Ranking the eight finest left-backs in Premier League historical past

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It’s by no means been extra trendy to be a full-back. The fashionable sport’s evolution has made the as soon as under-appreciated place turn into ever extra distinguished, with profitable sides now requiring full-backs who can do all of it.


Whereas not a scientifically confirmed idea and apologees to our right-back readership, however there’s a wide-held notion that lefties simply do it that little bit higher.


Decided defending and cultured deliveries from the left flank have been a characteristic of this lot’s sport, as we rank the eight finest left-backs in Premier League historical past.


8. Graeme Le Saux


Graeme Le Saux broke into the Chelsea aspect within the early nineties and impressed in west London, however a controversial finish to his first spell – during which he threw his shirt after being substituted – noticed him offered on to big-spending Blackburn.


It proved a superb match for each Le Saux and Rovers, who gained the Premier League title in the course of the 1994/95 marketing campaign. He was named within the PFA Workforce of the Yr for his position in that triumph and earned a second inclusion within the divisional aspect after a return to Chelsea. He re-signed for the west Londoners in a £5m deal in 1996, one which noticed him turn into the costliest defender in English soccer.




Le Saux made 192 appearances for Chelsea throughout his second spell and gained each the League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, earlier than ending his profession with a brief spell at Southampton. Simply three defenders have ever supplied greater than his 44 Premier League assists.


7. Leighton Baines


Leighton Baines is one among Everton’s finest items of enterprise of the Premier League period. After two seasons within the Premier League at Wigan, he returned to his native Merseyside with the Toffees and spent greater than a decade offering wonderful service at Goodison Park.


Baines’ good method noticed him rack up 32 objectives and 53 assists, the latter a document amongst Premier League defenders till Liverpool’s Andy Robertson moved previous Baines in the course of the 2022/23 marketing campaign.




A superb free-kick taker with a cultured left foot, Baines made 420 appearances for Everton in all competitions and was named because the membership’s Participant of the Season on three events. He was additionally recognised by his Premier League friends, with two inclusions within the PFA Workforce of the Yr.

6. Nigel Winterburn


A member of Arsenal’s well-known again 5, Winterburn held down the left-back position for greater than a decade throughout a time when the Gunners had been England’s stingiest outfit.


Winterburn arrived at Arsenal to switch the long-serving Kenny Sansom and did so in spectacular trend, forming a part of the membership’s fabled defensive unit and providing risk with correct crossing and set-piece supply.


He gained two league titles earlier than the Premier League period and added a 3rd as a part of Arsenal’s 1997/98 double-winning marketing campaign below Arsene Wenger. Two FA Cups, a League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup additionally arrived as a part of his medal haul, earlier than departing for West Ham.




Spectacular objectives had been part of his repertoire together with a memorable drive in opposition to Chelsea from distance, although Winterburn was oddly usually neglected with England and gained simply two senior caps.


5. Stuart Pearce


The sport’s modified a good bit since Stuart Pearce’s peak, however it's troublesome to think about any present left-back instils worry into wingers fairly like ‘Psycho’.


Pearce’s sport fitted the nickname he carried throughout his profession, along with his success constructed on a toughness and resilience. Having risen from non-league soccer – the place he mixed a part-time job as an electrician – to the highest of the game, he went on to win 78 caps for England and represented the Three Lions at two main tournaments.




A no-nonsense and uncompromising defender, his mixture of full-blooded tackles and a thunderous left foot proved potent weapons at each ends of the pitch. Pearce’s finest soccer got here at Nottingham Forest, for who he made 522 appearances to cement his standing as a membership legend.


He was named within the PFA Workforce of the Yr on 5 events pre-Premier League period, earlier than making 202 top-flight appearances for Forest, Newcastle and West Ham, scoring 20 objectives, following the division’s rebranding.


4. Patrice Evra


Patrice Evra recovered from a Manchester Derby debut baptism of fireplace to turn into one of many Premier League’s best full-backs.


