In 31 years the Premier League has seen some of the greatest strikers to ever play the game. But which among is the best ever? Shearer for his goals? Rooney for his ability? Henry for his va-va-voom? FourFourTwo's Adam Monk is joined by Adam Clery, Mark White, and Ryan Dabbs for an elimination tournament to find out.
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00:00Hello viewers of 442, Adam Monk here, joined with Adam Cleary, my co-presenter, Ryan Dabbs and Mark
00:13White. And today we've got a little, a special format really, something a bit new, almost like
00:18a game show. This, imagine an FA Cup draw, this is the ball, the hat, whatever you want to call
00:24it and we've got 16 names in here which are the best strikers in Premier League history according
00:29to us. Anyway, in a knockout format we're going to draw them out and progress in a sort of
00:34tournament tree style thing to crown the best striker in the history of the Premier League.
00:39Right, who wants to draw first? You're going in? Rob Stewart.
00:44Do you two? Okay right, our first round is
00:49Eric Cantona. Before my time. Will play Erling Haaland.
00:57Probably the first striker and the most recent one in the list.
01:02Right.
01:02How are we, are we doing longevity here? Like what are we doing? Because Haaland's been in the Premier
01:06League for a season in a bit. Well we discussed this when we were including Haaland didn't we?
01:09We were like, he's not been around long but I think if Erling Haaland retires tomorrow,
01:14he already goes down as one of the best Premier League strikers ever.
01:17But does he go down as the best striker than Eric Cantona?
01:21That's what we've got to find out Mark, that's what we've got to find out.
01:23The legacy of Cantona. So Cantona actually scored the first hat-trick in Premier League history.
01:28That's quite good. But Haaland scored 20 of them or something as he says.
01:32Yeah, yeah. But he's got no iconic celebration like Cantona.
01:38Yeah, but it's not the...
01:41He had the entire, yeah that is true, that is true.
01:43Cantona had a bit more drip providing parts but we can't rank it on that.
01:46Can we not rank, can we officially not rank on drip?
01:49If we're doing a drip ranking then... I think there's an element of that iconic player.
01:54Haaland's just... I think we're going to lose every single viewer over 45 here when I say this.
01:58But I don't think Haaland is a dripless footballer by any stretch of the imagination.
02:02He makes his look work. He's very marvellous.
02:04You know what I mean? I think he's got...
02:05That sort of Viking aesthetic. What about when he let his hair down to score against?
02:08That was pretty good.
02:10That's iconic. I think they're both iconic for different generations though.
02:13Yeah, I think right. I think we've got to vote. I think we've got to vote.
02:17Then we've got to vote. We've decided as well by the way that if we come to a tie at any point,
02:22the person who drew gets the deciding vote so I'll go last.
02:25Right. I will actually go with Eric Cantona.
02:27Cantona?
02:27Yeah, I will.
02:28Ooh!
02:28Mark?
02:29I don't think you can look past how iconic Cantona was for the Premier League.
02:35So it's got to be Cantona.
02:36Cantona?
02:36Cantona.
02:37Cantona, I'm going, yes, full house. I'm sorry, sorry Erling.
02:40Sorry Erling.
02:41Maybe next year.
02:41Oh yeah.
02:42Almost certainly next year.
02:43I think I'm going to have like two, three years.
02:44Cantona next round.
02:45Let's go with that one.
02:46I'm so pleased I got the arm thing in.
02:50Jamie Vardy.
02:50Jamie Vardy.
02:51Ooh.
02:52Versus.
02:54Disney Plus' Jamie Vardy.
02:56Still going, right?
02:57Versus Fernando Torres.
03:00Can I just come straight in here and say it's Torres by a mile?
03:03What?
03:04How many consecutive games did Torres score in?
03:07I don't know.
03:08Lots, probably.
03:08How many Premier League titles did Torres score?
03:10Yeah, no, we're not doing accolades.
03:12We're not doing accolades.
03:13He couldn't handle the £50 million move to Chelsea.
03:16He couldn't.
03:16I just, I just.
03:17Vardy was offered a big move to a big club and he turned it down.
03:20When?
03:20To Arsenal then.
03:21Arsenal, yeah.
03:22He turned it down.
03:23Well, the thing is, I would say the main thing about being a striker is the ability to finish in the box.
03:29And I don't think I've seen a more deadly finisher in the box than Vardy perhaps in the last decade.
03:33I just, I just.
03:34In terms of variety of finishing.
03:35Really?
03:36Burning him behind defences.
03:38He was a roadrunner, but the very best at it.
03:40I'm not saying that, like, Jamie Vardy's not a good striker.
03:43I should say Fernando Torres.
03:45But when he was, when he was really good, it was like, almost peerless.
03:48But this is the thing.
03:49When he was really good.
03:50Yeah.
03:51Vardy had a thing.
03:52Vardy had a consistent level.
03:53If you want to go down that route, then, like, whatever, Fleetwood Town's Jamie Vardy can't, like, hold a candle to Fernando Torres.
04:00This is the thing.
04:01I think Torres' peak was higher than Vardy's.
04:05Yes.
04:06Agreed.
04:06Vardy had more consistent, like, high level.
04:09I can't argue with that.
04:11Another way to look at it is Vardy, I think he started scoring in the Premier League at 27.
04:15Had he started at a normal age, maybe Alan Shearer's record won't be there.
04:19He played in the Premier League at 27 and he's still got over 100 Premier League goals.
