*Official* English Football Season 2009-2010

[Uppercut]

Carragher's the type of player a lot of Liverpool fans tend to overrated. Definitely a good player, but there's flaws in his game that aren't there with the very best (of which Hyypia was one).

 

[GIMH]

On PL-era selections, Setanta (RIP) ran a poll last year to pick an all-time Premier League XI and this is what they came up with:

                   Schmeichel

Neville     Carragher       Adams       Irwin

Beckham      Gerrard       Keane       Giggs

               Bergkamp
                         Henry

A great side. Personally I disagree with and would change four selections, but only one of them - Carragher - is IMO laughable, the other three (Neville, Beckham, Bergkamp) I could easily live with.

Did you have to play for a team in red to get in this side?

Cashley> Irwin IMO, and I hate the little ****

Carragher isn't as good as Ferdinand or Terry to start with, so there's no way he'd make my side

Midfield is difficult to argue against, as is the forward line.

Not a bad side.

 

[Ikki]

I got a LOL out of this:

YouTube - Wenger, Henry, Mourinho and Benitez Impressions

 

[Uppercut]

I'd take Vieira over Gerrard though. I know it doesn't really fit with Keane already in there, but I think Vieira's just too good to leave out. One of a centre-midfield duo doesn't exactly suit Gerrard down to the ground either.

 

[Ikki]

Yeah agree with Uppercut - I'd be much, much happier with Hyypia in that side. I don't think Carragher is a poor central defender by any means, but for mine he's not even remotely close to being one of the two best since in the inception of the Premier League.

Agree about Stam too - for those couple of years he was probably the best CD in Europe, but it's hard to pick him when he spent such a relatively short period of time in the League.

I guess I agree with that. It would take a brave man to argue Carra is in the top 2 CBs of the Premier League era. I in fact think Stam, quality-wise, fits. Rio at his best is also unplayable.

Looking at that side though, a glaring mistake IMO is Beckham over Ronaldo. Sorry golden-balls.

 

[GIMH]

Gerrard's also too good to leave out.

People in this thread often say he's overrated, never does anything for England, etc etc etc. Alas, this is a Premier League XI and he has regularly been exceptional in the Premier League for his side. I don't think you need Viera and Keane in there, so you have to make a choice between them, and then for me Gerrard has to join them.

 

[GIMH]

I guess I agree with that. It would take a brave man to argue Carra is in the top 2 CBs of the Premier League era. I in fact think Stam, quality-wise, fits. Rio at his best is also unplayable.

Looking at that side though, a glaring mistake IMO is Beckham over Ronaldo. Sorry golden-balls.

You reckon?

The PL has never seen anyone who can cross the ball as well as Beckham, and he did it for about eight seasons by my reckoning. Ronaldo only had two seasons of being absolutely top drawer, IMO

 

[The Sean]

Did you have to play for a team in red to get in this side?

Cashley> Irwin IMO, and I hate the little ****

Carragher isn't as good as Ferdinand or Terry to start with, so there's no way he'd make my side

Midfield is difficult to argue against, as is the forward line.

Not a bad side.

I disagree that Cashley is better than Irwin, but importantly I do think both Cashley and Pearce are better footballers than the Neviller - so I'd actually play Irwin on the right and then Pearce or Cole on the left.

Ferdinand and Terry are just two of at least 6-8 I'd class as better than Carragher but I'm honestly not sure who I'd play alongside Adams.

Midfield is fine, though personally I'd pick Ronaldo ahead of Becks on the right. You could also replace Keane/Gerrard with Vieira/Scholes and lose virtually nothing. Likewise you could replace Bergkamp/Henry with Cantona/Shearer for pretty much the same end product, but the partnership that is there would delight anyone.

 

[GIMH]

Lack of Darren Huckerby hurts the side iMO

 

[Uppercut]

Well if you're going to play Gerrard it has to be as part of a midfield three and Vieira is in there anyway.

Lampard's better than, or at least equal to, Gerrard for mine, so if Gerrard's too good to leave out then so is Lampard and this team have the problem England had until they appointed a manager with balls.

