Why Ryan Giggs is the greatest player in Premier League history

Ryan Giggs

There is a story about Ryan Giggs that George Graham never tires of telling. In the late 1980s, the Arsenal manager met Alex Ferguson in his office before Giggs had adopted his mother’s surname. The Manchester United manager pointed out at the training pitch behind him and said: “That lad, Ryan Wilson, is going to be one of the all-time greats.” Many years later Graham asked Ferguson: “Whatever happened to that Ryan Wilson anyway?” It’s safe to say he did alright for himself.

When discussing Giggs, who turned 40 the day before, no superlatives will suffice. This is a man who has won 13 league titles, the same amount as Arsenal, one of the most successful and gloried clubs in the history of British football. During his career, the Welshman has on average won a trophy once every 27.2 games. In an era where the demands of the game force more and more players into early retirement, he has broken Bobby Charlton’s appearance record for the club and could conceivably reach the landmark of 1000 games. His feats are nothing short of astonishing.

The strange thing about Giggs is that he was heralded as a potential great right from the off. The first time Ferguson saw his young charge in action he was mesmerised: “He was 13 and floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.” The player would come to define the manager’s reign as the club enjoyed unprecedented success spanning two decades.

There have been better Premier League players; Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry immediately spring to mind and a case could be made for a number of others. That being said, if one takes into account longevity, consistency and the ludicrous haul of trophies, Giggs is untouchable. He was the one ever-present figure during the most successful period any English football club has ever been fortunate enough to experience.

It would have made perfect sense for Giggs to retire at the same time as his mentor in May. For an obsessive, this was never an option. The man has not buttered his toast in almost a decade because he was determined to prolong his career. If Wednesday night’s 5-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen showed anything it’s that he is not picked for sentimental reasons. Despite his advancing years, and the fact that he has been written off more often than cars owned by Premier League footballers, he still has something to offer.

Remarkably, he has never been sent off for United and, in many ways, it’s as admirable a feat as Gary Lineker’s zero yellow cards in the previous era. Unlike Lineker, Giggs plays in an area of the pitch in which tackling is required, not to mention the fact that officials have become a good deal more stringent in the last twenty years. He does not have the temperament of his legendary former manager, nor does he produce iconic sound bites off the pitch. In a very real sense, he has always let his football do the talking.

It seems only right that Giggs was responsible for the single greatest goal of the Ferguson years. That winner against Arsenal, in which he truly left the defenders with twisted blood, was later described by the manager as: “The ultimate expression of the natural gifts he has always had since he came to us as a 13-year-old.”

At the end of this season or next, we will no longer get to revel in those gifts. Enjoy him while you can because there will never be another quite like Ryan Joseph Giggs.