Micah Richards Names Steven Gerrard As The Premier League's Greatest English Player, Alan Shearer Disagrees

Micah Richards has named Steven Gerrard as the greatest English player in Premier League history, while Alan Shearer has picked Wayne Rooney.

Speaking on the Match of the Day podcast, Richards and Shearer were asked to rank their top 10 English players from pre-selected list.

In addition to Gerrard and Rooney, the list also included Harry Kane, John Terry, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ashley Cole, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard and Shearer himself.

A number of Premier League greats were unlucky to miss out on a place in the top 10, including Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Jamie Carragher and Andrew Cole.

Players were ranked primarily on their performances for their clubs, rather than at international level for the Three Lions.

Richards named former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard as the greatest English player of the modern era.

While Gerrard never won the league with Liverpool, he famously led the Reds to the Champions League title in 2005, while also winning the Europa League, two FA Cups and three League Cups during his time at Anfield.

“He single-handedly pulled Liverpool through in a Champions League final. If you had to pick one player for a team, you can’t tell me you’d pick Lampard over Gerrard,” said Richards.

“I’ve played with both of them. When you’re on the same pitch as them, it’s chalk and cheese!”

Shearer disagreed with Richards and named former Everton and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as the greatest English player of the Premier League era.

Rooney is United’s all-time top goalscorer with 253 goals and won numerous trophies during his time at Old Trafford, including five Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008.

“He wanted the ball in every minute of the game. Technically superb, his attitude was magnificent,” said Shearer, after putting himself tenth on the list “for obvious reasons”.

“You could play him right wing and he’d be the best player. Midfield, he done that job also. Just an all-round great players with great numbers.”

The podcast host, Gary Lineker, was then given the deciding vote to name an overall winner, with the former England striker picking Rooney.

Here are Richards and Shearer’s top 10 lists:

Richards: 1. Gerrard, 2. Shearer, 3. Rooney, 4. Scholes, 5. Lampard, 6. Owen, 7. Terry, 8. Beckham, 9. Cole, 10. Kane

Shearer: 1. Rooney, 2. Scholes, 3. Gerrard, 4. Lampard, 5. Beckham, 6. Terry, 7. Kane, 8. Owen, 9. Cole, 10. Shearer

Do you agree with their picks? Let us know your thoughts.