Wingers are the players we all turn to for excitement. They should be able to do the impossible at any time and these five have shown that over the years.
David Ginola
On his day Ginola was unplayable. The Frenchman joined Newcastle in 1996 and showed his magical touch straight away and showed amazing ability to be able to beat anyone from any position – no one will ever forget his fabulous goal in the stunning 5-0 victory over Manchester United in his first season.
He continued to sparkle for Tottenham, Villa and Everton and in 1999, his form was so good that Johan Cruyff claimed that he was currently the best player in the world. His flamboyance in the Newcastle side dubbed ‘the entertainers’ will never be forgotten and for me is class personified.
Robert Pires
The quartet of Pires, Ljungberg, Bergkamp and Henry were as deadly as any front four in the Premier League. With the help of these three team mates, Pires helped the Gunners to their invincible season as well as another Premier league title two seasons before.
The Frenchman added guile and creativity in which Henry profited from greatly. With Pires and Ljungberg able to play on both flanks, they would pop up anywhere making them almost impossible to mark and for that reason Pires is one of the best Left Wingers in Premiership history.
Arjen Robben
Despite only spending three years at Chelsea, he was one of the shining lights in the title winning sides under Jose Mourinho. His ability to leave his marker in knots was something that was seen often and his turn of speed would see him past his opposition before you could even blink. He is known for cutting inside before drilling the ball with his left foot and despite the defender knowing that it would happen, they still couldn’t do anything about it, making Robben one of the best we’ve ever seen.
Gareth Bale
Some may disagree with Bale being on this list after only a couple of world class seasons. It took the Welshman 24 league games to record a win with Tottenham but over the last couple of seasons he has flourished and last season scored 21 goals before a world record move to Real Madrid this summer.
The development in his game has been remarkable and has become the type of player who can score from any part of the pitch. Some of the strikes from last season rescued many points for Tottenham and scored a brace in his most recent game for Madrid. For me Bale is one the best wingers this league has seen.
Ryan Giggs
But this Welshman is the best I’ve ever seen. He has played in every Premier league season, scoring in all of them and has won 13 league titles. He has been there and seen it at all, and in his younger days could beat anyone with a ridiculous burst of pace, in which the Arsenal defence will testify in one of the greatest Fa Cups goals ever in the 1999 semi-final.
664 league appearances shows that Ryan Giggs has been a stand out throughout the last two decades and the fact he is still going strong shows the remarkable ability he possesses and the incredible way he has kept himself fit. Ryan Giggs is quite simply the best left midfielder this league has seen, in my eyes.
Honourable mentions: Marc Overmars, John Barnes