04:22Yeah.
04:22Pretty mental remark.
04:23Yeah.
04:24Yeah.
04:24For Leicester.
04:25Yeah.
04:25Maybe.
04:25Yeah.
04:26Yeah.
04:26I don't know.
04:28Iconic moments as well.
04:29I just.
04:30For Jamie Vardy, there's about five or six.
04:31He goes to the Hall for us and he's just there giving fans in the front row.
04:34I'll tell you what, I will say the one, like, Black Martin against Torres compared to Vardy in my
04:38headings, I think he's got no crack.
04:40Whereas, like, Jamie Vardy, he was just like, I mean, giving that to the Crystal Palace, like, he just loved it.
04:44And then maybe that.
04:45That's when Torres cut his hair.
04:46That's when he fell off a cliff.
04:47Samsoned himself, didn't he?
04:49All right.
04:49Okay.
04:49Well, let's vote.
04:50I'm voting Jamie Vardy.
04:53Yeah, I'm going to go Vardy.
04:54I'm sorry.
04:58I'll go Torres, see what you say.
04:59Well, I'm going to go Torres still.
05:01Well, as you drew them.
05:02It's my casting vote.
05:03And I think, yeah, I've got to go with Jamie Vardy for the legacy.
05:07And I think he's a world-class striker.
05:08Okay.
05:09Jamie Vardy.
05:10Okay.
05:11I've got Luis Suarez.
05:13Ooh.
05:15Deadly.
05:15Deadly.
05:16Deadly.
05:17And he will play, attention, Robin Van Persie.
05:23Oh, that's closer than that.
05:24That's tight, that, isn't it?
05:26Same era as well.
05:27Yeah.
05:28I'll just say, as somebody who drew this, and as somebody who, Robin Van Persie, I've celebrated
05:33many of his goals, he's dead to me.
05:35So, Luis Suarez.
05:39Okay.
05:40I've got to go with Suarez because, simply put, I think, okay, I'm too young to remember
05:45Thierry Henry in the Premier League right now.
05:47Don't admit that.
05:48Don't admit that.
05:49I think that he is the best player I've seen in the flesh and live on TV in the Premier League
05:55in my life.
05:55Suarez.
05:56I can remember, yeah.
05:57And I include, I'm a City fan, I include Kevin De Bruyne in that.
06:01I include Ronaldo in that.
06:03I think he is, that 13-14 season is the best I've ever seen from a player.
06:07I'm just agreeing with that.
06:08I'm just going to pop a cherry bomb down the toilet of this video, by the way.
06:11Robin Van Persie won the Premier League.
06:13He did.
06:13And Luis Suarez never did.
06:15And he moved to win as well.
06:17You know what, though, as well, he won the Premier League by scoring a hat-trick in the game
06:20that won the Premier League, and the volley was incredible.
06:23Yeah.
06:25I'll put it this way.
06:28I think we're talking about this version of Suarez at the age he was in the Premier League.
06:32I don't think he could have had the seasons Van Persie had, but I think Van Persie,
06:36if he'd been in that Liverpool team, could have been that important.
06:39Is there a case that we are viewing Suarez through the lens of what he achieved after
06:44he went to Liverpool, that you go, OK.
06:46No, I'm not doing that.
06:47He did have a very, very good 13-14, but we're almost convinced that it wasn't a fluke by what
06:53he did when he left.
06:54Whereas some other players in the Premier League have had those great seasons, and then they've
07:01gone on to like Real Madrid to Barcelona and left.
07:04This is a great point.
07:05But Suarez had the ban for biting Ivanovic, so he actually started...
07:10He started the season in October, and out of the 31 goals he scored, none were a penalty.
07:18They were all open play goals.
07:19We're just going to have to vote.
07:20I'll go Suarez.
07:20Suarez?
07:22I'm going to go with...
07:25I think Robin Van Persie is almost the perfect striker, but I think Luis Suarez is just the
07:30best footballer.
07:31I'm going to go with Van Persie.
07:32Van Persie.
07:32Van Persie?
07:35I'm going to go Suarez.
07:37I am going to go...
07:38I'm going to completely ignore all the points I've just made about Van Persie, and I am going
07:41to just go Suarez by a hair.
07:43He's through.
07:44By a tooth.
07:45First one out is Sergio Aguero.
07:48Oh!
07:49Here we go.
07:50Don't give him a memory.
07:53Michael Owen.
07:54Oh, Aguero, man.
07:55Aguero's watched movies.
07:57Aguero's seen more than three films in his life, I'm willing to bet.
08:00Yeah, but as Aguero won a Ballon d'Or, he's got you out.
08:03Or run over a rabbit.
08:04I think you can't overlook Michael Owen in Liverpool.
08:06And a Ballon d'Or, so go with it.
08:08I would just like to say, based on my personal lived experience with Michael Owen, I can overlook
08:12anything I want to overlook.
08:13Is he that good?
08:14As a Newcastle fan, are we talking here?
08:16Oh, he's just absolutely despicable human being, purely in terms of his...
08:20And let's not forget, that was in the Premier League, so it does count towards this decision
08:25making process here.
08:26I just, I think Sergio Aguero is arguably one of the most transformative signings any football...
08:32He's a bit of Patrick Vieira for me, in terms of like, a team went from X level to Y level.
08:37Not entirely off the back of one player, but Aguero, I don't think they make that leap
08:42from sort of like credible challenges to dominant Premier League winners without Aguero.
