Is De Bruyne the best midfielder the EPL has ever had?

Who has been the best for you?

  • De Bruyne

    Votes: 134 28.5%

  • Lampard

    Votes: 24 5.1%

  • Scholes

    Votes: 51 10.8%

  • Gerrard

    Votes: 202 42.9%

  • Vieira

    Votes: 25 5.3%

  • Keane

    Votes: 15 3.2%

  • Silva

    Votes: 6 1.3%

  • Toure

    Votes: 4 0.8%

  • Other? (please name)

    Votes: 10 2.1%
  • Total voters
    471
No chance. Great player, one of the greats but not the greatest.

He’s a bit to go yet before he hits those kind of heights.

Scholes miles ahead of him, as is Gerrard and Viera.

He is some player right enough, no doubts about it.
 
De Bruyne gets dropped for big games? Why even make something like that up ffs :))

Interesting to see Scholes, Lampard and Gerrard all being put up there ahead of De Bruyne, even seen Beckham mentioned. That’s 4 guys who played in the same England side who couldn’t even get further than a quarter final.
 
WLF said:
De Bruyne gets dropped for big games? Why even make something like that up ffs :))

Interesting to see Scholes, Lampard and Gerrard all being put up there ahead of De Bruyne, even seen Beckham mentioned. That’s 4 guys who played in the same England side who couldn’t even get further than a quarter final.
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And none of these names come close to Griezmann in midfield. A different level.

 
You put prime Gerrard in the current Man City team and he'd boss it, put De Bruyne in the old Liverpool team then I'd doubt the impact would be as great. Gerrard played with a lot of mince.
 
mark hateley said:
I'm not being sentimental but Gerrard is and was best of a generation.

Some have came close but no ones overtaken him.
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Yep he can play anywhere and play that role brilliantly
Gerrard has won as many CLs as KDB has and he was playing for an average team give or take an Alonso at the time
KDB certainly does not score as many rockets or even just goals for that matter, and look at the players he’s surrounded with
 
MancGer86 said:
Those wee niggles have generally kept him out a couple of months at a time so I imagine he's had a major psychological battle with his own body to be fit enough to perform at the level he has. So I'd argue he has incredible mental fortitude to keep coming back from his injuries to be a major player for us.
Defensively he's never been needed so kind of a redundant point.
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Never been needed, or simply not good enough to play that role even if they needed a body there?

Gerrard played as a six, an eight, a ten, a winger and a striker all pretty well.

I love KDB but Gerrard’s the better all round midfielder for me.
 
Flying_Scotsman said:
You put prime Gerrard in the current Man City team and he'd boss it, put De Bruyne in the old Liverpool team then I'd doubt the impact would be as great. Gerrard played with a lot of mince.
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KDB’s shots are nowhere near what Gerrard can do either and that’s just one part of their game that does not compare
And take into account how versatile Gerrard was as a player not only can he play different roles but play them all to a very very high standard
To my eyes Gerrard was the best complete midfielder/player to have played in the EPL
 
Flying_Scotsman said:
You put prime Gerrard in the current Man City team and he'd boss it, put De Bruyne in the old Liverpool team then I'd doubt the impact would be as great. Gerrard played with a lot of mince.
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I don’t even see how Gerrard’s style fits in that Man City side, he wasn’t a Guardiola style player at all. Some real revisionism going on for Stevie G. For as good as he was quick one touch passing wasn’t exactly Gerrard’s thing.
 
mark hateley said:
I'm not being sentimental but Gerrard is and was best of a generation.

Some have came close but no ones overtaken him.
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No seen anyone score with so many long shots since he retired, his YouTube reels are just him scoring rockets one after another mostly
 
WLF said:
I don’t even see how Gerrard’s style fits in that Man City side, he wasn’t a Guardiola style player at all. Some real revisionism going on for Stevie G.
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Gerrard would be able to adapt to any system no problem , you forget he was a very smart player too
You don’t play. the amount of positrons he could without a high level football brain
 
WLF said:
I don’t even see how Gerrard’s style fits in that Man City side, he wasn’t a Guardiola style player at all. Some real revisionism going on for Stevie G. For as good as he was quick one touch passing wasn’t exactly Gerrard’s thing.
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Some great points but good as Gerrard was he had flaws and I think KDB is maybe better. HOWEVER if SG had been asked to play in the current Pep team with quick one touch passing he could have done it. Gundogan managed to fit in as did Fernandinho, albeit he was a few years
ago. Pep coaches players into his style.
 
‘Best midfielder’ is a bit vague as all the players above were I guess midfielders but all so different to each other. At his peak Keane was awesome who could win games for Man U by setting the standard for his side. Him and Viera influenced and won games in a different way to KDB.
 
cooperman said:
Gerrard would be able to adapt to any system no problem , you forget he was a very smart player too
You don’t play. the amount of positrons he could without a high level football brain
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You need be more than smart to be able to play that style of football though. I’ve never seen SG play that sort of football.

