As a result of frank lampard's retirement from football, I have set myself the unenviable task of selecting the top five players that we have seen grace the English Premier League. I have left out a number of excellent players but here is my list:
Alan Shearer
This list would not be complete without the Geordie striker. Having played in the Premier League from its inception in 1992 until his retirement in 2006, Shearer went on to become the leading scorer in the league with 260 goals as recorded on the Premier League website. The fact that no other player has come close to beating that record, in addition to the fact that he has a league winner's medal, demonstrates why Shearer has to make my list.
Steven Gerrard
This Liverpool legend has to make my list too. OK, he did not win the league in his time but he offered too much to a team arguably inferior to himself. He galvanised the side and formed great partnerships over the years with the likes of Michael Owen, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez. He was the heartbeat of all that was good with Liverpool. And how close they came in 2009 and 2014. If there was ever a player who deserved a winner's medal more, it is Steven Gerrard. I know that he came almightily close to leaving for Chelsea in 2005 and may have won much, much more, but he did not, he stayed loyal, and maybe only Kenny Dalglish stands in his way of being named Liverpool's greatest ever player.
Just imagine what havoc they could have caused if both 'King Kenny' and 'Stevie G' had been on the same team.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Have we seen anything like the Portuguese before? We have had match winners in Andy Cole, quick-fire hat-tricks in Robbie Fowler and strength and prowess in Didier Drogba, but Ronaldo is all alone in terms of ability and performance.
He dragged Manchester United, much like Eric Cantona in the 1990s, to Premier League successes from 2007-2009. His late winner against Fulham in February 2007 and the penalty scored against Manchester City to secure the title in May of the same year are just some of the countless occasions Ronaldo rescued United in securing victory after victory, as stated on the Bleacher Report website.
His greatest season surely came in the 2007-8 season as the irrepressible forward scored thirty-one goals in the league according to the Sporting Heroes website. He may well be the greatest player to have graced the beautiful game.
Thierry Henry
Where would Arsenal have been without their mercurial striker? Signed from Juventus in 1999, Henry would go onto become a club legend and would even have a statue of himself outside the Emirates stadium. He scored glorious goals and scored simply goals. He also scored important goals too. His versatility in front of goal was second to none. He had a knack of making defenders look silly. His volley against Manchester United and his slalom through Liverpool's defence in the invincible season will go down as two of the best that he scored.
The extent of his influence on the team was illustrated after his departure in 2007. He was never replaced.
Frank Lampard
And now to Frank Lampard. Arguably the greatest midfielder of the modern era. What set him aside was his goals. As stated on the Premier League website, in 609 league appearances Lampard scored 177 goals. This is more than Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Robin van Persie. And this was from midfield. He arrived late in the box to score goal after goal, many of them important ones too. As the Independent newspaper states, there were his two goals away at Bolton in 2005 that secured Chelsea's first title in fifty years, as well as against Liverpool and Wigan in 2010 that secured another league title for the blues.
The extent of what he achieved in his time at Chelsea was summed up by friend and former team-mate John Terry, who said that Lampard was "the greatest player in the history of our great football club".
I may have missed many greats but this is my top five.
