Greatest Premier League Midfielders Ever Ranked by Richards & Shearer

Alan Shearer and Micah Richards named their greatest 10 Premier League midfielders of all time on BBC’s Match of the Day Top 10. The duo disagreed with each other over a number of players, although they did come to a unanimous decision on their number one pick.

The Top 10 series ran for several years and involved a combination of Gary Lineker, Shearer, and Richards, debating some of the greatest players or moments in Premier League history.

This time, after coming to an agreement on the 10 players to rank, the popular pundits certainly made some controversial choices. The available players to choose from were Kevin De Bruyne, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas, Paul Scholes, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, N’Golo Kante, David Silva, and Yaya Toure.

This top 10 is already controversial enough when you think about some of the greats to have missed out on the list, including David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Robert Pires. Instead, the pair have opted for entirely central players. Here is how the two have ranked them from 10 down to one.

Micah Richards’ Top 10 Midfielders

Frank Lampard misses out on the top five

The biggest shock of Richards’ entire list is that he ranked his former England and Manchester City colleague Frank Lampard in seventh place. The highest-scoring midfielder in Premier League history is regarded by many as one of the best to play the position, but there are six better in the opinion of the retired defender.

Patrick Vieira, who also shared a dressing room with Richards once upon a time at the Etihad Stadium, was named in third place by the 37-year-old. The man who famously captained Arsenal to an undefeated league season in 2003-04 is only bettered by his long-term rival Roy Keane and Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard. Richards and Keane have struck up quite the partnership as pundits and the Irishman is the second-best midfielder in Premier League history in his colleague’s eyes.

Explaining his decision to put the Manchester United legend ahead of greats like Scholes, Vieira and Lampard on his top 10 list, the former Manchester City defender said:

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Paul Scholes and David Silva make up the rest of Richards’ top five. The latter played a slightly different role to the other names in question as the wonderful Spaniard would often drift into wide areas and even played as a left-winger at times. His technical ability is up there with the best names on this list, like Scholes’.

These choices were made in early 2023, and as a result, Kevin De Bruyne ranks quite low on the Manchester City ambassador’s list. This may now be different as the Belgian has guided his team to a historic treble since then, as well as four consecutive Premier League titles. N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas and Yaya Toure both played huge roles in title successes for Leicester City, Chelsea and Manchester City, but the energetic duo miss out on the top five in Richards’ opinion.

Alan Shearer’s Top 10 Midfielders

An English trio make up the top three

The pair came to a consensus on much of the top five, with Gerrard being ranked first by both and Scholes and Keane also being included. Shearer, like Richards, is clearly a massive David Silva fan, as in both cases he is ranked in the top five, finishing above his former teammate De Bruyne.

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The punditry duo have also attempted to settle some everlasting debates with Keane finishing higher than Vieira in both lists, with Shearer ranking the Gunners’ invincible star as far back as seventh place. Kante finishes above Toure and Fabregas for the Newcastle hero, which is largely down to the transformative impact the Frenchman had on Leicester City during his 12 months at the King Power Stadium.

Lampard, who played alongside Shearer for England, makes it into third place. This is a more familiar-looking slot for the Chelsea legend, who scored 177 Premier League goals in his incredible career. Gerrard, Scholes, Lampard is the order the English greats should be ranked in the view of a man who shared a pitch with all three on many occasions.

Speaking on the former Liverpool man, Shearer was full of praise for the ex-midfielder, who ranks top despite never winning a Premier League title with the Reds:

Steven Gerrard Crowned the Premier League’s Greatest Midfielder

The pair worked together to make a combined top 10

According to Shearer and Richards, it seems Gerrard is unmatched in the midfielder debate, and it’s certainly a fair shout. In his illustrious career, he was frequently the galvanising force of an often inconsistent Liverpool side, as he helped lay the foundations for the success of Jurgen Klopp in subsequent seasons.

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An ongoing debate in football, especially among England fans, is the debate over who was better out of Gerrard, Lampard, and Scholes, with the latter being forced to fill in at left-midfield for large parts of his national career. For Shearer and Richards, the debate seems clear; Gerrard a comfortable first, followed by Scholes and Lampard third.