08:47And he also did it for like a decade.
08:49He did it, yeah, consistently.
08:50Could you argue that Michael Owen coming through for Liverpool at that time,
08:57transformed Liverpool from being sort of also-rans...
09:01To also-rans.
09:02Well, they won a treble.
09:04They won a treble.
09:05They won a treble.
09:07They won a treble.
09:09He set them up for a Champions League win in 2005.
09:12Which he wasn't a part of, which he wasn't a part of.
09:15I know who I'm going to vote for, but I do think Michael Owen was a transformative figure
09:20for Liverpool in his own right.
09:21Potentially, yeah, but...
09:22Not as much.
09:23Potentially.
09:24Look, look, he's in the deflated football of the 16 greatest strikers.
09:27He's obviously done something, but I just, I think...
09:29I think there's an argument that Sergio Aguero is one of the greatest ever
09:35Premier League players, full stop.
09:36Could you imagine Sergio Aguero dressing up with a stack of donuts and singing
09:42Spice Up Your Life on ITV?
09:43Absolutely not.
09:44No, I couldn't.
09:45No, I couldn't.
09:46And I no longer take the kind of things that would enable me to do that.
09:48So, no, that's completely out.
09:50Aguero.
09:51Aguero.
09:51Aguero.
09:52Aguero.
09:52Go on, you little man, go on.
09:54We've got Andy Cole.
10:00I presume it's Andy Cole.
10:01It is Andy Cole.
10:02Andrew, Andrew Cole will play, will play Thierry Henry.
10:09Well, it's cold, cut and dry this, isn't it, surely?
10:11This is just, you even need to...
10:13So, what...
10:14Thierry Henry was on strikers, so...
10:15Well, that's a good point.
10:17Question for the Arsenal fan.
10:18Andy Cole obviously had one of the most iconic and catchy songs ever in the Premier League
10:22song about him.
10:23Andy Cole.
10:23Andy Cole, Andy Andy Cole, he gets the ball, scores a goal, Andy Andy Cole.
10:26Yeah.
10:26Did the Henry have any songs?
10:28Yeah.
10:28Were they good?
10:29No.
10:30So, Cole does have him beat on one criteria.
10:33Last night, he told me he'd seen the new Ian Wright, said to him, how could this be?
10:36He told me his name, Thierry Henry.
10:38That's not bad.
10:38That's not bad, actually.
10:40That's not bad.
10:40That's actually not bad.
10:41Are we just...
10:41Are we not...
10:42We're not...
10:43Can we make any argument for Andy Cole?
10:44It's only seven Premier League goals, it's still...
10:46And he didn't score a single penalty, Andy Cole.
10:48Yeah, that is impressive to be fair.
10:50And he was arguably as good at a mid-table Blackburn Rovers side as he was at the top
10:57of the league with Newcastle at Manchester United.
10:59I will say...
11:00So, he deserves his credit.
11:02I will just say here, when Andy Cole signed for Newcastle, I had never in my life seen a
11:07football player as good as that.
11:09I did not know you could be that good at football or be that...
11:12Granted, I was five or something, right?
11:16I was an idiot, right?
11:17I still believed in Santa.
11:18I had not seen anybody at that point, really.
11:21But...
11:22Sorry, mate.
11:22But when Thierry Henry signed for Newcastle, which never happened, that didn't happen either.
11:28So, Cole's got that on Henri for me.
11:30That's true, yeah.
11:31Thierry Henry has never done it at Newcastle.
11:33He's never done it.
11:35He's never done it at Keegan's Newcastle.
11:36But then, Andy Cole never did it at New York Red Bulls, so...
11:39Yeah, well, yeah.
11:41Henri, Henri for me.
11:43Best goal cut-alog of any Premier League player.
11:45Oh yeah, I mean it's Henri, but it's not to disregard.
11:47Yeah, agreed.
11:49We have got...
11:51Absolute gagging for Shearer.
11:53Come out here.
11:53We've got Wayne Rooney.
11:54Oh, don't be, don't be.
11:57No!
11:59Right.
12:00I feel like we're going to be a while.
12:01In the parallel worlds, Rooney replaced Shearer at Newcastle.
12:06Yeah, that's true, but not in this one, and that's the one we've got to vote in.
12:10So, I'm just going to set my stall out really early here.
12:13Alan Shearer should win this entire thing.
12:16We'll get to this whenever we draw somebody you disagree with that with, possibly even now.
12:20But I think Alan Shearer is the greatest striker, not only of his generation,
12:23but that the Premier League's ever seen.
12:24And there is a statistical tally where you can measure strikers.
12:28It's called goals scored, and he is at the top of that.
12:31He did it in some of the just most rank minging castle sides I have ever seen.
12:37He got, as we discussed the other day in work, because we do all have jobs,
12:40he scored 14 goals in his last season on one leg,
12:43getting serviced by Peter Ramage and Charlton Zogbia, right?
12:47I don't think Wayne Rooney could have done that.
12:50And I don't think Wayne Rooney could have done what Shearer did in his career,
12:53as evidenced by the fact Wayne Rooney did not do.
12:55He scored over 200 Premier League goals.
12:56He's won a Champions League, won countless Premier League titles.
12:59And he was also the most tactically neglected player on this list,
13:04because half the time he was at United, he wasn't really even played as a number nine,
13:07and still served, came up with that much output off his own accord.
