Defining player of the Premiership era

i'm not exactly qualified (or maybe that makes me uniquely qualified) but my very initial thought was henry

Considered making it "figure" but Nic Anelka's agent would have walked it, wouldn't he?

Qualifications to hell, I am a big fan of your initial thought.

ryan giggs.

ya, look, henry has no business being there w/out giggs, sorry- and i'm no fan of giggs.

theres nothing that diminishes the value of the epl more than when its marketing ppl do these lists and its like

ronaldo
totti
kaka

messi
ronaldinho
zidane

vs

alan shearer

he's not marketable but he's arguable as the defining player tbf

lol epl

giigs

EBJT

really, it's g barry

Scholes

Bergkamp

I think of the defining aspect of the Prem Era as being money, ie EPL started paying the highest wages and thus attracting the best players. I remember being genuinely astounded when I heard that Bergkamp was coming to play in England.

I doubt United would have won the first Premiership, or a couple of the subsequent ones, without Cantona in the team. And without United in the driving seat at the time the big money was coming in, the history of the Premiership could have been very different. You'd still have had Scholes, Giggs, Beckham etc coming through but they might have moved elsewhere in the medium term.

The others just aren't as pivotal to English football as Cantona (Premiership's first big superstar foreigner among other things), especially Shearer who scored most of his goals in a team that never won anything.

Bergkamp maybe seemed less of a big deal at the time because Klinsmann had played for Spurs the season before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiIDzPFR5Ic

but yes, cantona

everyone at school played w/ popped collars

First thought before I saw the options was Bergkamp, which surprises me a bit. It really ought to be Cantona of those three, but longevity is a factor when we're talking eras so it's with a heavy heart that I'm voting for Shearer. Fortunately the era is a tawdry one so he can have it, the baldy fool.

You just know he needs it the most too.

Maybe a write-in for Bogarde

Aw hell, it's Tevez

Spud Roooooooooooooooooooooney

Tevez is definitely the defining player of the later Premiership era.

cantona is the most overrated flash in the pan in the history of the prem

I imagine that's Shearer's take on things too

Five League titles is a flash in the pan now?

cantona is the most overrated flash in the pan in the history of the prem

care to expand on that?

he wasn't even consistently good for man u, and was rank awful by the end, never good in europe etc... 64 goals in five/six seasons then he retired at 30, wow what a heroic figure. sure he had many moments of genius but he's a less good le tissier in that respect.

and just in case it seems i'm being biased, giggs or scholes would be easily, without question far ahead of cantona in any best prem player ever poll. as would keane, vieira, etc etc, just because he had a football fan's version of charisma, ie he was foreign and violent and hence iconic, doesn't elevate him above others.

he was/is charismatic. you've taken that goal tally from wikipedia im guessing, meaning it only counts league goals.

shame on you, garda

had a much better goal return than another famous prem false 9 of the 90s, dennis bergkamp.

sure he had many moments of genius but he's a less good le tissier in that respect.

kindly fuck off

presume he scored another 140 in the cup then? you can't even put him close to henry. there are legions of players who had more of an impact on the premier league.

xpost bergkamp was at least as good as cantona but since he never kicked anyone in the face or put his collar up he can't be seen as "influential".

he scored at least one in the cup that i remember pretty well

he wasn't even consistently good for man u, and was rank awful by the end

He was consistently brilliant apart from his last season, but even then he was nowhere close to 'rank awful'.

never good in europe

He hardly played in Europe for United. When he signed United had already been eliminated from the UEFA cup by some Russian nomarks. The following season United exited early against Galatasaray on away goals and, iirc, he was unjustly given a red card *after* the match in Turkey which meant he missed the start of the next campaign (which was blighted by the foreigners rule and saw David May-related disasters). The season after that he came back after a very lengthy ban, I think just after (or maybe just before) United went straight out of the UEFA cup to some more Russians. His last season was United's breakthrough in Europe, finally getting to the knockout stage, thrashing Porto (which he played a big part in) - he was ropey in the semi and that was probably what convinced him to retire.

64 goals in five/six seasons

It's not really about the quantity of goals he scored, but the transformative effect on the team.

if he had just scored 99 more you'd have beaten us 100-0 and he'd be worthy of inclusion in this poll xpost

i'm not saying it's entirely about goals but he is way overrated. there have been so many better players.

cantona more amc than cf

He was exceptional from day one for leeds, tailed off for maybe six months so quit. Brilliant.

Better for longer under more pressure than bergkamp. More to him than henry, even taking pace out of it, shearer only scored goals, cantona made a great team tick for five plus years, he was the centre of so many great moments/performances, and more than any other player on this list consistently delivered when it most mattered.

which Utd players are not overrated in your mind LG?

Pure ignorance, pubtalk, nothing bluster

good quote imo

No question.

et tu darragh...

don't think keane, giggs, scholes are necessarily overrated, just the latter two in recent seasons. schmeicel prob deserves a shout too tbh.

can't believe i'm repping for giggs and scholes, but i definitely am. cantona is romanticised beyond belief, can't be denied.

half of giggs's lauded career he was shite enough.

keane should be on the list! scholes a genuine great, and so humble too- not for him the photoshoots or the grandstanding for payrises.

but icons are icons- cantona, to mangle a phrase, was unwatchable at times. his displays in the run-in to the title in 95/96 title were the stuff of legend.

LeTiss will always, i think, be my favourite footballer- as you said, cantona can't match him for moments of sheer genius. But in an entire career of genius, letiss made sure that he rarely had to do it when it really mattered, almost his entire catalogue of brilliance is set against a backdrop of zero expectation 'fuckit what odds' nonpressure. Cantona demanded the pressure, the intensity and the critical moment, and then delivered time and again in that spotlight.

giggs or scholes would be easily, without question far ahead of cantona in any best prem player ever poll. as would keane, vieira

Just to be clear, if this was "best" player of the premiership era, only one of these three, at most, would be on the list. But it's not.

well in that case it's robbie savage

speed, keane, henry, jenas imo

Cantona also starred in some excellent Nike ads. Important factor imo

not to mention his recent work for the kooples

agree with what matt dc said p much

cantona was to man utd like a gullit and mourinho rolled into one for chelsea, no one's shadow stretches longer

in terms of defining i also like cantona as encapsulation of the prem's isolated own-brand turbo island madness and aggression. (plus the advertising razzle dazzle even to this day). he doesnt belong in any other context, not even in europe for united as garda points out

everyone at school played w/ popped collars

― ogmor, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 15:15 (Yesterday) Bookmark

also saying "au revoir" lots post nike devil ad

yeah, i remember trying that. Was difficult to pull off in the chaos of a lunchtime football game though

cantona is romanticised beyond belief, can't be denied.

this is the point imo

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otm

http://i.minus.com/i5hBotXOytEzq.gif

Damn, I'm so used to the motd animation that I'd forgotten what a great goal that is.