Think people are being a tad harsh on KDB anyway. He’s more than just a great passer.
 
ICA_86 said:
Never been needed, or simply not good enough to play that role even if they needed a body there?

Gerrard played as a six, an eight, a ten, a winger and a striker all pretty well.

I love KDB but Gerrard’s the better all round midfielder for me.
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Why would you try and shoehorn one of the best attacking midfielders of his generation in a defensive role? Makes no sense.
Gerrard probably more versatile il give you that though I can't say I ever remember him as a striker at all or being as effective as a winger.
cooperman said:
Yep he can play anywhere and play that role brilliantly
Gerrard has won as many CLs as KDB has and he was playing for an average team give or take an Alonso at the time
KDB certainly does not score as many rockets or even just goals for that matter, and look at the players he’s surrounded with
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You should probably take a look at a KDB goal compilation on YouTube or something then see if you still say he doesn't score many rockets. The vast majority of his goals for us have been screamers and he has recently passed the 100 mark with us.
 
prenzlauerbear said:
Was there ever a game where Vieria got the best of Keane?

Keane dominating Zidane and Davids in Turin showed how good he was.
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The first couple after he came back from his cruciate injury at the start of the 98/99 season but once Keane got up to speed then he had Vieira's number.
 
SDF said:
The first couple after he came back from his cruciate injury at the start of the 98/99 season but once Keane got up to speed then he had Vieira's number.
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The only player I remember properly handing Keane his arse was Redondo in the 2000 game.

Do wonder if he is one of the players he has in mind when talking about juicing.
 
Not sure, but definitely in the conversation. A good few of those midfielders were first team players at 18-19 in the EPL, whereas KDB couldn't get into the Chelsea midfield.
 
All very different play styles which makes it hard to compare. He's the best I've ever seen at picking perfect time & weight to play final pass when his team are on a counter attack.

Though Lampard has got to be one of the best midfielders at getting goals where he's timed his run to arrive at the edge of the box at the perfect time.

And Gerrard one of the best at dragging a team along with him through sheer will power. He probably had best all round game of the listed players
 
Gerrard is best hands down, could any of the others did what Gerrard done, literally win games himself, I don’t think so!!
De bruyne is outstanding obviously but Gerrard literally carried Liverpool himself
 
madwithebongos said:
Gerrard is best hands down, could any of the others did what Gerrard done, literally win games himself, I don’t think so!!
De bruyne is outstanding obviously but Gerrard literally carried Liverpool himself
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Gerrard had some real high profile howlers too. In his defence I can’t think of KDB having many if any. Gerrard didn’t literally carry Liverpool on his own either. The season they came closest to winning the league while he was there Suarez carried them. One of the premier leagues greatest midfielders, but some serious hyperbole now.
 
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Judging who’s better especially when playing in different times is tough.

However ask me to pick one player for my team and that’s Steven Gerrard by some distance.
 
While I agree KDB has performed consistently at a ridiculously high level, I did also like Silva. Scholes and Gerrard in the same bracket, albeit slightly different types of players.

Some I’ve enjoyed watching over the years are Ozil, Modric, Xabi Alonso though I understand those three probably performed better away from the PL. Tugay and Dembele get honourable mentions for me, too.
 
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As I see it, De bruyne is possibly the greatest passer the EPL has seen.

But that is simply one aspect of the game.

One could argue JJ Okocha was the most technically skilled midfielder to play in the EPL.


This is another single aspect of the game.

Whilst the trophy hauls are not comparable of course, I would strongly argue Man City would have won nearly all of their silverware with or without de bruyne, whilst Bolton and Hull could have had Messi in their starting 11 and still not have won anything more than they did.

As an all rounder with longevity and greatest impact on his team's success, I've gone Gerrard.

But anyone would have had more fun watching Okocha!
 
club175 said:
its good at times but for me its like watching 11 robots on the pitch. Fantastically coached and obviously brilliant players but just find it dull a lot of the time. I would far rather watch a Fergie Utd team than a pep Man City team
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I watch MoTD or MoTD2 occasionally, I never make time to watch any live EPL games these days.

Last I looked forward to English games were Fergusons Man Utds.
 
LoyalAndBlue82 said:
Debate on Sky after the game last night and Redknapp says he is now clearly ahead of Scholes, Gerrard , Lampard, Vieira, Toure etc

Is he the best for you?
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He's world class, that's for sure, however, I think Gerrard tops him.

Whilst they won trophies, in general he played in a bang average Liverpool side for the majority of the time amd still stood out.

For me Gerrard was the best with De Bruyne 2nd.
 
Whilst I really really love watching De Bruyne, I eventually went for Gerrard.

A close thing, since Vieira does push him pretty close.
 
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