Arsenal trio join Man Utd quartet in best Prem XI with only one title winner’s medal | OneFootball

It is mad that an XI this ridiculous, with this midfield and attack, has collectively the same number of title winner’s medals as Paul Scholes…

Now we turn to the Barclays icons with just a solitary Premier League gong each, and it is quite the team…

Goalkeeper: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)

We had Tim Flowers in mind before we started perusing the goalkeeping options, among whom was David De Gea. The Spaniard was 12-year Manchester United veteran, winning his solitary title as a part of Fergie’s last hurrah, but periods of individual brilliance never coincided with a level of competency required from United to win another.

So Lehmann gets the gloves, mainly because he won his only title as an Invincible. But also because he’s a bit unhinged and we like that in a keeper especially in an imaginary team with no actual consequences to keep us awake at night.

Right-back: Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United)

We’re well stocked for midfielders and short on top-class right-backs so Hargreaves will do a job in defence – if he’s fit. Which he almost never was for Manchester United, but he put together 23 fine performances in the 2007/08 season to help win the title and the Champions League. United retained their title the following season but Hargreaves spent all but 114 minutes of it on the sidelines, making him ineligible for a medal.

Centre-back: Colin Hendry (Blackburn Rovers)

We wrongly presumed the Scotland centre-back was Blackburn’s title winning captain but, no, it was Tim Sherwood who lifted the trophy for Rovers at Anfield in 1995. Hendry, though, proved you don’t need an armband to be a leader, the £25,000 purchase from Dundee in 1987 superbly marshalling a Rovers side assembled with Jack Walker’s millions.

Centre-back: Laurent Blanc (Manchester United)

With one Premier League medal from 1997/98, Arsenal’s Steve Bould initially got the nod here before we realised he won two First Division titles before football was invented in 1992. So Larry White is in having claimed his one Premier League medal in 2002/03 before immediately retiring after two years of replacing the all-action Jaap Stam with a very different defensive vibe.

Left-back: Graeme Le Saux (Blackburn Rovers)

The England defender made almost 200 appearances in six seasons at Chelsea but he left in 2003 just as things were getting interesting at Stamford Bridge. No matter, though, because Le Saux already had a title winner’s medal from his spell at Blackburn as a virtual ever-present under Kenny Dalglish in 1994/95.

Central midfield: Emmanuel Petit (Arsenal)

Petit joined Arsenal in 1997 and immediately formed one of the most formidable midfield partnerships with Patrick Vieira, winning the Double in his first season. Even the following year, when United won the Treble, Petit and Vieira were named in the PFA Team of the Year ahead of Roy Keane. Petit burned his bridges somewhat with Arsenal fans by joining Barcelona in 2000 but the France World Cup and European Championship winner claims he was ushered though the exit door by Arsene Wenger.

Central midfield: Michael Ballack (Chelsea)

We assumed that Ballack won multiple titles with Chelsea. Wrong again. Ballack had to wait for his final season, 2009/10 under Carlo Ancelotti, for his first Premier League medal. Once that was pocketed, he was away back to Germany, with the record for fewest Prem losses of any player to play more than 100 games.

Left wing: Marc Overmars (Arsenal)

The flying Dutchman joined Arsenal at the same time as Petit, won the same Double and made the same exit for Barcelona in 2000. So he wasn’t around for long, but long enough to score a crucial goal at Old Trafford in 1998 and haunt Gary Neville’s dreams for eternity.

Right wing: Robin van Persie (Manchester United)

Van Persie was absolutely brilliant for United in 2012/13. He didn’t single-handedly win Fergie his last title but he was by far the biggest single factor in no.20 for United, scoring 26 goals to win the Golden Boot. Playing wide in this XI because he couldn’t leave out these two strikers…

You could say much the same about Van Nistelrooy as Van Persie – two of Ferguson’s finest signings. But neither got their timing quite right to maximise their medals haul with United. Van Nistelrooy’s only title came in 2002/03, the middle of three consecutive seasons he scored 20-plus goals in the Premier League. The only season in five he didn’t hit the 20 mark was due to missing half the 2004/05 campaign with injury.

Ian Wright can consider himself extremely unfortunate not to make this XI but Van Nistelrooy’s goals per game record is better and we can’t exclude the Premier League’s greatest goalscorer. Shearer’s solitary title medal came at Blackburn 1994/95, having snubbed Fergie the first time. Had he not again in 1996, he would have many, many more. But that doesn’t seem to keep the King of Tyneside awake at night.