DG.Roma Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 (edited) How about this then - who's been the best Left Back in the English Premier League since Andy Robertson left Dundee United? It's Andy Robertson. Around about the time Robertson joined Hull, Ashley Cole left Chelsea, they replaced him with an out of position Cesar Azpilicueta, and then Marcos Alonso. More recently they've had Ben Chilwell or Marc Cucurella. Chelsea, Man City and Leicester are the only other teams to have won the league since Robertson joined it. Leicester did it with Christian Fuchs. Spurs had Danny Rose and Ben Davies in 2014, Man Utd had Luke Shaw, Tyler Blackett and Timothy Fosu-Mensah. Arsenal had Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal. I don't think any of them have really had anyone significant since then, other than Kieran Tierney. Man City have won the league with Kolarov, Clichy, Mendy, Zinchenko, Delph, Cancelo, Laporte and Ake at left back, maybe more. Kolarov had his moments, Mendy was brilliant going forward but a liability on the pitch, never mind off it. Joao Cancelo was great for a while, but that didn't last. Laporte and Ake are good, but are centre backs, not full backs. Delph and Zinchenko are midfielders. I know I'll have missed some, but in the last decade, Andy Robertson is comfortably the best Left Back in the Premier League. Edited April 14 by DG.Roma Autocorrect doesn't know Portuguese 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molotov Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 32 minutes ago, JMDP said: Yeah, Irwin was incredible. If pushed for a top 3, I would go Irwin, Cole then Robertson. If we just compare Robertson vs Irwin in trophies in TopTrumps I’d say that Irwin > Robertson. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky1990 Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jives Miguel said: There's not been a right back worthy of being included. Please don't @ me with any 90s plumberball era frauds The type of patter that they "have to have a Prem team to be a real football fan" wanks hit out with. Type of guys that think Iniesta is/was shite because he didnt score that many goals. Edited April 14 by Jacky1990 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molotov Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 The peak decade of the EPL for me was around 1992-2002. Some of the players during that time across so many clubs were absolutely incredible. Zola, Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Beckham, Giggs, Van Nistelroy, Ronaldo, Scholes, Yorke, Collymore, Fowler, Owen, Shearer. The list goes on. The Arsenal of that period I believe would piss all over today’s squad. Same with Manchester United. Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Chelsea, Villa, Blackburn and even Everton all had significant quality. Even teams like Sheffield Wednesday had Di Canio and Carbone. I think that period was certainly more competitive across the league. Plus the FA cup still had status in the game. Now it’s just an afterthought as a tournament. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrewDon Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Should Sky bring him back? Yes, no doubt about it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH Panda Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 11 hours ago, Jacky1990 said: Dennis Irwin. 11 hours ago, GordonS said: I love the guy, but come on. Dennis Irwin, Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole were better in the Premier League era. Kenny Sansom and Alan Kennedy achieved more in the 1980s, but I was too young to see them play much so I can't compare. Going much further back full backs usually played a different role. Only Ashley Cole comes close and even then Robertson is certainly far more creative. As for Irwin? Not a chance for me, for the same reason Steve Bruce or Gary Pallister aren't as good as Van Dijk. The standard is far better now, as is what is expected of a full back. As for Patrice Evra - a wild take, even Evras mum would accept Robbo is a far better player. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 9 hours ago, Jacky1990 said: The type of patter that they "have to have a Prem team to be a real football fan" wanks hit out with. Type of guys that think Iniesta is/was shite because he didnt score that many goals. or get enough "assists"... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Someone showed me a bet that had county,Fulham palace and villa a £5 returned 24 k. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derry Alli Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Bruce and Pallister aren't as good as Van Dijk. It's not because of the era they played in, its because they aren't as good as him. Silly sossij. 4 minutes ago, throbber said: Someone showed me a bet that had county,Fulham palace and villa a £5 returned 24 k. Love to see things like this. It probably only comes in once in a lifetime for the punter - who will more than likely spend about £24k on daft £5 accumulators but right now, he's Milhouse. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudia Gentile Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Liverpool supporting mate just sent me this. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 10 hours ago, Molotov said: The peak decade of the EPL for me was around 1992-2002. Some of the players during that time across so many clubs were absolutely incredible. Zola, Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Beckham, Giggs, Van Nistelroy, Ronaldo, Scholes, Yorke, Collymore, Fowler, Owen, Shearer. The list goes on. The Arsenal of that period I believe would piss all over today’s squad. Same with Manchester United. Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Chelsea, Villa, Blackburn and even Everton all had significant quality. Even teams like Sheffield Wednesday had Di Canio and Carbone. I think that period was certainly more competitive across the league. Plus the FA cup still had status in the game. Now it’s just an afterthought as a tournament. I’m not so sure - there has been an English team in the Champions League final in 5 of the last 6 seasons - 2 in 2021 and 3 different winners. Man City and Liverpool have posted points totals never seen in English football before. I would also argue the FA Cup has regained status. The League Cup certainly has. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 1 hour ago, Derry Alli said: Bruce and Pallister aren't as good as Van Dijk. It's not because of the era they played in, its because they aren't as good as him. Silly sossij. Love to see things like this. It probably only comes in once in a lifetime for the punter - who will more than likely spend about £24k on daft £5 accumulators but right now, he's Milhouse. Yeah it’s outrageous - it’s probably all over Twitter but I don’t have the screenshot of it to share right now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 7 hours ago, SH Panda said: Only Ashley Cole comes close and even then Robertson is certainly far more creative. As for Irwin? Not a chance for me, for the same reason Steve Bruce or Gary Pallister aren't as good as Van Dijk. The standard is far better now, as is what is expected of a full back. As for Patrice Evra - a wild take, even Evras mum would accept Robbo is a far better player. I think you have more than a slice of recency bias. The idea that the standard is higher now just isn't true. Andy Robertson's basic level of technique isn't great, that's why he wasn't spotted as a top class player at Queens Park, Dundee Utd or Hull. He was always known for quality crosses but that's about it and Liverpool signed him as cover for Moreno. He more than makes up for his limitations through boundless energy and excellent decision making. As for Van Dijk, excellent as he is, I saw someone recently suggesting he might be the best Dutch player ever. Apart from the obvious, I wouldn't say he's even one of their two best centre halves - Rijkard and Koeman fill those spots. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoRaj Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 1 minute ago, GordonS said: I think you have more than a slice of recency bias. The idea that the standard is higher now just isn't true. Andy Robertson's basic level of technique isn't great, that's why he wasn't spotted as a top class player at Queens Park, Dundee Utd or Hull. He was always known for quality crosses but that's about it and Liverpool signed him as cover for Moreno. He more than makes up for his limitations through boundless energy and excellent decision making. Absolute shite 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 14 hours ago, DG.Roma said: How about this then - who's been the best Left Back in the English Premier League since Andy Robertson left Dundee United? It's Andy Robertson. I agree with that. I also think he's Scotland's best player since the 1980s and our best left back ever. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 (edited) Both recency bias and it's counterpart misty eyed nostalgia can both distort ones view but there's another problem to contend with There's an underlying assumption that because it's reasonable to say some players are better than some other players every player must be better or worse than any given other player and therefore there must be a single player that's better than all the others. Which makes more sense in individual sports but is a weaker assertion in team sports where the very appeal is that the whole performance can be more than the sum of the individual parts. Sometimes if two players swapped clubs it would leave both clubs weaker And in an era where players at top clubs are under more and more detailed direction from their managers the "quality" of a player is even more subject to how well they fit that club. Lists of top X players in position Y since arbitrary cut off date Z should probably be treated with the same seriousness as the 100 hottest celebrities Edited April 15 by topcat(The most tip top) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Codswallop. These things are binary and Andrew Reynolds Fraudertson is little more than a jobber. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eez-eh Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Everything is either the best it’s ever been or the worst it’s ever been. No in between is allowed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH Panda Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 (edited) 41 minutes ago, GordonS said: I think you have more than a slice of recency bias. The idea that the standard is higher now just isn't true. Andy Robertson's basic level of technique isn't great, that's why he wasn't spotted as a top class player at Queens Park, Dundee Utd or Hull. He was always known for quality crosses but that's about it and Liverpool signed him as cover for Moreno. He more than makes up for his limitations through boundless energy and excellent decision making. As for Van Dijk, excellent as he is, I saw someone recently suggesting he might be the best Dutch player ever. Apart from the obvious, I wouldn't say he's even one of their two best centre halves - Rijkard and Koeman fill those spots. You do realise that Van Dijk also wasn't spotted as a top class player until well into his career right? He was 27 when he moved to Liverpool, Robertson was 23. I highly doubt the long term plan was for him to be backup to Moreno Liverpool saw his excellent potential. Have to disagree you that the standard isn't better - games from 20 years ago look pretty crap low tempo affairs compared to now. And the premier league at that time had the odd great foreign player - now it is full of them (and does far better in Europe too). Do you really think Klopp would trade present day Robertson for prime Denis Irwin or Nigel Winterburn? Neither is capable of doing what Robertson does - he's redefined that position. Incidentally Trent is, and will be, a far better right back than Gary Neville. Robbo might only be fully appreciated when he retires, he's a fantastic player, think he still has many years in him too. Edited April 15 by SH Panda 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMMjag Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 I was pleased to see Paul Merson taking a more active role in Ford Super Sunday coverage. Keano, Nev and Carra can generate the clickbait, but as a legacy fan, sometimes I just want to sit back and watch a top pro speaking nothing but common sense. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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