13:12The one season he was put as a number nine by himself, 2009-10,
13:16was like the best season he's ever had.
13:17Great, brilliant, brilliant player, brilliant player.
13:19He scored ridiculous amount of goals.
13:21No argument for me, brilliant player.
13:22I think Shearer is, we were chatting about this the other day,
13:25and Shearer is so underrated as a football player.
13:31Yeah, that people seem to see him on TV and assume that he was this kind of poacher
13:37just in the area, just sort of waiting for...
13:40Just somebody's dad sitting on match of the day, like putting headers in.
13:42He was so good at crossing the football, and that gets lost.
13:47Wayne Rooney could do all of that, but better.
13:48Yeah, I mean, Rooney was a very...
13:52If Rooney was better than Shearer, my friend, why wasn't he better than Shearer?
13:55A hundred percent.
13:56Rooney was better all-round footballer than Shearer,
13:59but I think that it's sometimes lost how good Shearer was.
14:02It's not that much, it's that much.
14:05I'll tell you as well, Shearer had two career-ending injuries
14:08that he was never supposed to come back from.
14:09Yeah.
14:10Came back both times a different style of player to sort of like offset the injury,
14:15and still was scoring 20-25 goals a season off the back of that.
14:18And I don't know who else could do that.
14:20I think Rooney hit a greater height than Shearer, career-wise.
14:23He did.
14:23Because you've got to think about the narrative in the country
14:27on the national level at the time when Rooney was in Euro 2004,
14:30then when he got injured for the 06 World Cup,
14:32it was like a front page of the papers crisis.
14:34Allow me...
14:35Imagine you're 20 years old, and you're like...
14:37Can't remember that.
14:38...the person that your country is relying on.
14:40Okay, he got sent off against Portugal, but like,
14:42he was the most important person.
14:44The whole nation's hopes rested on his...
14:47Hey, look, if we want to go down that route,
14:49Shearer was the sort of heartbeat of the team of Euro 96,
14:51and they got further in that tournament.
14:53We'll just have to vote, and I am obviously voting for Alan Shearer.
14:57Right, so we've got one for Shearer.
14:58I, again, do think Rooney's a better footballer,
15:00and if I was to rank all these, I would probably have Rooney in the top four.
15:03This is the best Strikers video.
15:04Let's keep in mind it's the best Strikers video.
15:06For that reason, I am actually going to vote for Shearer.
15:08I will vote for Alan Shearer.
15:10Oh, this is tough, isn't it?
15:12I mean, it doesn't matter.
15:13This is what knockout football is all about, mate.
15:16Rooney's not that anyway, regardless.
15:18My head says Rooney, my heart says Shearer.
15:21But, yeah, it's got to be Shearer.
15:23He's the...
15:24We can't...
15:25Got to be, got to be.
15:26We can't knock out the...
15:28We can't knock out the leading score of the Premier League in the first round.
15:32That's just sacrilegious.
15:33Yeah, Rooney.
15:34Well, good job.
15:35That doesn't matter for anything.
15:37Shearer correctly goes through.
15:39All right, Mark.
15:42Harold Kane.
15:45Kane, Rooney, and Shearer all out on a three there.
15:48Versus...
15:51Robbie Fowler.
15:51Well, Harry Kane.
15:52Well, yeah, Harry Kane.
15:53No, Fowler, Robbie.
15:54Again, Robbie, I would like to...
15:56I was waiting for Kane to come out of the hat so I could go,
15:58yeah, that has he won the Premier League.
15:59And Robbie Fowler hasn't.
16:00I would like there to be some sort of consideration
16:06for how much patter a footballer has in all this.
16:08And Robbie Fowler's obviously a high, high patter.
16:10But I don't think he's so high patter that that catches up with Harry Kane.
16:13Has Harry Kane ever been in the Dodgers?
16:14No, Harry Kane's just...
16:16He's tofu, isn't he?
16:17Like, there's nothing to him, really.
16:19He's just a really efficient scorer of goals.
16:21Yeah.
16:22Had a very good footballer on that.
16:23He's genuinely probably the best all-round player on this list.
16:27Yeah.
16:27Had he have remained in the Premier League,
16:30he would be taking Shearer's round ball.
16:32100%.
16:32And Shearer would not be in the second round of this competition.
16:35No.
16:36So...
16:36Well, if my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike.
16:39So that's not happened, so...
16:41Are we doing this quickly?
16:43If you are watching this, Robbie Fowler,
16:45I would just like to say,
16:46there's been loads of names come out
16:47that you genuinely probably could have beat.
16:49But there's just some players on this
16:51that unless they get drawn against Shearer, lol,
16:54aren't going through to the next round.
16:55And Harry Kane's one of them.
16:56All-time England scores, Robbie.
16:58Yeah, sorry.
16:59Sorry, Robbie.
17:00Maybe in another life, but not this one.
17:02Good shame, Burton.
17:03All right, last two.
17:04Last two.
17:04The last one is Didier Drogba.
17:07Oh, I forgot Drogba was in this.
17:10Against Ruud van Nistelrooy.
17:12Oh!
17:13Can I make the opening statement?
17:20Can you?
17:20Yeah.
17:21If this was who was the best striker?
17:24Which it is.
17:26Well, it's who's the best Premier League striker.
17:28Oh, right.
17:28Okay.
17:28Okay.
17:28Ruud van Nistelrooy's Premier League career
17:32outweighs Didier Drogba's career.