Throughout 9 seasons at Manchester United he gained all of it, hoovering up accolades together with 5 Premier League titles and the Champions League. Tenacious, technical and athletic, he had all of the attributes of a contemporary left-back and was equally snug charging upfield as he was stopping assaults within the defensive third.




A 3-time PFA Workforce of the Yr inclusion, Evra was a mannequin of consistency throughout a interval of sustained success at Previous Trafford. A fixture in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final nice crew, he made 379 appearances for the Pink Devils in all competitions.


3. Andy Robertson


Andy Robertson was not at all times anticipated to achieve such heights. Launched by Celtic as a teen, he started in beginner soccer at Queen’s Park in Scotland earlier than stops at Dundee United and Hull earlier than an £8m transfer to Liverpool.


Little was fabricated from that latter switch, however Robertson has cast a status as arguably the world’s best left-back throughout five-and-a-half seasons at Anfield. The Scotland captain endeared himself to the Liverpool followers with lung-busting runs and infinite endeavour down the left flank, a followers’ favorite for his willingness to work for the shirt.


His depth is matched with a top quality in possession, which has seen Robertson break the Premier League document for assists by a defender (54).




He’s gained the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Tremendous Cup and Membership World Cup as a part of Jurgen Klopp’s profitable aspect and has time on his aspect so as to add extra to the gathering.


2. Denis Irwin


Denis Irwin’s unassuming brilliance noticed him hailed by Sir Alex Ferguson as his finest ‘pound-for-pound ‘ signing at Manchester United, a full-back the supervisor nicknamed ‘Eight Out of Ten Denis’ for his unbelievable consistency for the membership.


“We always called him Eight Out of Ten Denis. So quick and nimble: quick-brained. Never let you down. There was never any bad publicity with him,” Ferguson wrote in his 2013 autobiography.


“I remember a game at Arsenal when Denis allowed Dennis Bergkamp to score late in the match, and the press said: ‘Well, you’ll be disappointed with Denis. I replied: ‘Aye, well, he’s been with me for eight or nine years and he’s never made a mistake, I think we can forgive him one.”




Ferguson later mentioned Irwin could be the ‘one certainty’ to get into his all-time Manchester United XI, some reward given the abundance of expertise the membership have had in the course of the Premier League period. Irwin was two-footed, dependable and a objective risk, not often dropping under the required customary throughout 529 appearances for the Pink Devils.


We’ve not even talked about his trophy haul, which incorporates seven Premier League titles and the Champions League amongst 18 main honours. Not a foul medal assortment.


1. Ashley Cole


Ashley Cole stays the benchmark for Premier League left-backs, an virtually shoo-in every time the division’s all-time XIs are mentioned.


Cole was a contemporary full-back lengthy earlier than the current evolution of the position. He was a grasp when it got here to shutting down opposition wingers, however in equal half a live-wire down the left-hand aspect.


After rising at Arsenal he gained two Premier League titles with the Gunners, together with as a part of their Invincibles classic whose finest soccer usually got here down the left. Shut your eyes for a second and movie Arsenal’s swashbuckling crew, it's the mixture of Cole, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry on the left that the majority vividly involves thoughts.




His cross-capital transfer to Chelsea in 2006 noticed Cole’s public picture take a success, but it surely proved a sensible resolution as he continued to say honours as Arsenal declined. He added one other league title, prolonged his particular person document to seven FA Cups and lifted the Champions League at Stamford Bridge, the place he was twice named because the membership’s Participant of the Season.


No participant has pissed off Cristiano Ronaldo within the method that Cole did. Ronaldo wasn’t alone in enduring a tricky afternoon every time confronted with the 107-cap England worldwide.


Learn – Ranking the 8 finest right-backs in Premier League historical past


Learn Additionally – Six of essentially the most thrilling footballers in European soccer to observe proper now


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