Who is United’s Best Player this Millennium

[loyalblade95]

Picked 3, Enda, Sharp and Bash, had to go for these 3 even if I decided against the likes of Illy, Didzy, O'Connell, Norwood and Michael Brown (one of my favourite Blades players).

Enda: Probably the best LWB/LB we've had this millennium, certainly from what I've seen, pre-injury he was one of the 1st names on the teamsheet, and that goal against Brighton was just sublime.

Sharp: Goal record both with us and championship as a whole speaks for itself, captained us to 3 promotions, finishing our top scorer in 2 of them, should definitely be in the championship all time 11.

Basham: What can I say about Bash that hasn't already been said, a modern day blades legend, 10 straight years from a player not from your academy is rare in football these days.

Honourable mentions: P Kenny, Michael Brown, Baldock, Norwood, Illy, Hendo, Fleck, Coutts, Egan, Jags, O'Connell, Duffy, MGW - they were all class for us while they were here.

 

[Gavlar]

Billy for me by a mile.

 

[Bladezz]

Jack O’Connell would have played for England and been one of the best left sided defenders in Europe.

 

[1973_Blade]

Losing Jack seemed to have had the greatest impact imho.

Losing Ched had a huge impact too.

 

[Stevo71]

Typical International Break Thread:

Seen a few discussions on people’s favourite players, best players, etc etc.

Question: Who is the most technically proficient player in their respective position, since the year 2000?

This isn’t about effort, cult hero status or general contribution; more a question of who burned the brightest at their peak?

Feck orf t' teck ovver thread

 

[ReeceofBDTBL]

Voted JO’C, should’ve been N’Diaye but that was stolen from us by selling him before we could even see him play for us in the prem.

 

[Sheffsteel]

2 of my favourite players that I thought had real class, both so intelligent, calmness on the ball with eyes in the back of their head enabling them to make such clever passes.

1st favourite who I enjoyed the most Mark Duffy.
2nd favourite David McGoldrick

However the most talented and able to create chances and score goals all by himself making us almost a 1 man team

Surely the BEST, it’s got to be N’Diaye, who was my 3rd favourite player to watch.

 

[8lade]

I don't post here anymore but fuck me you didn't include David Brooks and none of you other fuckers have pulled him up for it.

 

[Bladesman101]

Gus for me

 

[Sheffsteel]

I don't post here anymore but fuck me you didn't include David Brooks and none of you other fuckers have pulled him up for it.

I’d put Brooks in the Rak Sakyi category. You could see he had something special, sparks of talent and was destined for the Premier league.

But whilst he played for United he wasn’t even a regular starter for us, so can’t be “best” really.

Think if there was a vote for most talented player of this century then David Brooks would feature.

 

[SGBlade]

Jack O’Connell would have played for England and been one of the best left sided defenders in Europe.

I voted JOC. Easily the best (both in terms technical ability and in output) in his position on that list in absolute terms. He was about to get into an England squad on merit and was up against the best strikers in the world every week. I’ve never seen anyone else in a blades shirt operate at that elite level since Brian Deane. And I believe N’Daiye could have done it but sadly we didn’t get the chance to find out.

The question is about absolute, rather than relative, ability, so it really has to be someone who did it in the Prem for us. If the question was who showed the most ability irrespective of division then that would be tougher to call. N’Daiye, Brown, Didsy, Duffy, Norwood, Coutts all would be in with a shout.

Here’s a controversial take - if the sample size was, say, ten games rather than one season, then the winner would be Mousset

 

[FatPaul]

I voted JOC. Easily the best (both in terms technical ability and in output) in his position on that list in absolute terms. He was about to get into an England squad on merit and was up against the best strikers in the world every week. I’ve never seen anyone else in a blades shirt operate at that elite level since Brian Deane. And I believe N’Daiye could have done it but sadly we didn’t get the chance to find out.

The question is about absolute, rather than relative, ability, so it really has to be someone who did it in the Prem for us. If the question was who showed the most ability irrespective of division then that would be tougher to call. N’Daiye, Brown, Didsy, Duffy, Norwood, Coutts all would be in with a shout.

Here’s a controversial take - if the sample size was, say, ten games rather than one season, then the winner would be Mousset

I saw the thread title and rushed to type JOC without even noticing it was a poll. Honorable mention for sharp and bash, but think JOC pips them both.

 

[Lama]

I don't post here anymore but fuck me you didn't include David Brooks and none of you other fuckers have pulled him up for it.

I didn’t include Brooks because he only played 30 games, several of which were off the bench.

Brooks has become an extremely talented player, but I don’t think his short time in our first team warrants a mention for best player this millennium

 

[jono_t2000]

I've gone JOC as could and should have been an England international had the dice fallen differently.

Don't think Iliman would have quite got an England callup if born here however.

 

[8lade]

I didn’t include Brooks because he only played 30 games, several of which were off the bench.