17:33I agree.
17:34Yeah.
17:35But Didier Drogba's career outweighs Ruud van Nistelrooy's...
17:38I wouldn't say that's a given necessarily.
17:41It's really the final goals really, isn't it?
17:42I wouldn't say that's a given.
17:42The final goals is what he did in Europe, it's all-round ability as a player, but what
17:47Ruud van Nistelrooy did in the Premier League slightly outweighs Drogba.
17:51Here's the thing though, I think going back to that thing I said about how a player can
17:55come in and be very much the one who takes them from one level to another. I know Drogba was
18:00never like a prolific finisher. He was like regarded as quite wasteful, but I think Chelsea
18:05were that version of Man City for a long time. They were like, I know, I think they had won the
18:09league prior to that, so they were a little bit further down the line, but they weren't like
18:12a top, top team. You know what I mean? They had enough about them. They had Mourinho. I think
18:16Mourinho had Kesman in his first season.
18:18Yeah, and Gojohnson.
18:19Gojohnson. There was enough there to get over the line, but they weren't going to establish
18:22themselves as a consistent Premier League winning side. I think Drogba's that
18:25player for them. I think he was the elite striker they needed to bring in and sort of like,
18:29yeah, you could make the argument about Essien had to come in and be there, you could make Arban
18:33Balik had to come in and be there, Joe Coldwell and other things. There was lots of them that
18:37contributed to that, but I think without Drogba, who teams were terrified, I think people forget
18:42how much teams were just scared of him. So even in games where he wasn't...
18:45He's still their best striker ever.
18:46I would argue, yeah, even in games where he didn't score, he took up so much of the opposition's
18:50attention of how do we just deal with Drogba that it allowed a lot of other players to flourish.
18:55Based on your Alan Shearer logic, as an actual out-and-out goal scorer, Van Nistro is better.
18:59Yeah. The Drogba. It's tough. I think this is the hardest one, this Van Nistro or Drogba.
19:05I think you've got to ask yourself, if you were building a team, your first pick had to be one
19:12of these two. Well, it depends if you have David Beckham or not, because Beckham and Van Nistro
19:16was just unbelievable. It was. It was just unbelievable. I think the thing is as well with Drogba,
19:22there's a bit of a notion that he was like a flat-trap bully or like his game was completely
19:26based on physicality and pace, but it really never was. You look at his gold castle, there's something
19:30like backheels in there, like death flicks. He could take three kicks. I think he scored one in the
19:34final. Far more technical player than the people in the final. He scored three kicks at Arsenal.
19:36Well, he was far, I think he was far more technical than Van Nistelrooy as well.
19:40Van Nistelrooy only scored one goal outside the penalty area in this entire match.
19:45It's good. What a, what a stat. What a stat.
19:48Harlem's got two for City, so they're pretty similar, aren't they?
19:51Yeah, this is so good for this one.
19:52I think we're just going to have to vote.
19:53And Drogba. Drogba?
19:55Yeah. Come back to me.
19:57No, it doesn't matter.
19:58Oh, I'm going to go, oh, today I'll go Van Nistelrooy. I don't know.
20:04I think I'll go Van Nistelrooy.
20:06Oh, do you know what?
20:07Reluctively.
20:09You can't not Drogba out in the first round.
20:12Who, who, who pulled these? Did you pull these?
20:15So, if I go, well, I just, well, I don't know.
20:19Well, I'm going to, I'm going to go Drogba just so that everybody knows that this was a tie.
20:24This was a tie.
20:25And that's it for the first round.
20:26So now we will go into the quarter final phase.
20:29We'll put them back into the ball, redraw them and see what happens.
20:32Right. We're ready to go again.
20:34I cannot believe Wayne Rooney did a dropper.
20:36That's what they are.
20:38For some reason, you're drawing again on this.
20:42Here we go.
20:42Ross Stewart hit it.
20:45Okay.
20:45Right.
20:45Your first quarter final.
20:48Sergio Aguero will play Harry Kane.
20:54Wow.
20:59Okay.
21:00Just as opening, as an opening argument.
21:02And I think it's Aguero.
21:03Yeah, I do.
21:04Do you think it might be Aguero?
21:06I think it's Kane and I think it's quite...
21:09It's quite close.
21:12Why do you think it's Kane?
21:12I thought you were going to say it's quite open, yeah.
21:14Do you think it's Kane?
21:15I think it's Kane.
21:16I think he was a better footballer, technically.
21:18I agree with that, but purely as a better striker.
21:21I think he can do a lot more.
21:23Yeah.
21:23He can pass a ball, but he's not better technically than Aguero was when he was a kid.
21:26How many...
21:27This isn't me trying to trip you out.
21:28How many golden boots did Aguero have?
21:30He only won one.
21:31One.
21:32Really?
21:32There you go.
21:33Yeah, but he's got the best goals to game ratio in Premier League history.
21:39He was injured for several months throughout several title-winning seasons for City.
21:44For instance, Pellegrini, when we won it with him,
21:45Torre had to step up in his shoes because he missed the second half of the season.
21:49And he still scored 20 goals in that season when he was in.
21:52He played half the year.
21:53I can't think of many Harry Kane goals that I don't think Aguero was capable of scoring.
21:59Yeah.
21:59But I can think...
22:00But I can think...
22:00Like what?
22:01He went against Chelsea.
22:02But Aguero was great from outside the box.
