Thursday, 29 November 2012

Greatest ever: Giggs hails Gunners legend, and Liverpool as toughest opponents - Mirror.co.uk

Ryan Giggs is surrounded by team-mates at Manchester United who were barely a bead of sweat on their father's forehead when Giggsy first started strutting his stuff at Old Trafford.

The United legend is 39 tomorrow, and is now the only player still active in the Premier League who was in at the start of the revamped top-flight 20 years ago!

But according to a Press Association report on a Giggs Q&A with premierleague.com the wizened Welsh wizard hasn't lost his power to surprise – and has dropped a bombshell in naming his toughest opponent ever.

It's Lee Dixon - now just some bloke on the telly in a shirt he didn't try on before buying, but once an Arsenal superhero at left-back, and according to Giggs the BEST EVER.

That's two! Lee Dixon making history by registering the first appeal for a verdict of 'double offside'
That's two! Lee Dixon making history by registering the first appeal for a verdict of 'double offside'

 

Naming his toughest opponent, Giggs told premierleague.com: "I think Lee Dixon was always tough to play against, especially at Highbury where it was a tight pitch and it was that famous back four and [David] Seaman in goal.

The Greatest: Former Arsenal hero Lee Dixon
The Greatest: Former Arsenal hero Lee Dixon

 

"It was always tough to find that bit of space which normally I can find but he had that experience, knowing whether to go tight or whether to come off, and it was always a test to play against him."

Giggs goes on to pick a few more star turns out of history – starting with United pals Paul Scholes and Roy Keane, then David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He said: "I think the two midfielders that stand out are Scholesy and Keaney, the year we won the treble [98-99].

"And then it would be close between Becks and Cristiano but what Cristiano has done in the last couple of years probably just pips him. In my view, along with Messi, he's the world's best player. So, I wouldn't mind being in that midfield, if I can get in!"

Pop-mobility! Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes keeping nimble
Pop-mobility! Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes keeping nimble

In terms of greatest fixture in the calendar, Giggs goes for the red-blooded joys of Manchester United-Liverpool, preferably at Anfield.

Giggs added: "I think as a player you want a challenge, so any of the top teams really. I would probably say Liverpool, because there is always such a great build-up.

"It doesn't matter how the teams are doing in the league, there's always that rivalry and there's always that ferocious tempo within the game, whether it be at Old Trafford or Anfield."

Asked which stadium has the most daunting atmosphere, Giggs added: "I think Anfield. Like I said before, no matter how the teams are doing there is always a great atmosphere.

"You could be playing against an average Liverpool team and it would still be one of the toughest games of the season, just because the crowd drive them on and the tradition between the two clubs."

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