What was giggs best season ?
Who is the greater player: Ryan Giggs vs Gareth Bale
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
I'm Welsh, and yes Bale is more committed to the national team.
But this is a question of who was the greater player, and it is clear to me that's Giggs in terms of impact.
Bale has wasted his club career messing about with the Spuds and warming the bench in Madrid. His availability in terms of fitness and condition has been poor.
But what is his peak? Hes only 30 and has disappeared for the last 2 years.
This thread reads as if its 2 retired greats but the truth is these last 3 years have been a major black mark against Bale.
Ive never seen a player so blasé about being dropped and pushed to leave than Gareth. He isnt wanted for a reason
They re both immensely talented but I think Giggs fare much better due to the fact that he actually likes playing football.... Something which doesn't seem the case with Bale
Gareth Bale was one of the best players in the league from 2011-13. That first season under AVB they weren't that good but he kept on firing in ridiculous long range winners for them in final minutes of games. They still didn't finish top 4 though.
It was similar to Van Persie who was always a good striker but was injured for large chunks of the season but was then fantastic for Arsenal in his final year there and then played big part in Man. United's last league title win.
At Real Madrid he did fine in his first season and scored in CL final. Can't remember too much of 14/15 but 15/16 he was good again, excellent in CL final and played huge part in Wales qualifying for euro 2016. Don't think he was amazing in actual finals (Ramsey was best Welsh player there) but still dangerman chipping in with goals.
After 2016 the injuries have picked up again and he's morphed back into highlights player and for last 18 months a bit part player at Real Madrid.
I'd say 11-16 is decent period of being right at the top of his game for club and country.
It was similar to Van Persie who was always a good striker but was injured for large chunks of the season but was then fantastic for Arsenal in his final year there and then played big part in Man. United's last league title win.
At Real Madrid he did fine in his first season and scored in CL final. Can't remember too much of 14/15 but 15/16 he was good again, excellent in CL final and played huge part in Wales qualifying for euro 2016. Don't think he was amazing in actual finals (Ramsey was best Welsh player there) but still dangerman chipping in with goals.
After 2016 the injuries have picked up again and he's morphed back into highlights player and for last 18 months a bit part player at Real Madrid.
I'd say 11-16 is decent period of being right at the top of his game for club and country.
This poll would be more interesting in a neutral forum as you’ve got a United all time great vs a guy whose repeatedly rejected us and shat on us whenever he can.
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As players, there is one to be made. But give me Giggs all round class anyday over someone with excellent end product but lacking general play. In fact Giggs would adapt to the modern game of goalscoring forwards if he was a modern but I don't think Bale has the completeness of game and intelligence and quality in the buildup to perform in a variety of roles and stages of career the way Giggs has.
It's true that if I was building a United team I'd go for other players before Giggs. But I'd pick Giggs ahead of Bale.
Well, has there ever been a player who is a "deciding factor" (which is only goals and assists to kids these days who can't look beyond) in every trophy win of a footballing empire? I wouldn't Giggs was ever our best player but he was consistently an important starting attacker in a legendary footballing run of successes, and a hero for the club's fans. I referred this only for the people comparing trophies where really there is no real comparison.
As players, there is one to be made. But give me Giggs all round class anyday over someone with excellent end product but lacking general play. In fact Giggs would adapt to the modern game of goalscoring forwards if he was a modern but I don't think Bale has the completeness of game and intelligence and quality in the buildup to perform in a variety of roles and stages of career the way Giggs has.
It's true that if I was building a United team I'd go for other players before Giggs. But I'd pick Giggs ahead of Bale.
That's a wrong way to determine who is better. Giggs was consistently good over his career and there is a reason he has recorded the most assists. He recorded 10 plus assists more than 10 times in his career and one of which he achieved when he was 38 years old in 2011-12 season. Also, giggs game was not to be the main man and score goals. He was the provider and executed his role amazingly.
As I said people like you are doing a great disservice to Giggs career by downplaying his talent. Not saying bale was a bad player. He himself was an amazing player in his peak but you don't measure someone on the basis of 2 or 3 seasons. My reason for chosing giggs is purely because of his longevity and being consistently good over 20 years. Maybe a chelsea fan cannot appreciate that and would be more interested in who scored most goals and stats like that but there are things beyond that.
Let us agree to disagree here. You can have bale as the better player and I will have giggs.
Just on their respective passing quality, here is a vid of Giggs from early in his career, you only have to watch the first 2/3 mins to see that creativity in his passing that people would only start to appreciate later in his career. He always had it.
