as his years match up pretty closely to Ronaldo's best 4.

If Suarez goes in Aguero should.

[METALMAN]

That was a kind of iffy period for Man Utd as a whole though. Veron was an expensive disappointment and beyond that they were reduced to signing the likes of Eric Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson and David Bellion while playing a 78 year-old Laurent Blanc in defence. Meanwhile Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and - briefly - Newcastle got much better.

10 minutes ago, Liam said:

Am I right in thinking that Manchester United went from winning loads of things to winning very little with Van Nistelrooy up front? The guy scored goals, but they played a way to enable that which cost them overall from what I remember.

However, I'm remembering the idea of them not winning a lot from an article that I might have misremembered.

 

[The Lusophone]

Yeah I'm not sure you can blame United's lack of success on Ruud - it's more like there was a failing in recruitment for a sustained period, coupled with players retiring or leaving that the flawed recruitment didn't adequately address. If Fergie could've remained on good terms with the likes of Stam and Beckham then I feel like United win a lot more in that period.

[DavidMarrio]

I don't agree with Kante being on the list ahead of the likes of Zola and Aguero just to name two. 

There's also no goalkeepers on that list and only one defender. Surely there must be at least a keeper on there. 

Out of the list I would take Kante/Hazard and Ronaldo off (he's purely on this list because it's Ronaldo). 

 

[Naitch]

Does Aguero also have French citizenship that I was hereto unaware of? @metalman

[METALMAN]

He’ll be a Spanish national. Citizens of most Spanish-speaking countries are entitled to it after two years’ residence in Spain.

Edited April 20, 2020 by metalman

[Lineker]

Doesn't mean he necessarily took it!

[METALMAN]

i do my research linklaters

[Twist]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idINIndia-53332620101203

He did.