Micah Richards & Alan Shearer have ranked the 10 best midfielders in Premier League history
Amidst some of the recent controversy surrounding the BBC, Match of the Day, and the treatment of Gary Lineker, the new season of Match of the Day Top 10 has kicked off with a belter, the top 10 Premier League midfielders of all time.
The Top 10 series has been running for a couple of years now and involves a combination of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and usually Ian Wright or Micah Richards, debating some of the greatest players or moments in Premier League history.
This time, after coming to an agreement on the 10 players to rank, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer were the pair to sort the players, and they’ve certainly made some quite controversial choices.
The Premier League’s greatest midfielders
The available players to choose from were Kevin De Bruyne, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas, Paul Scholes, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, N’Golo Kante, David Silva, and Yaya Toure.
Now this top 10 is already controversial enough when you think about some of the greats to have missed out on the list, including David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Robert Pires. Instead, the pair have opted for entirely central players.
Here is how the two have ranked them from 10 down to one.
Micah Richards:
10. N’Golo Kante
9. Cesc Fabregas
8. Kevin De Bruyne
7. Frank Lampard
6. Yaya Toure
5. David Silva
4. Paul Scholes
3. Patrick Vieira
2. Roy Keane
1. Steven Gerrard
Alan Shearer:
10. Cesc Fabregas
9. Yaya Toure
8. Ngolo Kante
7. Patrick Vieira
6. Kevin De Bruyne
5. Roy Keane
4. David Silva
3. Frank Lampard
2. Paul Scholes
1. Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard crowned the Premier League’s greatest midfielder
The pair seem to have some consensus on much of the top five, with Gerrard being ranked first by both and Scholes and Keane also being included in the top fives. Richards and Shearer are both clearly massive David Silva fans too as in both cases he is ranked in the top five, finishing above his former teammate De Bruyne.
The pair have also attempted to settle some everlasting debates with Keane finishing higher than Vieira in both lists, with Shearer ranking the Arsenal invincible as far back as seventh place.
Another ongoing debate in football, especially among England fans, is the debate over who was better out of Gerrard, Lampard, and Scholes with the latter being forced to fill in at left-midfield for large parts of his national career.
For Shearer and Richards, the debate seems clear, Gerrard a comfortable first, followed by Scholes and Lampard third. Richards even put the Premier League’s top scoring midfielder all the way back in seventh.
The pair did also team up to create a joint top 10 list and that is as follows:
10. Cesc Fabregas
9. N’Golo Kante
8. Yaya Toure
7. Kevin De Bruyne
6. Frank Lampard
5. Patrick Vieira
4. David Silva
3. Roy Keane
2. Paul Scholes
1. Steven Gerrard
According to Shearer and Richards, it seems Gerrard is unmatched in the midfielder debate, and it’s certainly a fair shout. In his illustrious career he was frequently the galvanising force of an often inconsistent Liverpool side as he helped lay the foundations for the success of Jürgen Klopp in recent seasons.
No doubt plenty of you reading these lists will disagree pretty significantly, especially on the debate over the three English midfield generals. For now, though, Shearer and Richards have spoken and for them, Gerrard reigns supreme.
