They are the unsung heroes of any football team, the midfielders who are happy to sit deep, break up play but also get attacks started – becoming Premier League legends in the process.
Premier League Legends: 5 Greatest Ever Holding Midfielders
There have been plenty of world-class midfielders who have dropped anchor with aplomb over the Premier League’s three decades and more. But the best? Well, how about these five?
Premier League Legends: Roy Keane
This list isn’t in order but forthright Manchester United and Republic of Ireland hardman Roy Keane will doubtless tell anyone who cares to listen he was the best there ever was. Sir Alex Ferguson signed Keane in June 1993 and he went on to win 12 major titles with United, including seven Premier Leagues and the 1999 Champions League, albeit he missed the famous final against Bayern Munich through suspension.
A ferocious tackler with an eye for an argument as much as a goal, Keane was the no-nonsense skipper who drove United on to many of their greatest modern achievements.
Premier League Legends: Patrick Vieira
At much the same time as Keane ruled the roost in Manchester, Frenchman Patrick Vieira was establishing himself as Arsene Wenger’s on-pitch general at Highbury. A World Cup winner and European champion with France, Vieira was the driving heartbeat of Wenger’s Gunners, collecting trophies, bookings and man-of-the-match accolades in equal measure.
The elegant, box-to-boxer was the man who captained Arsenal’s Invincibles in 2003-04, one of three Premier League winners’ medals which would eventually adorn his mantelpiece.
Premier League Legends: Paul Ince
While Keane was the man to push United to unimaginable heights, it was Paul Ince who had shown the Irishman the way. Ince was already an established star by the time the Premier League formed in 1992 and the first black player to captain England would win the new league in each of its first two seasons.
The manner of his move from West Ham to Old Trafford in 1989 still rankles with Hammers’ fans but even they would have to acknowledge that the combative Ince, the self-proclaimed Guv’nor, was some player.
Premier League Legends: N‘Golo Kante
Great things come in small packages as both Leicester and Chelsea discovered in the shape of N’Golo Kante. The French midfielder wasn’t even a household name in his own household when he joined Leicester from Caen in 2015. Twelve months later he was a Premier League champion in the Foxes’ incredible 5000/1 against-the-odds triumph.
His 175 tackles in that season – 31 more than any other player in the league – tell you everything you need to know about the tigerish, diminutive Kante. And to prove he could never be condemned as a one-club wonder, Kante promptly moved to Chelsea and drove them to the title, the first man since Eric Cantona in 1993 to win back-to-back English titles with two different clubs.
Premier League Legends: Rodri
Pedants will say the doors to the Hall of Fame stay shut until retirement but there’s a place in it waiting for Manchester City midfielder Rodri. A sumptuous passer and brilliant playmaker, Rodri has already claimed four Premier League titles with Manchester City while also scoring the goal that won them the Champions League in 2022-23.
The reigning Ballon d’Or winner, City’s results in his current absence merely advertise the Spaniard’s influence on their side.
By Jack Ogalbe
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