That ball he plays in the City comeback to Eric back post is one of my favourite assists ever, just delicate precision. At about 3:20.
That ball he plays in the City comeback to Eric back post is one of my favourite assists ever, just delicate precision. At about 3:20.
Bale.
Bale in his peak, Giggs as a career.
You are correct but then I have also notice how many neutrals do not appreciate what giggs has accomplished. People just remember bale's goals in CL finals and automatically say bale was a much better player. I think giggs is massively underrated in world football.
Yeah, that's fair.
What. We cant compare players at their best to determine who is the better player...
Sounds like a whole load of excuses.
I think it was a missed opportunity for Bale to leave madrid in 2017 or 2018. He could have gone on to some other club and built a better legacy. He achieved everything at Madrid but has stayed more than he should have.
Ronaldinho at his peak was undoubtedly the best player in the world and if he were to keep that form up for longer, he probably would've entered the GOAT discussion. Neither Giggs nor Bale were that good, although young Giggs was often compared to George Best.
When the different between peaks level isn't huge (and it isn't huge in this case, if you remember Giggs at his best), the longevity should play a role in determining a "greater" player.
Have you even watched giggs play or have you even followed his career. Bale at best had 3 or 4 years of football where he had a very good season, other than that he was just sporadically good at best and in some cases bang average. Bale is what 29/30 and his career seems to be done. Just because he scored 20 plus goals in a couple of seasons doesn't automatically make him a better footballer. If we use your logic of just going by stats then Neymar is a better player than Ronaldinho because his best season was better than Ronaldinho's. It doesn't work like that.
As I said he should have left madrid in 2018 if not earlier. He could have joined chelsea or United or even gone back to spurs and created another legacy there. Bale for all his achievements with madrid will never be given that recognition.
If you look at it in terms of who can play a better 90 minutes at their absolute peak, I’d say Bale would be considered the better player. If you look at great in terms of being consistent over a long period of time, gotta give it to Giggs.
Basically, I’d take Bale in a champions league final but if I needed someone to count on all season long, Giggs.
I will say as a disclaimer that I probably missed out on Giggs' peak years as a winger, since while I started watching football around 99, I don't really remember much until the 2000s. For the question being asked, the greater player is Giggsy for me, as his longetivity, the amount of trophies he won, his ability to change his game as his body changed with age, are pretty much unparalleled. However, in terms of their peaks, Bale was an absolute monster at his best, and from my memory at least, Bale's peak was higher.
Giggs was a better dribbler, had a better first touch, was a better passer, better defender and a far more intelligent player then Bale ever was. We can talk about their peak and debate about it, but if you take their whole career it isn't even close.
That's a fair assessment but there are countless games where giggs was absolutely amazing in 90 mins. Granted I myself have not watched giggs play in 90s which presumably was his peak but watching him play in 2000s, I have to say he contributed more to the game than Bale in a 90 minute game. And he did that consistently. Giggs rarely had stinkers. He always used to give those 7/10 performances in most games. He was all round a better performer than Bale.
Think Bale had a higher ceiling and was better ability-wise but Giggs definitely wins in terms of consistency.
Joe Allen was never the second best player for us. Ashley Williams, Wayne Hennessey or Ramsey (a core right down the centre which any decent team need) ... qualifying and tournament. And in the tournament itself, Bale was still clearly no.1 but after that, the entire squad stepped up.. including Allen tbf.
The issues Wales had with qualifying previously were varied ... smaller groups, regularly being lumped in with Holland, Italy, Germany and one team qualifying (though we should have topped Germany once), a disjointed team (Giggs, Hughes, Rush, Saunders was some front four but no balance), team - incl Giggs - not stepping up the way the 2015/16 squad did, a missed penalty, etc, etc. No excuses though, not good enough. Bale lifted that team up.
I'm Welsh. There's no argument that Bale was phenomenal in our Euro 2016 qualifying and tournament.... if you're talking international performances, it's not close, it's Bale.
Club ... I think Bale has had some well publicised star moments, goals in CL finals for example but flits in and out of games - maybe because his teammates don't use him enough, maybe because he doesn't go looking for the ball. For me, Giggs was involved in games a lot more, and for a LOT more years.
Giggs also seems to be tarred with the longevity brush like "he was good, he had 20 seasons of 6 or 7/10". He was much more than that... 150/160 PL assists?
It's probably closer than first glance but it's still Giggs for me.
Bale was very good in premier league between 2010-13, more so considering he was a jinx player beforehand.
Giggs was incredible aswell of course and reinvented himself superbly in central midfield when he didn't have enough pace for the wing anymore. Bale won't do that.