22:04He was.
22:05He's not as like 30 yards out.
22:07He can't like...
22:08His first goal for City was like a 35-yard rig.
22:13Yeah, but when he got later on, he was a bit more...
22:16Yeah, true.
22:16No, but...
22:17Another stat.
22:18Aguero scored the most goals against top six sides in Premier League history.
22:21Oh, I don't mind.
22:23I've heard enough.
22:23I've heard enough, yeah.
22:24I think Tottenham's were perennially a mid-table side.
22:30Like, when I was growing up.
22:32They were, yeah.
22:32And then Harry Rednack comes along, then Gareth Bale comes along.
22:36And then Harry Kane kept them at such a high level.
22:38He did.
22:39Gets them to a chance.
22:40They had a good team.
22:41The thing about this is, nothing we say is not going to be true.
22:44You know what I mean?
22:45Like, that is a great argument for why he's such a great player.
22:48But I just think...
22:49I don't know.
22:50I just think we look at the last couple of years of the Premier League.
22:53Like, during the Aguero era of Man City.
22:56He really was, like, the best player in that team for me.
23:00He was the face of the Premier League for 10 years.
23:02He was better.
23:04Yeah, better at what he did.
23:05But I think if you take Aguero out of that team, Man City aren't the force they were for
23:11as long as they were.
23:12And they don't win as much as they did.
23:13That's true.
23:14I think that Pep Guardiola proved by winning a league with false nines that Aguero has had it
23:22an awful lot easier than Harry Kane across his career.
23:24No.
23:25That's just Pep being a genius.
23:27What are you doing?
23:28What are you doing?
23:29What are you doing?
23:31We're just going to have to go here.
23:33Aguero.
23:34Aguero for me.
23:36Okay.
23:37I can't believe you're knocking out.
23:38I will say this.
23:40I will say this.
23:40If you're a Spurs fan, you're absolutely losing your nut here.
23:42I can't believe that Harry Kane is going out in the quarterfinals.
23:46But let's face it.
23:48He's used to it, isn't he, lads?
23:49So off he goes.
23:52He's walking off.
23:53He's walking off.
23:53He's walking off.
23:54Right.
23:55Quarterfinal, round two is.
23:58I mean, there's no bad players in this hat, is there?
24:00They're all big fixtures.
24:02We have got Eric Cantona.
24:05Okay.
24:06Versus, if I can unwrap it, it is Ruud van Nistelrooy.
24:13Right.
24:14Two 99 legends and one of them was.
24:16And one was more iconic than the other.
24:18Yeah.
24:19This is so funny.
24:19Can I just say, I think it's Eric Cantona.
24:22I think he is the Premier League in the 90s.
24:25You think of the Premier League in the 90s.
24:27You think of Eric Cantona.
24:28You think of the Premier League in the 2000s.
24:30Sorry.
24:31I think of the Premier League in the 90s.
24:32I think of David Batty.
24:33Thank you very much, right?
24:34Okay.
24:35He put the Premier League on the map, didn't he?
24:36And I think he paved the way for other foreign players to come into the league.
24:39Yeah.
24:40He was the reason behind United.
24:42Yeah.
24:42That's that first proper dynasty in the Premier League.
24:45I don't think.
24:46I imagine during the 90s.
24:47In fact, I was there.
24:48I remember it.
24:49Loads of kids were running around the playground.
24:50Pretending to be Eric Cantona.
24:51Flicking the colour up.
24:52Nobody was like, what was like.
24:54An Alice fan probably.
24:55Yeah.
24:55Nobody was.
24:56Nobody was like cutting about with an Alice fan.
24:57Pretending to be a Rude fan this time.
24:59Until right now.
25:00I like him.
25:01Yeah.
25:02I'm going to.
25:02Yeah.
25:02I'm going to go Cantona.
25:03Cantona.
25:04Eric's through.
25:05Ooh.
25:06Who have we got?
25:11Alan Shearer.
25:12Ooh.
25:13Easy.
25:13There's a deciding voter on this.
25:16I think it's going to be.
25:16Yeah.
25:17Him out.
25:17I'll say.
25:18Jamie Vardy.
25:21All right.
25:21Okay.
25:22All right.
25:22Best of luck.
25:23Best of luck lads.
25:24Best of luck.
25:24I would just like to say.
25:26I think Alan Shearer is a much better striker than Jamie Vardy.
25:29And that's the end of my argument.
25:30I would agree to be fair.
25:31It is Alan Shearer we're talking about here.
25:33Although I do.
25:34I'd have Vardy like in my top 10 Premier League strikers ever.
25:36I think he was.
25:37I agree.
25:37I agree with that.
25:38But I think a lot of the arguments he'd make for Vardy.
25:40Like he did it quite late.
25:41He scored goals into his 30.
25:42He scored all different types of goals.
25:44He was like mercurial in like.
25:45Yeah.
25:46In the box.
25:46Yeah.
25:50Yeah.
25:50Like Blackburn for example.
25:51Yeah.
25:53So I think every single argument you can make about Vardy.
25:55You can make about Shearer.
25:57I would agree with that.
25:58Yeah.
25:59That was easy.
26:00That was great.
26:00That was dead quick.
26:01Yeah.
26:05Thierry.
26:05Thierry Henry.
26:06Thierry Henry Henry.
26:07It's better be less fair than that.
26:11Suarez.
26:13Do you know what?
26:14I think that's probably.
