The Premier League turns 30 today and after listing my top 100 players and top 10 managers, I've decided to do my all time Premier League 11. Pretty much everyone has done one and now it's time I do mine.
MY ALL TIME PREMIER LEAGUE XI
GOALKEEPER: Peter Schmeichel
I've gone with Schmeichel simply because of the quality of saves he made. He could pull off any kind of save during his career and many of them as kept he United in games many times. His presence between the sticks made United really strong defensively as they had a keeper whom they could rely upon to keep the score down.
DEFENDERS: Gary Neville, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole
Neville is without a doubt the best right back in Premier League history because of his ability to defend and the energy he had to get forward and help his team at the other end. He was a leader in United's backline for many years and United were a solid team defensively because of it.
Terry for me is the best central defender in Premier League history. He was always well positioned when defending, time his tackles well and was a leader both on and off the pitch. His leadership was crucial in every single title win he was part of at Chelsea along with his defensive abilities.
Some say that Ferdinand turned good when Nemanja Vidic turned up to play alongside him. But I think that's untrue because he was good at both West Ham and Leeds before making his record breaking move to Man United. He was a strong defender who was good on the ball, determined to win his challenges and was a leader in United's backline along with the many others they had.
Cole is definitely the best left back to play in the Premier League as he was effective both defensively and offensively. He won the majority of his challenges when defending and he always had the energy to burst forward and help his team out at the other end.
WINGERS: Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs
I could not leave Ronaldo out after what he's achieved in the game. He was on another level during his time at Man United because of the pace and skills he had alongside the goals he scored. He may be more of a centre forward these days but he did spend the majority of his time at United as a winger.
Giggs had to be in because of how long he went on for. He had the same desire to contribute and be effective right throughout his career and even as he approached the end of it. His pace was a nightmare for any defender to deal with and he scored in almost every season he was involved with.
CENTRE MIDFIELDERS: Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes
I couldn't have both Gerrard and Lampard in the same team as they can't play together so I had to pick one of them. I've gone with Gerrard because he had more energy. He could pick out any kind of pass from anywhere on the pitch and could also hit a striker from long distance. He also had the ability to win games by himself.
I've chosen Scholes to partner Gerrard because he could pick out any kind of pass from anywhere on the pitch and could dictate play in midfield. He was a box to box midfielder like Gerrard was but he could also be used as a deep lying midfielder because of the vision he had.
STRIKERS: Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry
The all time record goal scorer just had to be included. Shearer was a natural born goal scorer on his day as he could score any kind of goal. He holds the joint record for most goals in a season with 34 from the 1994/95 season where he was his maiden league title with Blackburn.
Henry is in because he's won more golden boots than any other player with 4. He scored all kinds of goals at Arsenal including many great ones and was without a doubt the best striker in the league during the 00s. Aguero may be highest scoring foreigner but Henry's 4 golden boots are what give him the edge here.
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