With 12 titles in the Premier League’s 20 year history, it will come as no surprise to many that Manchester United players dominate the Fantasy Teams as voted for by both the public and experts as part of the league’s anniversary celebrations.
Over 300,000 football fans from around the world cast their votes on the Team of the past 20 Seasons, while the panel team was decided by 11 football experts, commentators and administrators.
Despite the countless stars who have graced the English top-flight through the two decades, there were only two differences in the two teams with nine players making it into both sides.
Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Tony Adams, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer all earned their stripes.
But the two differed in central defence with the public opting for Nemanja Vidic, while the experts went for his United team-mate Rio Ferdinand. The other difference in opinion was in central midfield where the public chose Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard and the experts went for Manchester United’s Roy Keane.
Fantasy XI – Public
Peter Schmeichel
Gary Neville
Tony Adams
Nemanja Vidic
Ashley Cole
Cristiano Ronaldo
Paul Scholes
Steven Gerrard
Ryan Giggs
Alan Shearer
Thierry Henry
Fantasy XI – Experts
Peter Schmeichel
Gary Neville
Tony Adams
Rio Ferdinand
Ashley Cole
Cristiano Ronaldo
Paul Scholes
Roy Keane
Ryan Giggs
Alan Shearer
Thierry Henry
The goalkeeper position proved to be straightforward with Peter Schmeichel taking a whopping 57% of the public vote, while his former Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville polled 58%. for the right-back slot.
There was also a clear winner at left-back with Chelsea’s Ashley Cole taking 40% of the vote. The competition for centre-back was tight; Arsenal’s title-winning captain Tony Adams getting 19% and current Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic receiving 18% of the vote. The Serbian international was just 1% ahead of Chelsea’s John Terry.
There were two foregone conclusions in midfield. Receiving the biggest percentage for any position was Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs, who got a massive 62% of the public vote for left midfield. On the other flank is his former Old Trafford colleague Cristiano Ronaldo, who got 55% of the vote for right midfield.
In central midfield Paul Scholes helped to make it a Manchester United hat-trick, receiving a 26% share. The other central midfield position in the public vote went to Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who edged out Roy Keane 19% to 16%.
The public and panel both agreed on forwards as Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer were first-choice strikers, respectively taking 30% and 18%. It was a close run for the second forward, with Shearer just edging out Eric Cantona’s 17% of the vote. In terms of numbers of votes cast, Henry was second only to Giggs, with the Welshman polling 4,293 more votes.
Over 4.4m votes have been cast for the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards in five categories: Goal, Match, Save, Goal Celebration and Fantasy Team of the 20 Seasons. In addition, there are also six panel categories: Player, Manager, Team, Season, Most Memorable Quote and Fantasy Team of the 20 Seasons.
The remaining awards will be revealed later today, when the Player and Manager of the 20 Seasons Awards will be announced.
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
