What is your PL all-time xi?

André Dominguez said:
My choices are based on career peak:

GK: Schmeichel: terrific on handling crosses, brilliant saves and very determined in 1on1 situations.

RB: Gary Neville: always focused and disciplined. Was One of the first fullbacks to efficiently close the inside space.

LB: Cashley Cole: he was very solid and reliable

CBs: Rio Ferdinand and Vidic: no further explanation needed.

DMf: Michael Essien: before injuries this guy was a beast

CM1: Paul Scholes: amazing passer and goal scorer, aggressive. What more could you ask?

CM2: Kevin De Bruyne

LW: CR7

RW: David Beckham not the most Speedy winger, but his tactical Intelligence is extremely underrated.

Stk: Alan Shearer: this man was synonim for goals.
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solid lineup
 
Gio said:
Schmeichel
Walker - Ferdinand - Van Dijk - Cole
Gerrard - Keane
De Bruyne
Salah - Henry - Ronaldo
​
Although from a purely team-building perspective, there's a case for committing to either a Pep/Klopp 4-3-3 model, versus a Fergie/Wenger/Mourinho contain-and-counter XI.
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You think Wenger was a contain and counter style manager?

Maybe Arsenal were more about powerful running during his early years at the club. Overmars, Vieira, Petit, etc. But I think Arsenal were more of an intricate team than Fergie's 90's PL teams or Mourinho's Chelsea.
 
I have used two criteria combined.

1. You have to be successful in PL. Meaning multiple PL titles (sorry Shearer, Gerrard, Salah, VVD etc.)
2. You have be individually world class (sorry Nicky Butt - 8 PL medals)

And when you have really difficult choice - like Scholes or KDB, you will of course make decision based on your bias. I did.

And there will be some borderline choices. There always are. Ronaldo won only 3 PL titles. But he is probably individually the best player in PL history.
 
How are people omitting Henry? That means you don’t consider him the best player of the PL era… so if that is the case, who is #1 in lieu of him, and further, how do you not find a place for him in the team…?
 
Code: 
--------------Cech---------------
Irwin-----Rio-----VVD-------Cole
-------------Rodri---------------
------Scholes------KDB-----------
Bale----------------------Ronaldo
-------------Henry---------------

Shoe horning Irwin a bit there as I don't think the league has ever had a truly WC RB.
 
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TheReligion said:
I think those going with VVD must be pretty young and can’t have seen much of Ferdinand, Vidic etc

Gerrard over Keane, Scholes is another odd one given he never won a PL.

Rooney should also be in. Record goalscorer for the most successful PL era club to date.
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He's not even as good as Paul McGrath.
 
Henry
Ronaldo/Rooney -----------------------------------Mo Salah
Scholes -- Keane -- KDB or Gerrard
Cole ---------- Terry ------ Rio ------------ Irwin
Pete
​
Irwin is the clear RB choice. He is better than Neville, Walker and any other nomination.

It is not possible to leave Henry out. His numbers are insane, his talent was insane, and no matter how much you value longevity he has to be included. I think he is clearly the first pick for the front 3 using any sensible measure of talent, impact longevity and success.

Rooney or Ronaldo depending on whether higher value is given to longevity (move Henry to LW if playing Rooney).

Terry over Vidic. Maybe I'm overcompensating in trying to be unbiased, but Terry was a top defender and is a bit underrated by United fans IMO. He was one of the best CBs in the world, and whilst I prefer Vidic as a player and person, Terry was a key figure in a successful side for many years.

KDB or Gerrard. I don't really care.
 
Schmeichel
Irwin - Ferdinand - Stam/Vidic - Cole
Vieira - Keane
De Bruyne
Ronaldo - Aguero - Henry

above is personal preference

going strictly on balance and also removing United bias

VdS
Walker - Ferdinand - VVD - Cole
Rodri - Kante
De Bruyne
Salah - Henry - Ronaldo​
 
Going full Amorim on this one

Henry
Ronaldo - De Bruyne - Rooney - Salah
Scholes - Keane
Cole - Terry - Rio
Schmeichel​

Feels weird to leave Giggs, Cantona and Shearer out though.
 
Fortitude said:
How are people omitting Henry? That means you don’t consider him the best player of the PL era… so if that is the case, who is #1 in lieu of him, and further, how do you not find a place for him in the team…?
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I agree that he's the overall best player in PL history.

Ronaldo's best years were at Real. He had three very good to outstanding seasons. 06/07 and 07/08 in particular.