 

[Ikki]

I'd take Vieira over Gerrard though. I know it doesn't really fit with Keane already in there, but I think Vieira's just too good to leave out. One of a centre-midfield duo doesn't exactly suit Gerrard down to the ground either.

Disagree (surprise surprise). No Gerrard in there makes for a pretty unimaginative and not very prolific pairing. Gerrard made his name at CM as a box-to-box midfielder. Got the PFA young player of the year award and even before Benitez arrived was hailed as the "most influential player bar none" by Ferguson.

And as a pair I think Keane suits Gerrard better for the fact that he is better suited sitting in front of the back-four and has a safer range of passing.

 

[Uppercut]

You reckon?

The PL has never seen anyone who can cross the ball as well as Beckham, and he did it for about eight seasons by my reckoning. Ronaldo only had two seasons of being absolutely top drawer, IMO

I'd say three, but I get your point. It's another choice between the players who were the greatest for a short period of time and the players who kept an excellent level up for years.

 

[The Sean]

Lack of Darren Huckerby hurts the side iMO

Was generally accepted to be the most glaring omission TBH.

 

[GIMH]

I don't agree that Gerrard has to play in a midfield three, you can play him pretty much anywhere on the field and he'll do a good job. When he first made a reputation for himself he was playing in a conventional midfield and playing the deep-lying role - it is the rest of the Liverpool team that work better with his role there (which I wouldn't really describe as being pat of a three anyway). I also certainly don't agree that Lampard is better either, but hey, that's hardly a new exciting topic to discuss in a footy thread!

 

[GIMH]

I'd say three, but I get your point. It's another choice between the players who were the greatest for a short period of time and the players who kept an excellent level up for years.

Yeah, was toying with whether to go higher than two, but the point still stands

 

[Uppercut]

Disagree (surprise surprise). No Gerrard in there makes for a pretty unimaginative and not very prolific pairing. Gerrard made his name at CM as a box-to-box midfielder. Got the PFA young player of the year award and even before Benitez arrived was hailed as the "most influential player bar none" by Ferguson.

And as a pair I think Keane suits Gerrard better for the fact that he is better suited sitting in front of the back-four and has a safer range of passing.

I think if you're looking at Ronaldo on the right wing (and I'd replace Giggs with Pires too) then Vieira+Keane is a perfectly good central-midfield pairing. Neither are out-and-out defensive shields, but yeah, it's still not ideal.

You could pick Gerrard as the box-to-box midfielder he was in his early career, but he was nowhere near as good back then IMO so it's a bit of a compromise. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Ikki]

You reckon?

The PL has never seen anyone who can cross the ball as well as Beckham, and he did it for about eight seasons by my reckoning. Ronaldo only had two seasons of being absolutely top drawer, IMO

Probably 3. But yes, for the simple fact that Ronaldo was the best player in the world for probably 2 of those seasons. These are heights Beckham could never reach. Great player, but I put it to you like this:

If you had the two teams facing each other, one with Ronaldo now and Beckham at his peak, which team is stronger for you?

 

[Uppercut]

Seems a bit of an unusual point, but Beckham's crossing would be absolutely wasted with Bergkamp and Henry up front.

 

[Ikki]

I think if you're looking at Ronaldo on the right wing (and I'd replace Giggs with Pires too) then Vieira+Keane is a perfectly good central-midfield pairing. Neither are out-and-out defensive shields, but yeah, it's still not ideal.

You could pick Gerrard as the box-to-box midfielder he was in his early career, but he was nowhere near as good back then IMO so it's a bit of a compromise. Decisions, decisions.

I think he was as good back then. Just didn't have the pedigree. Gerrard has done things (of course the most important of them outside English football) that Vieira nor Keane could do for their teams. Which is the same reason I rank Lampard under him; you swap those two players around and Chelsea will win everything still, and more; but Liverpool won't come close to winning the CL nor the EPL.

 

[Uppercut]

I think he was as good back then. Just didn't have the pedigree. Gerrard has done things (of course the most important of them outside English football) that Vieira nor Keane could do for their teams. Which is the same reason I rank Lampard under him; you swap those two players around and Chelsea will win everything still, and more; but Liverpool won't come close to winning the CL nor the EPL.

What did Gerrard do for his team that Vieira/Keane couldn't?