If you could get into any side in the world, you are world class in my opinion and prime Giggs could have.
How good was Ryan Giggs?
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Intelligence ,pace, skill, close control, superb crossing and an eye for a pass. The only winger of his era on a par was Figo.
What season was that? I can't remember Spurs winning anything of note based on Bale's 'best' season????
Giggs was world class...some of things he did were outrageous and I've been watching him since 1987.
Bale actually reminds me more of what Lee Sharpe could have been.
Giggs is on a different level imo.
Sorry, that is completely untrue. Giggs, for all his talent, was never close to Bale.
The definition of an assist is pretty clear.
Would you say that tap ins aren't goals either?
You're right. Giggs was much better.
Fair enough what's your opinion on the other ones?
Every team in the world wanted Giggs. I believe he was consistently in the top 3 wingers in the world every year for at least 10 years.
The pace at which we used to counter attack was frightening.
We had complete balance in midfield the box go box hard man In Keane, the creativity and eye for goal of scholes, the crossing ability and ability to switch play of Beckham and the speed and dribbling ability of Giggs.
Top, top player, Bale had a great season for spurs but Giggs has at least a great 10-15 years for Man Utd.
The pace at which we used to counter attack was frightening.
We had complete balance in midfield the box go box hard man In Keane, the creativity and eye for goal of scholes, the crossing ability and ability to switch play of Beckham and the speed and dribbling ability of Giggs.
Top, top player, Bale had a great season for spurs but Giggs has at least a great 10-15 years for Man Utd.
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This is completely wrong.
Giggs would currently be by some distance the best player in the Premier League.
Imagine a youth player breaking into the first team at 17 and setting the world alight. A talent so precocious he's instantly compared to George Best. The giants of Serie A at its peak all offer blank cheques to sign him. He stays for over 22 seasons, winning 13 PL titles and 2 CL's & everything else in the game, as a great manager builds 3 or 4 great teams, but this academy player always remains a constant. He loses the one asset that made him so special, his electric dribbling at pace, so he transforms himself into a central midfielder and wins the player of the year award, is named as the best PL player of all time, CL team of the 90's, and finishes with 168 goals and 310 assists. He also scores possibly the most famous goal in Utd's history in a famous treble winning season...
Thats Ryan Giggs.
Thats Ryan Giggs.
100% respect your opinion but completely disagree with it.
Bale is (was) a powerhouse who blew away some defences. Compared to Giggs he has a better shot, better in the air and better at running in straight lines.
Giggs was a better dribbler, crosser, passer, tackler, team player and there’s a gulf in football intelligence in his favour.
Bale has had a very good career, and been amazing mostly for Wales but for me Giggs is far the superior player overall.
Giggs was a better dribbler, crosser, passer, tackler, team player and there’s a gulf in football intelligence in his favour.
Bale has had a very good career, and been amazing mostly for Wales but for me Giggs is far the superior player overall.
If you're going to reduce him to stats alone, at least use the right stats! His productivity from an assists perspective was remarkable, both in terms of his peak and consistency. He got more than 15 assists in 10 seasons, and he got 27 assists alone in 03/04. Ronaldo got more than 15 assists just once for United, and I think (?) just twice since. Even at his creative peak in 06/07 he "only" got 21 assists. You're seriously underestimating how productive Giggs was.
You can see it all here.
Becks was the only other player to get more than 20 assists twice, over Sir Alex's entire career. And we have every reason to believe if those stats were expanded to include every player since Giggs' career started, rather than just United players, only a handful of players would've gotten more assists per season.
And that's ignoring the fact that reducing Giggs' creativity to stats alone is obviously silly.
Considerably better than Bale you mean I assume?
Probably Inter Milan's best ever player.
When he broke onto the scene, every weekend he'd pull off some new trick which every kid would try and do on the school yard the following week.
Giggs, Cantona and Le Tissier were a kind of entertainer that don't really exist anymore with the game so direct, and such a focus on not losing possession cheaply.
Giggs, Cantona and Le Tissier were a kind of entertainer that don't really exist anymore with the game so direct, and such a focus on not losing possession cheaply.
