A fan selected Premier League all-time XI featuring the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Steven Gerrard and Alan Shearer has become a huge talking point on social media in the past 24 hours.
To celebrate 30 years of Premier League action, the guys over at BT Sport decided to mark the special anniversary by running a poll asking people to pick their greatest ever team.
A total of 200,302 people voted and well, some choices have gone down better than others.
To the surprise of many, only three former Manchester United players made the all-time XI, including Peter Schmeichel in net. He took his place ahead of David Seaman, Petr Cech and Edwin van der Sar.
A number of Manchester United legends missed out, including Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and the club's all-time top goalscorer, Wayne Rooney, who played 491 games in England's top flight.
Advert
Rooney, who scored 208 goals in the league, also lifted five Premier League titles during that time, but fans opted for the front three of Mohamed Salah, Alan Shearer and, of course, the great Thierry Henry.
And let's be real, there was no debate on that final pick.
Another big talking point was the back four. Gary Neville, who won eight Premier League titles – more than any other defender nominated – slotted in at right-back.
Advert
Rio Ferdinand was then joined by one of the best defenders in world football right now, Virgil van Dijk, at centre-back.
The Dutch international earned 41.5% of the vote to beat John Terry (29.4%), Nemanja Vidic (19.3%) and Vincent Kompany (9.8%) to earn his place in the all-time XI.
Former Arsenal and Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole also earned his place at left-back and that was an overwhelming choice from the public.
Former Manchester United duo Patrice Evra and Denis Irwin were a distant second and third, according to BT Sport.
And perhaps the most controversial part of the team involved the midfield three of Kevin De Bruyne, Steven Gerrard and Patrick Vieira – with the likes of Frank Lampard, N'Golo Kante and Paul Scholes missing out.
Here are some of the reactions from social media.
Advert
One fan said: "Ferdinand not in top 5 CB's. Prime Cech was better then Schmeichel. Terry is the best CB in Premier League history. Lampard over Gerrard."
Another commented: "You can make an argument for all of these, But Van Dijk? REALLY??? Over Adams, Campbell, Terry, Vidic, Kompany, Desielly (spelling) Stam and Keown? Hell you could even put Woodgate, Southgate and King on the list."
A third said: "What sort of disrespect is this? The Premier League didn't start 5yrs to 7yrs ago. How can Lampard, Ronaldo, Vidic, John Terry, Scholes etc not be a part of this. Clearly, you lot have been watching a different sport."
Thoughts on the fan selected all-time Premier League XI? Would you change anything?
Advert
Let us know your team in the comments.
Topics: Premier League, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City