Henry's 2002/2003 season is arguably the greatest individual season in PL history. 24 goals and 20 assists (22 assists on some sites). 2000-2006 was elite.
 
Trequarista10 said:
Henry
Ronaldo/Rooney -----------------------------------Mo Salah
Scholes -- Keane -- KDB or Gerrard
Cole ---------- Terry ------ Rio ------------ Irwin
Pete
​
Irwin is the clear RB choice. He is better than Neville, Walker and any other nomination.

It is not possible to leave Henry out. His numbers are insane, his talent was insane, and no matter how much you value longevity he has to be included. I think he is clearly the first pick for the front 3 using any sensible measure of talent, impact longevity and success.

Rooney or Ronaldo depending on whether higher value is given to longevity (move Henry to LW if playing Rooney).

Terry over Vidic. Maybe I'm overcompensating in trying to be unbiased, but Terry was a top defender and is a bit underrated by United fans IMO. He was one of the best CBs in the world, and whilst I prefer Vidic as a player and person, Terry was a key figure in a successful side for many years.

KDB or Gerrard. I don't really care.
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Irwin played left back?
 
Oranges038 said:
He played both.
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Spend the bulk of his career playing left back though. Probably capable of right back, and started out as a right back, so I guess one could do it in the lack of other options, but for me he's a left back as that's where he played almost all of the time.

Edit: With at least 3 people in here putting Irwin at right back, I do however re-think if my memory has serven me completely wrong during my young years :lol:
 
ROFLUTION said:
Spend the bulk of his career playing left back though. Probably capable of right back, and started out as a right back, so I guess one could do it in the lack of other options, but for me he's a left back as that's where he played almost all of the time.
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Aye, but he was equally good on either side.

Played right back for Ireland quite a bit too as Staunton/Harte played left back at times.

I think he's the best left back of all time in the PL.
 
ROFLUTION said:
Irwin played left back?
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And right back many times. He was right footed and as good, if not better, at RB. Certainly in a modern system with overlapping full backs, he would be better at RB.

United had Paul Parker, then Gary Neville, so Irwin would play LB as they couldn't. With Phil Neville, I think Irwin would play RB and Phil LB (eg '96 Cup Final).
 
Feels wrong not having cantona there.

Was the the centerpiece of prems first decade.
 
-----------------------Schmeichal------------------------
--Trent--------VVD-----------Vidic-------Irwin------
----------------------------Keane----------------------------
------------DeBryune---------Gerrard-----------------
---Salah-----------Rooney--------------Henry------
 
VDS
Neville Ferdinand Vidic Irwin
Keane
Scholes KDB
Salah Henry Rooney


​
 
The RB slot has to be Kyle Walker. He did it both offensively and defensively at a high level. He's not as good as Evra or Cole at left back, but Trent is too attacking and Neville not attacking enough.
 
Jingaling7 said:
Cech
G Nev
Stam
Rio
Cole
Vieira
Gerrard
Keane
Ronaldo
Henry
Rooney

Salah unlucky but personally would have Hazard ahead of him anyway, Hazard can completely control a game and id have others in this team who can get the goals Salah can.. Walker for me is no where near the best RB to have played in the PL era.. take his pace away and hes an average full back at best.
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Redundant argument that. Take away the key ability of all the other players you've chosen and they'd also be worse than they are.
 
Going old school for mine. 442 with a solid midfield 2 to compensate for the attacking threat.
Schmeichel
Neville Stam Rio A.Cole
Ronaldo Keane Vieira Rooney
RVN Henry

I always wanted to see RVN and Henry upfront together. Likewise Vieira and Keane.
Feel a bit daft leaving Shearer out, but i think if RVN and Henry had played in the prem for their whole careers, they would have both comfortably surpassed his record.

Rooney and Ronaldo can both float about from the wings.
 
Schmeichel

Walker - Rio - Vidic - Cole

KDB - Keane - Scholes

Salah - Ronaldo - Henry


You could argue Terry over Vidic, not VVD. The quality of attackers he's faced is not on a par.

Viera just misses out over Keane and Gerrard isn't as good as KDB or Scholes.

A few attackers you could say miss out unfairly but Ronaldo and Henry simply must be there. The best player to have ever played in the league, and the league's best ever player.
 
Fallon d'Floor said:
You think Wenger was a contain and counter style manager?

