20 Seasons - The Right Midfielder

Onto the midfield now, as usual pick who you believe was the greatest player in that position over the past 20 years of the Premier League from the following and comment if you believe there's a glaring ommision!

Darren Anderton
David Beckham
Joe Cole
Andrei Kanchelskis
Aaron Lennon
Freddie Ljungberg
Steve McManaman
Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Stone
Ashley Young

anderton bournemouth legend!

how have we got 2 icks for sick note lol

David Beckham without doubt. Icon

yep 100% beckham, ronaldo better overall but not in the prem

Beckham by a country mile for me. Helped by the fact he almost never played anywhere else whereas Ronaldo (the best player on that list) played on the left sometimes too and hit his greatest heights arguably as a forward.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Beckham by a country mile for me. Helped by the fact he almost never played anywhere else whereas Ronaldo (the best player on that list) played on the left sometimes too and hit his greatest heights arguably as a forward.

I agree with this, and as far as I recall his finest seasons were when he played left side of a front three. I went for Beckham overall.

Beckham for me.

Steve Stone??

I went for Ronaldo even though he played in a front three in his latter years.

Beckham was the better crosser though. Nobody could match him in that category.

erm its gonna be sad if ronaldo gets this- the fact is he was only here a few seasons and then mianly upfront!!!- and hadnt even peaked- dont think he could compare to others especially beckham- from a prem pov, seems abit rigged- people are just voting for him as a player- not just on the basis of when he was in the prem on the right

mystiroakey wrote:erm its gonna be sad if ronaldo gets this- the fact is he was only here a few seasons and then mianly upfront!!!- and hadnt even peaked- dont think he could compare to others especially beckham- from a prem pov, seems abit rigged- people are just voting for him as a player- not just on the basis of when he was in the prem on the right

You make a good case.

Vote changed.

nice !

Went for the man, the legend, the mancrush that is Beckham! As ED said above..Icon!

Shame John Barnes is not on this list. I know his era was mainly before the PL but he did play in the PL so should have been on there

Oh and Steve Stone?

if you count Ronaldo as a right midfielder then he's a shoe-in. Otherwise Beckham with Ljundberg as back-up.

mystiroakey wrote:yep 100% beckham, ronaldo better overall but not in the prem

What?

David Beckham - 265 APPS 62 GOALS 13 ASSISTS

Ronaldo - 196 APPS 84 GOALS 26 ASSISTS


That was just in the league.

Pus Ronaldo played 73% of his games on the right of midfield, or accross the midfield in general.

If we go on that basis, then take out Steve Stone who was brought in as a centre midfielder and not a winger, and take out Ljunberg who was brought in as a CF in front of the midfield.

There is no way Beckham only made 13 assists in his entire PL career. He must of had that many in many seasons, whipping in corners, free kicks and crosses to players like RVN.

Ronaldo deserves a place in the team, but he isn't a right midfielder for me.

d260005p wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:yep 100% beckham, ronaldo better overall but not in the prem

What?

David Beckham - 265 APPS 62 GOALS 13 ASSISTS

Ronaldo - 196 APPS 84 GOALS 26 ASSISTS


That was just in the league.

firstly you need to put the stats when they played at right midfield- not overall prem carrer- secondly you need to get the correct stats- they are incorrect- do you honestly think beckham only had 13 assits- !!!

the correct figure is 152,Do you still want to argue your point!! 3rd highest assits of all time btw!!

"Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year[5] and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals.[14] Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches.[5] He is third in the Premier League's all time time assist provider chart, with 152 assists in 265 appearances.[15] When joining the MLS in 2007 he was given the highest player salary in the league's history, with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the next three years being worth US$6.5m per year.[16][17][18][19]

He is married to Victoria Beckham and they have four children, Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven. As of 2009, the couple's joint wealth is estimated at £125 million.[20]
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Damn Wikipedia!

Apologies in advance!

Wikipedia says he has 29? lol Not sure how.