My favourite player all time 
. There is this tribute by BBC when he won the Sports Personality of year 2009 (I cannot link it)
. There is this tribute by BBC when he won the Sports Personality of year 2009 (I cannot link it)In Bale's last at Spurs he was winning match after match on his own. They didn't win anything because they were spurs.
My favourite player all time
Remember when I was younger, everyone wanted to be Ryan Giggs when we played football in school.
I remember a panel of Jon Giles, Liam Brady and Eamon Dunphy discussing Giggs when he retired and they all said he was a very good player but never one of the worlds best.
*sideline before a five-a-side match*
Coach 1: "I see Steve must've bought that Ryan Giggs Skills video.""
Coach 2: "Yeah, nice trick there. But what's Steve like as an actual footballer?"
Coach 1: "Totally shit."
Coach 1: "I see Steve must've bought that Ryan Giggs Skills video.""
Coach 2: "Yeah, nice trick there. But what's Steve like as an actual footballer?"
Coach 1: "Totally shit."
They all know a lot more about football than me but I would disagree with them all on that call.
Yeah they were great - I'm not trying to make a point. God, this forum, it's like everyone assumes you have an agenda. It was just a comment about how good Ronaldo is! I'd forgotten Ronaldo scored so many headed goals even then.
That was pretty bland.
But Tbf that's the kind of teamtalk I expected to see in professional football. Even in a final game, its all professional and business-as-usual. Those hollywood teamtalks probably only happens in a bluemoon.
The thread should have closed after this fantastic post. Brotherly indiscretion aside, amazing player and unreal career!
Is there any good compilation videos of a young Giggsy running at defences?
I didn't assume you had an agenda. Sorry if it came across that way
. I particularly liked no.3 due to the pressure by the keeper. I also particularly liked the the way he clipped the ball over for no.10. I'd also forgotten how many headers Ronaldo scored that early in his career and in my opinion he is 2nd best header of ball ever behind Duncan Ferguson Ask Rhodri's missus
What made Giggs so good in my opinion is that he could do everything. You look at our 94 99 or 08 team and there were players who could do certain things better than Giggs but none was more of an all rounder except for maybe Rooney.
Dribbling, crossing, defence splitting passes, headers, volleys, free kicks, pace, flicks, slide tackles, excellent first touch, big game performer, adaptable and a leader. He had it all.
Dribbling, crossing, defence splitting passes, headers, volleys, free kicks, pace, flicks, slide tackles, excellent first touch, big game performer, adaptable and a leader. He had it all.
His pace was horrifying - and his skills both on and off the ball equally so. He could literally tear defenses apart with either a run or a pass - and often just by holding up play. Very creative and hard to predict - used his skills very intelligently coordinating himself perfectly with his teammates - simply an incredible asset to his team. I can't think of a single winger from the nineties or early noughties I would have traded him off for. A GOAT-candidate probably not but that's the realm you'd have to enter to find someone better in my opinion.
And another thing which speaks volumes of how adept he was as a footballer - is how brilliantly he managed to adapt and stay relevant well past what most players consider their prime - creating both a second and a third incarnation of himself both still very capable of putting our opposition on their back heels rattling them into disarray.
And another thing which speaks volumes of how adept he was as a footballer - is how brilliantly he managed to adapt and stay relevant well past what most players consider their prime - creating both a second and a third incarnation of himself both still very capable of putting our opposition on their back heels rattling them into disarray.
I didn't assume you had an agenda. Sorry if it came across that way
Ah. sorry, internet tone is hard. Some beautiful passes in there, good movement creates good passes too!
That goal at 1:05, the volley, I reckon it’s the first United goal I can remember, if that was the season before the CWC win against Barca?
One of the best posts I've read on here. Absolutely spot on. I can remember when he first came into the side. As soon as he got the ball, the whole of Old Trafford would stand, expecting something magical to happen. More often than not, it did.
I would say that at 17-19 he was better than Ronaldo at the same age and on par with Messi.
If it wasn't for his hamstrings he might have been up there with the very best to have ever played.
I would love to see what he could do without the problematic hamstrings and on the left of a front three.
If it wasn't for his hamstrings he might have been up there with the very best to have ever played.
I would love to see what he could do without the problematic hamstrings and on the left of a front three.