26:15Because the instinct is straight away.
26:16It's got to be Henry.
26:17But I think.
26:18I know we all get the thing about.
26:19Oh.
26:20Suarez probably looks better than he was.
26:21Because of the team he was in.
26:22And Van Nistelrooy was obviously.
26:24This is the two best players in the list.
26:26The two best footballers in the list are here right now.
26:28I would say that.
26:28Yeah.
26:29I would say that.
26:29I would edge Henry because of what he did in the Premier League.
26:32If it was over that whole career.
26:33I personally might say that Suarez edges on him.
26:36But purely in the Premier League.
26:39I think it's almost impossible.
26:41You could make a case that the 13-14 season from Suarez.
26:44Was better than any individual season that Thierry Henry ever has.
26:48I mean you probably would be wrong.
26:49Because he scored 30 goals in one season.
26:51He made 20 assists in another season.
26:52You could make that argument.
26:56But again I would say that's probably more a product of the fact that Suarez was in that team.
27:00Where it was all about him.
27:01Whereas Henry.
27:02Yes probably the best player in that Invincible side.
27:05But surrounded by unbelievable football.
27:08Suarez was doing it with Joe Allen.
27:09You know what I mean?
27:10And Henry was doing it with Patrick Vieira.
27:12And again like you said.
27:13You remember Eric Cantona.
27:14I was like the icon of the 90s Premier League.
27:16The icon of the noughties was Thierry Henry.
27:18Yeah.
27:19I think we're all going Henry aren't we?
27:21We're all going Henry.
27:22Right.
27:23Okay into the semi-finals.
27:24There is four left.
27:25We have Sergio Aguero.
27:26Thierry Henry.
27:27Alan Shearer.
27:28And Eric Cantona.
27:29He's had a bit of an easy run.
27:31Tasty that innit.
27:32Tasty that.
27:33Right your first semi-final.
27:35Alan Shearer will play.
27:38He's got the decided.
27:40Oh no the greatest strike in the history of the Premier League might get an easy ride through.
27:43Versus Henry.
27:50Why have I done that?
27:51Sorry.
27:51That is the final.
27:54I mean I've got to go with Thierry Henry.
27:55I think he's the best Premier League player of all time.
27:57And I think your watch has ended.
28:00You tried hard.
28:02Right.
28:02Can I just try and make the case here?
28:04Yeah.
28:04Because don't get me wrong.
28:05Well I agree.
28:06This should be the final two.
28:07I agree with that completely.
28:09I would say again.
28:11Alan Shearer played for some of the worst football teams I've ever seen in my life.
28:15But you put Thierry Henry under Ruud Hullet and Kenny Dalgleish and God bless him Glenn Roder and you see what happens to that man's goal scoring record.
28:24I don't think either of these men could have had the same career as the other one.
28:27They're two different footballers in different worlds in different teams with different abilities.
28:31But what I will say is the adversity that Shearer had to go through to get that record I think Thierry Henry doesn't get anywhere near.
28:39And if you put the kind of challenges in front of Henry that Shearer had to overcome, I don't think Henry gets anywhere near the career he's had.
28:46I don't think Shearer would have been able to do the French accent for the Bababouma.
28:49You don't know that.
28:50You do not know that.
28:52You do not know that.
28:52I also don't think Shearer would have been as good in the Arsenal side as Henry was.
28:55It's a different team though.
28:56It's a different profile but Henry is the only player I think I've ever seen in the Premier League where it's like a man playing against Fabies.
29:04I agree.
29:05Totally agree.
29:05Totally agree.
29:06He's just so far ahead of the rest.
29:08Yeah.
29:08For that, just on the eye test alone.
29:10Tell you what, I would have voted Shearer if he had a more, if he had a better celebration.
29:15Just change it up.
29:16That's iconic.
29:19It's not the knee slide though, is it?
29:20It's not the knee slide just there.
29:21Look, look, Shearer was a product of Britain in the 80s.
29:24You grew up in a post-industrial town.
29:26They weren't worried about like dancing around corner flags.
29:28You just bothered about putting the ball in the net.
29:31I thought he wasn't.
29:32I thought he was more than that.
29:32No, I just don't.
29:34Right, we're going to have to go with it.
29:36I'm going with Henry.
29:37Is everyone going with Henry?
29:38Honestly, everyone's going with Henry.
29:39Well, I am going with, I went with Shearer.
29:43I went with Shearer.
29:44Well, Thierry's in the final.
29:47Sergio Aguero.
29:48Sergio Aguero.
29:49Versus, Eric Cantona.
29:52I didn't know.
29:54I mean, they're both similar in terms of how they held their clubs.
29:58Yeah.
29:59Like staff or something.
30:00Transformative figure at Manchester Club who's helped them go on and shape a dynasty.
30:04And I think the one thing that separates them is longevity.
30:08Which Aguero is.
30:09And I think probably about a hundred odd goals.
30:11And a hundred odd goals.
30:12Which is...
30:12And Aguero was never banned for kicking a foul.
30:15You're right.
30:15That was really cool.
30:17That counts for Cantona for me.
30:19Not against him.
30:20Aguero would never have the bottle to do that.
30:22He would have just been like, oh, that man's being mean.
30:23Aguero 2-footed David Luiz in the stomach at the Etihad.
30:27I did.
30:28He was a hothead, Aguero.
30:29He did have that dog in him.
30:31Yeah.
30:33Are you voting for Cantona?
