General Premier League Thread 2025/2026

If you rewound that team back even 4 years you'd have a side genuinely competing in the later stages of the CL. Its absolutely mad they all wound up at Bolton at once.

Salah has longevity over Ronaldo in the league for sure. Salah's stats are insane.
He was hugely effective. Will 100% go down as one of the leagues greats.

He's a great player and it would be foolish to say otherwise etc… etc…

However, at no point did Salah beat Ronaldo's best individual season other than on a piece of paper.

Ronaldo and Henry are the only 2 players in PL history who were clearly the best player in the world at the peak of their powers ( Henry should have won the Ballon d'Or in 2003 for me).

Salah was not at that level, which is no dig.

There's a group of players in the level below Ronaldo and Henry who are unbelievable players but they aren't those two and Salah sits in there with them for me.

PL greats. De Bruyne, Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard so on, so on.

Salah will have better stats in some cases but when you actually seen the players on the pitch there's no comparison.

Unless of course for you there was a year Salah should have been crowned the best in the world?

Michael Owen won the Ballon d'Or in 2001

You said only Henry and Ronaldo were considered best in the world and used 2003 ballon d'or runner up as an example

I definitely wouldn't be judging a player on whether they won a Ballon D'or or not. That accolade is very media driven and is as much about how popular a player is off the field,than what he does on the field.

I don’t really have an issue with most arguments when it comes to comparing the likes of Salah, Henry, Ronaldo, Giggs etc.  I think you can choose any of them, and probably have a decent argument from whatever point of view you’re coming from.

As ever, my biggest issue, and I’m not saying people are doing it here, is the notion that it’s ‘obvious’ between any of them.  It’s not obvious.  There comes a point in some of these debates where it’s not an objective argument - it is also a bit subjective.

If it’s purely objective, you can only go on stats.  Pure objectivity is not trophies and numbers, otherwise all we’d do is count trophies and G/A.  Nani isn’t a better player than Salah, for instance, purely because he has 4 PLs and Salah has 2.  But I recognise that there also has to be a certain amount of team and individual success, otherwise we’d be going too much on how we ‘feel’.

I think the best RW in PL history is Ronaldo, closely followed by Salah.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a season bar the Ronaldo one, bar the Suarez one, but Suarez didn’t win the title, and didn’t stick around long enough to be in any ‘greatest conversations’.  I still have memories of working in the pub, looking at the TV screen, hoping Fulham would hold on for a draw, and he runs half the pitch, with the ball bobbling everywhere, and he slots it.  

Salah was so consistent for so long, put the team solidly on his back for last season’s PL win, while also being a talisman in the 19/20 win - and in the other seasons, put up ludicrous numbers.  He only loses out to a guy who had a Ballon d’Or season, won the title, and is one of the top 3 to ever play the game.

But if you want to argue Salah, it’s perfectly arguable.

It was the weird time when there was a separate FIFA World Player of the Year award to the French Ballon d'Or journalist award. They since merged, then split again.

Originally Ballon d'Or was only for Europeans, then it was anybody as long as they played in Europe (including 2001), then it was global.

Figo won the 2001 FIFA Award and Owen was 8th. Owen won Ballon d'Or and Figo was 6th.

Just like Boards.ie, it's subjective when you have different people voting

The Ballon D’Or is partly an individual prize and partly a team prize.

If Liverpool had beaten PSG in the penalty shootout last season, there’s no chance Dembele wins the Ballon D’Or. Salah would have been favourite to win in that case.

Basically Chelsea ruined everyone 😁

I would imagine for most they barely remember that Salah or KDB were at Chelsea and it certainly holds no weight in their thoughts on the players.

All it really highlights is what a conveyor belt that system at Chelsea has been for a long time.

You'd be really sickend as a Chelsea fan.

Firstly because you are a Chelsea fan…

And secondly because you had 2 PL all time greats and sold them to generate profit only for them to go on and win the big ones with your rivals.

Chelsea could have had a team with KDB, Salah and Hazard…

Will he score 9 more PL goals before the season end to finish on 200? Two more assists would get him to 120 PL assists.

Wouldn't be a bad way to finish.

Cech

Irwin

Terry

Vidic

Cole

Keane

KDB

Salah

Rooney

Henry

Shearer

Could easily be the greatest PL XI of all-time

If Harry Kane had played for a top club, he’d be in these conversations I’d say. I really dislike him, but had he stayed in PL he would have given Shearer a run for his money for most PL gaols.