Brooks has become an extremely talented player, but I don’t think his short time in our first team warrants a mention for best player this millennium

Just 2 moments I can recall that slide rule goal v Leeds and his instrumental performance vs Wednesday (plus the nuts) 1162 minutes and 2 moments remembered off the top of my head. Second only to Ndiaye for bums off seats.

 

[Stanthemanfan]

Stan, I know there are those who prefer Norwood over Coutts, and I should add that on his day Norwood was good for us, but Coutts' influence exceeded anything Norwood contributed.
Coutts went from being bang average to truly exceptional, no idea why neither do I care. He was just great, period. A true sadness when Marvin Sordell broke his leg and effectively ended his career with the Blades.
After that dreadful tackle I recall Wilder being asked how he'd be able to replace Coutts, he replied, 'I've no idea, these are big boots to fill'. At the time of the injury Coutts was looking every part the top Championship player, and I was looking forward to seeing how he'd acquit himself in the Prem.

Exactly, me and my mate were mad Coutts fans and looked forward to him in the prem, I actually met him once outside B&Q when he was on crutches with his missis n kid

 

[BigBed]

Imagine if JOC had stayed fit....... where would he be now??

 

[Rodley]

Best five players we’ve had in the last 20 years - Ndiaye, Henderson, JOC, Jagielka, Walker.

All have had, will have, or would have had (JOC) very good careers at the top level.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Exactly, me and my mate were mad Coutts fans and looked forward to him in the prem, I actually met him once outside B&Q when he was on crutches with his missis n kid

Must admit. at the time, due to his injury, I thought we had missed out on a player who might take us all the way. Maybe wishful thinking on my part but we were top end of the Champ and Coutts was doing what Coutts did.
He orchestrated, he controlled, his decision making was first class, his range of passing was what you'd expect, we had what seemed the archetypal midfield general. We did well to sign Norwood, but we never really found a player again whose ability to affect a game so positively and as well as Coutts did.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Best five players we’ve had in the last 20 years - Ndiaye, Henderson, JOC, Jagielka, Walker.

All have had, will have, or would have had (JOC) very good careers at the top level.

Henderson wasn’t our player. Maguire, based on career achievements, should be in the top 5.

 

[COME BACK CHED]

Salmon. End of.

Its Sammon [connor}

 

[SGBlade]

Henderson wasn’t our player. Maguire, based on career achievements, should be in the top 5.

Best relative to the division we were in (basically, in any given match, how much did their quality over the opposition shine through): Ndiaye or Brown. Honourable mentions: MGW, Didsy, Coutts, Norwood, JOC.

Best in absolute terms whilst with the blades (basically, what was the highest performance level we’ve seen from an individual, taking into account the quality of the opposition): JOC. Honourable mentions: Didsy, Norwood, Henderson, Mousset

Best in absolute terms at any point in their career (basically, who was the best player to have played for us at some point, even if their best days were with another team): Kyle Walker. Honourable mentions: Maguire, Jagielka, Henderson, MGW, Brooks, Ramsdale. Suspect Ndiaye and McAtee will be on this list soon.

Probably missed a couple of obvious ones somewhere but these were the players that came straight to the front of mind.

 

[true99blade]

As much as I do agree that Brooksy shouldn’t be applicable as we got less than a season of him at his rawest… let’s all agree his performance at hillsborough was probably the most unexpectedly and impressively memorable than any other player in such an iconic match in our modern history. I for one was shocked to see him start alongside Clarke, but fucking hell did he take the piss out of them. We didn’t see him at his peak (nor did Bournemouth really, tragically, for that matter) but we saw one of the most elegant performances from a young lad in such a highly anticipated game ever. He was completely unknown (to both sides!) at the time but left his mark for sure. Full credit to Wilder for what was a questionable line up at the time. For what it’s worth… it’s amazing to see he’s even back at it at a decent level considering what he’s had to go through.

 

[Skabone]

I have a distinction between Best and Greatest
Best Illy
Greatest Bash just over Didsy

 

[SwissBlade]

Presume bash is our Longest serving player of the last 24 years

 

[moody1889]

If we are talking natural/technical ability it has to be Illiman Ndiaye hands down not seen anyone in all my years glide past or tear the opposition a new one as much as he did he is definitely the most naturally gifted player we have ever seen play for us.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

The low number of votes for Fleck is disgraceful

 

[Revolution]

Depends what criteria you use.

Best player (in terms of whole career): Kyle Walker by a country mile

Best player over multiple seasons with us: Jags

Best single season: Michael Brown 2002-3

Most skilful player: Iliman Ndiaye

 

[Norwood's 6 iron]

The one player that we have never been able to replace is Jack O'Connell.
Nearly everyone else on that list has someone that has taken their place equally successfully.
When I see Harry Maguire playing down the left hand side for England I cringe, Joc would have nailed that position for a long time.
A defender never gets the glory and attention that a midfielder or striker does, because they are the players that get the crowd going.
But in Joc's case we perhaps never realised how influential he was until we lost him.

 

[Silent Blade]

Presume bash is our Longest serving player of the last 24 years

Monty