30:34We know it's Aguero.
30:35We're all voting Aguero.
30:36We're all voting Aguero.
30:37If you're all voting Aguero, I'll vote for Cantona out of.
30:40He deserves a vote for this.
30:41As a pity vote.
30:43As a nod to him.
30:43As a nod to him.
30:44He deserves a vote.
30:45As the coolest man on this list, he deserves a vote.
30:47Yeah.
30:48So, there we have it.
30:49Sergio Aguero versus Thierry Henry in the final.
30:52Could have gone a lot worse that, I feel.
30:54I think we've got two very, very big names and worthy names in the final.
30:58So, do you want to just see who the home player is, who the away player is?
31:03For sake of honouring the competition.
31:06So, there he is.
31:06Sergio.
31:08And also, yeah, King Kun and Thierry Henry.
31:13Oh, it says Alan Sheeran.
31:14No way.
31:16We're going to have to honour the process.
31:18It's the heated balls all over again.
31:20Well, it is Thierry Henry.
31:21So, I mean, it is Thierry Henry.
31:25It is Thierry Henry.
31:26Are we arguing this one of the best players to say?
31:28I think you can make the argument, certainly.
31:31Because I think football changed so much between Henry and Aguero's era.
31:37I would argue they had similar impacts, similar records.
31:40I'd say it's actually far more impressive to have done it recently.
31:43Like, the standards overall are so, so, so high now.
31:47And as well, the Premier League has changed so much.
31:50If you look at the other players that get brought in, like, clubs like halfway down the league are going out and buying players that, like, the top clubs across Europe are all after.
31:57Because they've got that kind of spending power now.
32:00To be at the very top of that league so consistently for so long is, like, it's a different game.
32:06It's a different proposition entirely to when Henry was doing it.
32:09You know what I mean?
32:10And I think I'd honestly be tempted to go Aguero.
32:14As a City fan, I don't even know if I can.
32:17I don't know if I can.
32:18Has Aguero ever made anyone look silly?
32:20Like, Henry made Jamie Carragher on multiple occasions, like, a very good defender look like a League 2-level kid, you know?
32:29He's just turning in and so on.
32:31Yeah, look, he had Riz.
32:32He had Riz, whatever.
32:34He was on the corner flight, that was my favourite.
32:36Yeah, okay, I can't.
32:37You can see the look on Mills' face.
32:39I think my favourite Henry goal is that flick-up volley against United where he's going back to goal.
32:43Like, Aguero doesn't have that in his locker.
32:45Do you even think about that?
32:46Why is he thinking he's looking up turning volley?
32:49Miscontrol it, obviously.
32:54I do think Aguero was a better finisher in the box for what that's worth.
32:57Like, I remember the goal he scored against Liverpool a couple of years ago where he was like on the byline
33:01and he smashed it roof of the net against Alisson on his left foot.
33:04I will say that Aguero was much better in a penalty area than Thierry Henry.
33:08That's only because Thierry Henry barely played in a penalty area at all.
33:12Didn't need to.
33:12No, he'd drift off left.
33:14Like you say, he'd come outside netting.
33:15Look, I will just clarify before I get absolutely roasted in the comments here that I absolutely
33:19think the answer is Henry.
33:20I'm just trying to see if we can make the case for Aguero.
33:22Final point on that, final point on that.
33:24Henry, by his own admission, couldn't really cut it in a pep team.
33:28That's true.
33:29He was going to be announced to play in a position like left wing, very rigid.
33:32He's still under trouble in a pep team.
33:33He did, he did.
33:36Take it up with Thierry Henry, lads.
33:37This is not what I'm saying.
33:38He was dropped from Petro, wasn't he?
33:39He said he couldn't really cut it in a pep team, whereas Aguero was a pep team.
33:43So how much stopped?
33:44Aguero wasn't being announced to play in a position that he's not...
33:46He had to adapt, though.
33:48He had to adapt massively.
33:49His first couple of seasons under Pep, it was a little bit sticky.
33:54There was talk in 2016, in Pep's first season, that he was going to go in January.
33:58It was that bad.
33:58And he'd been completely frozen out of the team.
34:00This is before we had Gabriel Jesus.
34:02And then he came back and started under Nolito, if you remember Nolito as well.
34:07Do you remember Nolito?
34:08Yeah, so it was just disjointed and then Aguero sort of glued it all together.
34:13But having said that, the best footballer I've ever seen in the Premier League,
34:17purely from YouTube, is Thierry Henry.
34:19Yeah, and I was there and it was still Thierry Henry, so it's got to be Thierry Henry.
34:22It's got to be.
34:23Thierry, Thierry, Thierry, Thierry Henry.
34:26Well, there we go.
34:27Thierry Henry won.
34:28I don't think anyone can say that they're surprised, really.
34:31I'm certainly not, because I thought he would do when we started this.
34:34But it's nice to see, you know, who got near him.
34:37Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that.
34:38We'll probably be back with some more instalments.
34:41Ranking wingers, centre midfielders, centre half, perhaps.
34:43So stay tuned.
34:45Hope you enjoyed it.
34:46Don't forget to subscribe.
34:47Leave your comments down below on what you thought.
34:49And we'll all see you very, very soon.
34:52So I'm just calling the police because she has been robbed.
34:54Yeah.
34:56Bye bye.
34:56Bye bye.
35:00Bye bye.
35:02Bye bye.
35:02Bye bye.