Maybe Arsenal were more about powerful running during his early years at the club. Overmars, Vieira, Petit, etc. But I think Arsenal were more of an intricate team than Fergie's 90's PL teams or Mourinho's Chelsea.
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Agreed and no he wasn't on the whole, but I think his best team was very good at counter-attacking at pace, which was a shared trait with Chelsea and United of the 00s. Expanding on the point a little, the defining tactics would be 4-4-2 for the 90s, 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 for the 00s, and 4-3-3 for the late 10s / early 20s. Wenger probably bridges each era with his different teams.
 
Schmeichel
Walker - Rio - Stam - Cole
KDB - Keane - Scholes
Salah - Rooney - Henry
​
Stam vs Kompany took me a while. My bias won over I think but I’d be happy with either.

Painful to leave out Becks but hard to argue against Salah at RW
 
TheReligion said:
I think those going with VVD must be pretty young and can’t have seen much of Ferdinand, Vidic etc

Gerrard over Keane, Scholes is another odd one given he never won a PL.

Rooney should also be in. Record goalscorer for the most successful PL era club to date.
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But are we doing “best players” or “greatest”? Because their is in fact a difference between the two.
 
Surprised Bale doesn't get a look in. I would argue that he had the most "unplayable" season of anyone in PL history. He was an absolute joy to watch, and his trophy cabinet is befitting of a player of his stature.
 
FriedClams said:
Surprised Bale doesn't get a look in. I would argue that he had the most "unplayable" season of anyone in PL history. He was an absolute joy to watch, and his trophy cabinet is befitting of a player of his stature.
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Just didn’t win anything while actually in the league. Agree that final season was absurd. But he certainly has a good shout as an all time great British player.
 
Schmeichel
Rio - Terry - Vidic
Beckham - Keane - Scholes - Rooney
Salah - Henry
Ronaldo​
 
Schmeichel

Walker
VVD
Ferdinand
Cole

Viera
KDB
Keane

Salah
Rooney
Henry
 
Scandi Red said:
Yes, because "guiding principle" is not the same as "absolute rule".

United have won more than 40% of the PL titles with 3 distinct teams. We should have 3 in the XI as a bare minimum. And you could honestly make a compelling argument for 5 or 6.

And on the flip side: if you find yourself putting 3 or 4 Liverpool players in the XI then you are clearly biased.
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so basically a title tax. That leaves you with nonsense arguments like "sure, Salah may have been better than Rooney, but united should have more bodies in there, so..."
 
B20 said:
so basically a title tax. That leaves you with nonsense arguments like "sure, Salah may have been better than Rooney, but united should have more bodies in there, so..."
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That's not quite how it works though. There are plenty of positions where players are neck-and-neck. I'd argue that there are only 2 or 3 players who should be guaranteed a spot.

In other words: if you can't even "squeeze" 3 United players into your XI then you are biased. There are more than enough deserving candidates. Examples:

Schmeichel vs whoever
Neville vs Walker
Rio vs whoever in CB
Irwin vs Cole
Scholes vs whoever in CM
Keane vs whoever in CM
Ronaldo vs Salah
Rooney vs whoever in CF (unless you play Henry there)

That's 8 positions where you can't categorically claim that the United player in question would be undeserving. Of course the scales shouldn't tip in United's favor every time. That would be incredibly biased in the other direction.

But if you aim to be neutral then you should have room for 3 or 4 United players in my opinion. 5 isn't that crazy either.
 
ROFLUTION said:
Spend the bulk of his career playing left back though. Probably capable of right back, and started out as a right back, so I guess one could do it in the lack of other options, but for me he's a left back as that's where he played almost all of the time.

Edit: With at least 3 people in here putting Irwin at right back, I do however re-think if my memory has serven me completely wrong during my young years :lol:
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He played 2 games at RB to every one he played at LB roughly, so he was a LB for sure.
But the PL has a lack of real world class RB's in its history imo. Walker at his peak, very, very good. Same for Neville but as a whole the league has had some crazy good LB's in comparison.
I also think Irwin would be the perfect Pep RB which is why I included him. Could play up and down the flank but had the ability to step into midfield and play there too.

In my team at least Cole, VVD and Rio could make a back 3 in possession with Irwin stepping in with Rodri to make the midfield two. Scholes and KDB then create the box. Genuinely think Irwin would be perfect for the role.
 
United 11

Big Pete
Neville
Stam
Ferdinand
Irwin
Scholes
Keane
Beckham
Rooney
Cantona
Ronaldo

Non united 11

Cech
Walker
Terry
Vvd
Cole
Lampard
De bruyne
Viera
Salah
Henry
Shearer
 
--- Schmeichel
Walker Vidic Terry Cole
--KdB--Keane--Lampard
-Salah---Shearer---Henry
 
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