Beckham was/is not fit to lace Ronaldos boots. He is possibly the most over rated footballer in the history of football.

dublfcynwa wrote:Beckham was/is not fit to lace Ronaldos boots. He is possibly the most over rated footballer in the history of football.

This.

Sadly Ronaldo was a bit better than Beckham for me and so I voted for Ronaldo, as much as I hate the man.

I voted for Cristiano Ronaldo (I'm a Liverpool supporter btw) and a big fan of David Beckham, but I think for just sheer influence on the side Ronaldo is ahead of Beckham. I think when Beckham left, United were not that significantly weaker. Where as since Ronaldo has left, I don't think the United side is as good as it was.

Beckham was/is not fit to lace Ronaldos boots. He is possibly the most over rated footballer in the history of football..

Agree Ronaldo is much much better but your second sentence is nonesense and just sounds like ignorant bile and jealousy (unless you genuinely think he is commonly regarded as, say, one of the top 5 players in the world in the last 20 yrs, or something like that). As far as I'm aware nobody does.

Biggest/best brand, yes. Best footballer, no.

d260005p wrote:Wikipedia says he has 29? lol Not sure how.

nope thats not true- i remeber him having at least 3 seasons when he had way over ten each year.

stats bunker states 44 howveer that is also incorrect- ronaldo is 1 on that list- so are about a zillion players!!

its certainly very high from what i can remeber - on beckhams wiki page it says 152- however i need a better source to double check

http://www.quora.com/How-many-assists-did-David-Beckham-make-over-his-entire-English-Premier-League-career


http://www.premiersoccerstats.com/Records.cfm?DOrderby=Ass&DYearby=All%20Seasons


i think this sounds correct to me!

yep 152 - behind giggs and lampard

btw - ronaldo isnt even in the top 50.

and no one is even close to beckhams per game assit, no one else comes close

mystiroakey wrote:http://www.quora.com/How-many-assists-did-David-Beckham-make-over-his-entire-English-Premier-League-career


http://www.premiersoccerstats.com/Records.cfm?DOrderby=Ass&DYearby=All%20Seasons


i think this sounds correct to me!

yep 152 - behind giggs and lampard

surely makes Lampard a shoe-in for the central midfield role right? second in assists and can't be far off top spot for goals...

the problem with the stats are that some people are only measuring assits when the name changed to the premiership! beckham only played a few seasons after the name change- so people need to bear that in mind!


edit sorry- the premier league only started tracking assits in 2001- i read it wrong!

i wish there was a proper cricinfo type site for football- the espn version for football doesnt go back long enough

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:http://www.quora.com/How-many-assists-did-David-Beckham-make-over-his-entire-English-Premier-League-career


http://www.premiersoccerstats.com/Records.cfm?DOrderby=Ass&DYearby=All%20Seasons


i think this sounds correct to me!

yep 152 - behind giggs and lampard

surely makes Lampard a shoe-in for the central midfield role right? second in assists and can't be far off top spot for goals...

Unfortunately yes.

Still think the Keane-Scholes (or even Petit-Viera) is a better CM combo than anything you could put Frank in with but that tends not to be how these things work.......

I voted for Gerrard-Vieira when it came to central midfield.

I'm not sure if Lampard will get in, I think it'll probably be Scholes-Keane.

Ronaldo for me if he stayed a couple more seasons would have been the greatest player in premiership history.

This is a very tricky one, using the standard 4-4-2 formation that these teams usually revolve around it has to be Beckham, on the right side of a midfield four he's a far better option than Ronaldo but using a 4-5-1 formation with wing forwards it's then Ronaldo by a mile.

For the purposes of the team have gone for Beckham.

The genius of PBF wrote:Ronaldo for me if he stayed a couple more seasons would have been the greatest player in premiership history.

yes he would have- but he didnt

mystiroakey wrote:

The genius of PBF wrote:Ronaldo for me if he stayed a couple more seasons would have been the greatest player in premiership history.

yes he would have- but he didnt

Still the best right winger in premiership history for me.

