Robert Pirès

Pires was the man

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He got 14 league goals more than once before Gerrard and Lampard started putting up those numbers, and that was without taking penalties. If he was on pens back then he’d have been touching 20, so like you say, in the modern day with wingers being more like forwards, I think he’d be scoring hatfuls.

Definitely doesn’t get enough credit outside of our fanbase, not even close.

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Pires, Henry, Bergkamp and Ljungberg was probably best attacking line up we’ve had and almost as good as Havertz, Trossard, Saka and Martinelli. :grinning:

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Yep. Imo probably the most underrated PL player ever.

Thak kind of playmaking ability coupled with goalscoring ability is unmatched, unless we’re talking about Messi.

I think he would have made a decent Ballon d’Or contender that year if it weren’t for that unlucky injury right before the world cup, while he was flying and was the most in form French player at the time.

That’s Wayne Rooney. For real. Even if he gets credits I don’t think it’s enough by far.

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He was a beautiful player, just beautiful and I don’t mean his looks.

Skillful, deceptively quick, great feet, good finisher, physically strong (when he wanted to be :wink:), and scorer of some beautiful goals.

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His tackle on Vieira in the CL after he ditched us for Juve is one for the ages.

Your avatar.

I approve

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I approve of it too.

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I agree with this. Rooney is the best English player of all time, the best Manchester United player of all time and in any discussion for greatest PL player of all time

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^ BradyMagic is back :eyes:

I agree, but I think Rooney has to take some blame for that. He was very prone to sulking which gave him a negative perception. Especially when he played for England which would’ve been his biggest exposure to non-United and non-Premier League club supporters.

The Rooney that played under Fergie was an unbelievable player.

Beyond Messi its hard to name many (if any) players today that would be capable of excelling in so many roles as Rooney did over the course of his career, emerging as the creative fulcrum of a side playing either 4-4-2 or a fluid front three, then becoming a focal point 9 after Ronaldo left and bagging 25+ league goals in multiple seasons, then sliding back into the 10 position when RVP came and becoming the main creator again for a couple more years. Just a really talented footballer.

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Might be out of touch with the wider narrative, but I feel like Rooney ia recognised as being one of United and England’s greatest ever players. If he’s underrated, it’s only slightly imo.

Not saying Pires is even as good as Rooney, but I think he is far more underrated.

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Absolutely spot on.