Re: Who do you think is/was the best central midfielder in the English Premier League era?

by Sushi Master Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:38 am

Vieira, but Scholes is also great.

by jibers Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:07 am

Why Steven Gerrard is on there is behind me. The guy was never an outstanding CM. His best position was behinf the #9. Well I can't say, they all did different things. Best dictator was easily scholes, he was the only one of his level really. Keane and Viera are pretty even. Well I guess I'd pick scholes out of your list but not because he is 'better', just that his kind of player to find in the EPL is rare.

by pewpew Thu Sep 20, 2012 11:06 am

lampard, scholes, viera I'd say. But Essien at his peak is very underrated.

by Zealous Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:02 pm

Lampard deserves more votes imo. In terms of attacking he smokes all the other guys on the list.

by Lord Hades Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:16 pm

personally ithink lampard is more of an am than a cm , would go for scholes in this one , absolutely brilliant in his prime and still very good.

by aleumdance Fri Sep 21, 2012 10:51 am

I voted for Cesc,\\if only Barcelone knew how to use him

if only

by Don Carlo Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:04 pm

I voted for Roy Keane but really its 50/50 between him & Viera.

Gerrard is close to them also, maybe even level with them.

by alexjanosik Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:37 am

The Franchise wrote:Vieira.

Had it all. Hugely technical, physical and all importantly tactical. Throw in his leadership and ability to always impact gameA very rich mans Yaya Toure..and I love Yaya Toure.

I know you are a huge Viera fan but I think Keane got the better of him a bit too much for me to rate Viera higher than Keane.
Ability wise Viera was better but Keane had that supreme and unshakeable will to win.Viera just didnt have that.
I pick Keane and Scholes.Cant separate them.Probably Scholes if i was pushed to pick one.

by The Franchise Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:36 am

I think Man Utd got the better of Arsenal, more than Keane the better of Vieira but fair enough.

by jibers Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:09 am

alexjanosik wrote:
The Franchise wrote:Vieira.

Had it all. Hugely technical, physical and all importantly tactical. Throw in his leadership and ability to always impact gameA very rich mans Yaya Toure..and I love Yaya Toure.

I know you are a huge Viera fan but I think Keane got the better of him a bit too much for me to rate Viera higher than Keane.
Ability wise Viera was better but Keane had that supreme and unshakeable will to win.Viera just didnt have that.
I pick Keane and Scholes.Cant separate them.Probably Scholes if i was pushed to pick one.

by McLewis Tue Oct 02, 2012 11:09 am

Scholes easily for me. Of the midfielders of his generation in the EPL, he was the most complete from my point of view. Viera rivals him in technical ability, but not his unerring accuracy in the shot and that sets Scholes above him.

by alexjanosik Tue Oct 02, 2012 11:30 am

The Franchise wrote:I think Man Utd got the better of Arsenal, more than Keane the better of Vieira but fair enough.

To an extent yes.But Arsenal back then had a very good team.Midfield was also quite good.United certainly didnt have a team that could be called head and shoulders better.
I dont remember all the games very well,but from what I can remember Keane did get the better of Viera on more than a few occasions.
Out of curiosity where do you rank Keane out of PL midfielders?

by BarcaKizz Tue Oct 02, 2012 11:43 am

My preferred player is definitely Scholes... I just think he is that little bit above the other great players like Keane, Viera, Gerrard and Lampard... etc. (didn't see Robson).

I've got to ask though...

aleumdance wrote:I voted for Cesc,\\if only Barcelone knew how to use him

if only

Can you explain? Barca don't know how? How about you explain to us how Barca should use him then... I'd be very curious to hear an answer.

Completely changing our style of play and dropping superior players is obviously out of the question. So how would you 'Oh wise one' tell Tito to fit Cesc in?

by The Franchise Tue Oct 02, 2012 12:44 pm

alexjanosik wrote:
The Franchise wrote:I think Man Utd got the better of Arsenal, more than Keane the better of Vieira but fair enough.

To an extent yes.But Arsenal back then had a very good team.Midfield was also quite good.United certainly didnt have a team that could be called head and shoulders better.
I dont remember all the games very well,but from what I can remember Keane did get the better of Viera on more than a few occasions.
Out of curiosity where do you rank Keane out of PL midfielders?

I wont lie, I dislike Keane. The way he ruined another players career will always leave a black mark on him in my eyes and I cant help but think it plays a factor in me judging him. I think he is 3rd, after Scholes. Thats if we are excluding Robsen.

by jibers Tue Oct 02, 2012 1:18 pm

The Franchise wrote:
alexjanosik wrote:
The Franchise wrote:I think Man Utd got the better of Arsenal, more than Keane the better of Vieira but fair enough.

To an extent yes.But Arsenal back then had a very good team.Midfield was also quite good.United certainly didnt have a team that could be called head and shoulders better.
I dont remember all the games very well,but from what I can remember Keane did get the better of Viera on more than a few occasions.
Out of curiosity where do you rank Keane out of PL midfielders?

I wont lie, I dislike Keane. The way he ruined another players career will always leave a black mark on him in my eyes and I cant help but think it plays a factor in me judging him. I think he is 3rd, after Scholes. Thats if we are excluding Robsen.

I agree Dani. Robson is our greatest player by a mile. Whenever he got injured out team fell apart. Most complete CM I have ever seen. His leadership and all out playing style is somethng we are lacking.

by DuringTheWar Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:08 am

There is constant problems with the term centre midfielder when comparing players. How can we say vieira was a better CM than scholes or vice versa? they are completely different and play a different role for their team.

by The Franchise Wed Oct 03, 2012 1:16 am

Well I wouldnt say completely.

They are very different types of players without doubt, but they actually played similar roles for their teams. They just have a different way of doing it.

Both played with holding midfielders (Petit and Keane respectively) in a 2 man midfield and had the job of making the first progressive pass from the midfield, circulating the ball and having many touches or directly driving at goal, with and without the ball. They did all these things differently, but they both had those responsibilities while playing in somewhat similar set ups and had some level of defensive responsibilty.

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