Personally i just think people are thinking of ronaldo as the player he is in all positions and all leagues, rather than just a prem winger.

beckham had 152 assists and 64 goals in 264 games, name another winger in the prem with them stats!

ronaldo had 51 goals and 29 assits 146.

its not comparable- especially considering most of his goals were from a forward position not as a winger..

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Beckham was/is not fit to lace Ronaldos boots. He is possibly the most over rated footballer in the history of football..

Agree Ronaldo is much much better but your second sentence is nonesense and just sounds like ignorant bile and jealousy (unless you genuinely think he is commonly regarded as, say, one of the top 5 players in the world in the last 20 yrs, or something like that). As far as I'm aware nobody does.

Biggest/best brand, yes. Best footballer, no.

Well that is my opinion and I couldnt care less what you think of it. I think a lot of what you say is complete rubbish but you are entitled to your opinion and so is eveyone else. I dont accuse people of speaking ignorant bile or jealousy just because they have a different opinion than me.

beckham was a player that was the best at a single attribute to the game though- i dont think anyone could argue that. his stats also back that up.

no one was better at crossing and long range passing.

you lot can argue overrated, you can argue he wasnt the best (he wasnt)

but he had the best set piece delivery, crossing and long range passing.

He got to that level through sheer determination and practice- not because of media hype- people seem to forget that point when they discuss beckham. he is a top role model

dublfcynwa wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Beckham was/is not fit to lace Ronaldos boots. He is possibly the most over rated footballer in the history of football..

Agree Ronaldo is much much better but your second sentence is nonesense and just sounds like ignorant bile and jealousy (unless you genuinely think he is commonly regarded as, say, one of the top 5 players in the world in the last 20 yrs, or something like that). As far as I'm aware nobody does.

Biggest/best brand, yes. Best footballer, no.

Well that is my opinion and I couldnt care less what you think of it. I think a lot of what you say is complete rubbish but you are entitled to your opinion and so is eveyone else. I dont accuse people of speaking ignorant bile or jealousy just because they have a different opinion than me.

But you can't answer the question of why Beckham is so over-rated (in your eyes)?

mystiroakey wrote:beckham was a player that was the best at a single attribute to the game though- i dont think anyone could argue that. his stats also back that up.

no one was better at crossing and long range passing.

you lot can argue overrated, you can argue he wasnt the best (he wasnt)

but he had the best set piece delivery, crossing and long range passing.

He got to that level through sheer determination and practice- not because of media hype- people seem to forget that point when they discuss beckham. he is a top role model

Sounds like a fairly accurate statement to me, largely based on fact or opinion easily supported by fact, certainly not a hint of over-rating.

Do Utd fans think he played better for England, certainly when Sven first came than he did Utd?

He was definitely a world class player for a time and like others have mentioned, a crosser with no equal.

I think a lot of what you say is complete rubbish but you are entitled to your opinion and so is eveyone else.

Because it is rubbish, he is a sheep.

Beckham was only really good at crosses/free kicks, if he had Tevez's looks he wouldn't be getting paid what he is.

a crosser with no equal.

Midfielders should atleast be able to dribble at his level, and he couldn't.

Couldn't tackle either.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

a crosser with no equal.

Midfielders should atleast be able to dribble at his level, and he couldn't.

Couldn't tackle either.

Who was better at crossing?

No, he couldn't dribble but he didn't always need to.

lol- he played at the highest level and played well.

Midfielders should atleast be able to dribble at his level, and he couldn't.

Couldn't tackle either.

-------------------------

You could be talking about Scholes although he's not as bad as tackler as they say and he did dribble past a few Blackburn players a couple of seasons ago to score.

Now, he is world class!

Stella wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

a crosser with no equal.

Midfielders should atleast be able to dribble at his level, and he couldn't.

Couldn't tackle either.

Who was better at crossing?

No, he couldn't dribble but he didn't always need to.

Wingers dribble to beat people in order to put in a cross, Beckham didn't need to because his crossing was so good.

And tackling? Give over. The essense of this debate is Ronaldo vs Beckham and Ronaldo couldn't tackle for toffee either, and even then arguably worse than Becks.