Still odd he won PFA player of the year in 2009 AND sports personality. Which games did he win that award for again?
Giggs was incredible aswell of course and reinvented himself superbly in central midfield when he didn't have enough pace for the wing anymore. Bale won't do that.
Still odd he won PFA player of the year in 2009 AND sports personality. Which games did he win that award for again?
For those who say 'but Bale won the CL twice'. Well, had Giggs been in those Real Madrid sides, He would have even started the games and still won the CLs anyway. I doubt He'd be a passenger as well. And you could say that if Bale was in ManUnited team throughout his career, in the era of Sir Alex He would have won much more trophies, and that is probably true as well. So comparing trophies is a bit pointless.
That leaves us with comparing technical abilities. Sure, Bale looks much more appealing during his peak, He's more 'shiny' - spectacular goals & freekicks. But I think in the case of Bale and Giggs, it's actually an orange to apple comparison. They both played as winger and Welsh but that doesn't mean it's a good comparison. Now if you compare Bale to Ronaldo, it would be much fairer for both players since They share a lot of similar traits and are both 'shiny' players.
Giggs was a very intelligent footballer (started as a speedy winger at first, but still very intelligent) while Bale was more about pace, strength and scoring goals. Without actually comparing the two, in my team I would take Giggs any day and put Ronaldo in instead of Bale
. That way I'd get the best. Because Bale cannot and should not replace Giggs, and vice versa.
Edit: and if you want to bring the "But Bale helped Welsh NT more than Giggs" argument, take a look at Giroud the World Cup winner.
That leaves us with comparing technical abilities. Sure, Bale looks much more appealing during his peak, He's more 'shiny' - spectacular goals & freekicks. But I think in the case of Bale and Giggs, it's actually an orange to apple comparison. They both played as winger and Welsh but that doesn't mean it's a good comparison. Now if you compare Bale to Ronaldo, it would be much fairer for both players since They share a lot of similar traits and are both 'shiny' players.
Giggs was a very intelligent footballer (started as a speedy winger at first, but still very intelligent) while Bale was more about pace, strength and scoring goals. Without actually comparing the two, in my team I would take Giggs any day and put Ronaldo in instead of Bale
. That way I'd get the best. Because Bale cannot and should not replace Giggs, and vice versa.Edit: and if you want to bring the "But Bale helped Welsh NT more than Giggs" argument, take a look at Giroud the World Cup winner.
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Bale arguably had a higher peak/individual season between the two (and even that is a tough one as Giggs went through phases where he was unplayable - but he was more of a touchline, flying winger and not the inverted goal scoring wingers we see today). But factoring in longevity and consistency, Giggs is the greater player of the 2. No doubt. That's without even mentioning Giggs' reinvention from a flying winger into a very useful midfielder
I would say longevity and consistency are a huge part of what makes a great player and certainly important when comparing two players. Giggs has achieved more individually and as part of multiple title winning sides. He certainly didnt have his future at his club questioned during his peak years unlike Bale.
Giggs and it's not even close.
Best Career: Giggs
Highest Peak: Bale
Highest Peak: Bale
Except for a short peak's of Bale's, Giggs was consistently better player.
Giggs for sure. However peak Bale is a better player than peak Giggs imo. The way peak Bale strikes a live ball is phenomenal. I don't think Giggs has ever done such.
Someone want to explain to me how Bale had a higher peak?
I'm not following this position either. Giggs was a game changer even when off form. Scoring twice against Juve away when he was being (very unfairly to my mind) criticised was at his lowest point for us for example.
Peak Giggs (and there's many peaks) was pretty brilliant.
The Bale in 12/13 was really unstoppable. He was very much like a left-footed Ronaldo and scored from nowhere. Of course when it came down to longevity and consistency he was nowhere near Giggs but his peak was admirable to me.
Yeah, dont get it neither. 99 alone had the Arsenal goal, a last min goal in the semi v Juve and the assist for Sheringham in the final. Thats just the end month of the season highlights.
If Giggs had gone to a European powerhouse in his peak years this wouldn't even be posed as a question. Likewise, if Bale hadn't left for Spain, it wouldn't either. And those European Cups do flatter Real Madrid.
Sentiment aside, would people really prefer a 23 year old Bale now to a 23 year old Giggs?
Sentiment aside, would people really prefer a 23 year old Bale now to a 23 year old Giggs?
I think it’s an age thing.
As a matter of curiosity how old are you?
Must be. Imagine comparing two players when you were shitting nappies when one was in his pomp
I'm guessing there's a different set of posters voting to those who are actually commenting, fence-sitters aside.