Who is the greater player: Ryan Giggs vs Gareth Bale

[Peyroteo]

Nobody is claiming that Giggs was outstanding for 25 years. Just that he was better than Bale whose case is weakened by a) not maintaining his level/having longevity on his side (it seems) b) having mediocre general play

That's very very harsh. He's just been very inconsistent the past few years, his ability is undeniable though. You don't need to be Iniesta in tight spaces to be fantastic in general play. His athleticism together with his technical ability makes him a very complete player that can hurt defenses in all kinds of different ways. Giggs was more natural and enjoyable to watch but Bale's power was incredibly effective in a lot of different ways.

Bale in 2012/13 and 2013/14 was better than Giggs ever was imo. He also had months of truly great form in the second halves of 2015/16 and 2017/18. Giggs was the much more consistent player, it all depends how you rate peak vs longevity and how much stock you put in their performances for Wales.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Bale had a higher peak but Giggs played at a great level for a very long time.

 

[Righteous Steps]

Giggs was the better player, technically and tactically he fulfilled his role, yes Bale ha that one season where if he kept that standard up he would go upper an echelon but i don’t think he did, in all he had two great seasons at Spurs and that was it really, every other season after that seemed to be marred by injury problems until this point in time.

 

[Zlatan 7]

I prefer Bale as a player for what he done with Wales and I like that he’s gone and proved himself at Madrid scoring some amazing vital goals.

Giggs was the better player though no doubt

 

[cyril C]

Bale didn't have a world class 5 years

I think this is a good start. Let's look at individual career and achievement between their age 23-28, you can shift or stretch this if you like as long as it is consistent to both.

I would agree neither are as pivotal as Messi, Ronaldo (to RM and to MU), and probably not as critical as Rooney (to MU). Both have scored some crazy goals that change game, just not enough of them. My vague memory say Giggs was more consistent and more available enough to contribute to our overall effort, while Bale was too injury prone while at RM.

I am not bother to goggle, because some of you probably have these stats in front of you, so shoot.

 

[Josh 76]

It's strange how Ryan Giggs career is perceived as poor as years go by.
The problem with Giggs was, he was at UTD so long, he probably had the same amount of "below his standard" performances as great ones. So if broken down, Giggs had 9 awesome years, don't think Bale had that many.

 

[cyberman]

It's strange how Ryan Giggs career is perceived as poor as years go by.
The problem with Giggs was, he was at UTD so long, he probably had the same amount of "below his standard" performances as great ones. So if broken down, Giggs had 9 awesome years, don't think Bale had that many.

Its not a coincidence that Bales poor years are when he was surrounded by world class players.
Thats Giggs but for 20 of them. Almost as if its harder to stand out.
Put young Giggs in that Spurs side and he would be a revelation

 

[Stadjer]

https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/gi...td-player-woodhouse/izoco4ff7lre1ocjt3czios8j

Reminded me of @Rozay, who had the nerve to claim Mane and Bale are better players/ higher peaks than Giggs and who got slaughtered by 99% of people on this forum for it.

Quite funny that a series of tweets turn into goal.com article though

 

[AKDevil]

Bale hit higher heights, Giggs had more consistency at the top level.

 

[Rozay]

https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/gi...td-player-woodhouse/izoco4ff7lre1ocjt3czios8j

Reminded me of @Rozay, who had the nerve to claim Mane and Bale are better players/ higher peaks than Giggs and who got slaughtered by 99% of people on this forum for it.

Quite funny that a series of tweets turn into goal.com article though

‘Had the nerve’. Pizz off.

For the record, I am not Curtis Woodhouse. This is just another human being who said almost the same things I said, word for word, of his own accord.

For me, the wonderkid never became the man. There are a few wingers in my lifetime I’d say we’re better players than him, but the rules of the comparison will need to be established before we even bother to begin. If they have to play in a top league for 22 years to be better, then nobody is better. In fact, no footballer ever, is better. If that is the metric.

 

[Rozay]

Bale hit higher heights, Giggs had more consistency at the top level.

Giggs was not a consistent footballer.

He had longevity, not really consistency.

 

[adexkola]

How many assists does Giggs have again?

 

[youngrell]

https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/gi...td-player-woodhouse/izoco4ff7lre1ocjt3czios8j

Reminded me of @Rozay, who had the nerve to claim Mane and Bale are better players/ higher peaks than Giggs and who got slaughtered by 99% of people on this forum for it.

Quite funny that a series of tweets turn into goal.com article though

Jesus. Sounds like the guy is having a fecking breakdown the way he’s going on

 

[Rozay]

How many assists does Giggs have again?

162 I think.

 

[adexkola]

162 I think.

Thanks.

Giggs > Bale

 

[Rozay]

Thanks.

Giggs > Bale

Well I disagree (as we all know!) But I don’t think it could ever be a fair argument anyway so probably unproductive to have it.

 

[Paxi]

Giggs. Bale could never move into central midfield and pull the strings. Giggs for me, although, Bale is superb player.

 

[Bebestation]

I think Bale is better than Giggs too. If Giggs had gone to Madrid, his career would have started getting worse as he aged and his longevity came only due to him staying loyal to United & working purely for 1 manager - arguably the best.

Bale just made some poor career choices like being loyal to a club that wants him less and less whilst lives in a time of football where his wages are now overwhelming for clubs to take a chance on him.

You take the age out & knowing what type of football they could play - if I could buy one for my club out of ability, the way they destroyed the Liverpool's, Barcelona's and the Inter Milan's - it would be Gareth Bale all day long.

 

[Bobski]

162 I think.

310 all competitions, as per Mrs Smoker's fine work. Most assist stats from the PL era only pick up around the turn of the millennium.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Jesus. Sounds like the guy is having a fecking breakdown the way he’s going on

He's on a wum, must be bored during lockdown. He was calling Scholes overrated earlier today and has got into it with a load of United fans.

Giggs >>>>> Bale and by some margin.

Different players, similarities end at being pacey and welsh.

Giggs was very much a team player, Bale is very single minded.

Giggs close control and dribbling ability was far superiors to Bale's, also had far better crossing, passing, technique and intelligence. The only areas Bale was superior to Giggs was his acceleration, long range shooting and goal stats. Goal stats are easily explained by Bale's single minded ethos, a tendency to repeatedly shoot from distance and the fact he played as a winger/inside forward in a period where the onus is on those players to score lots of goals. Back when Giggs was a winger his job wasn't to score goals, we had two centre forwards to do that. His job was to create and track back and he did that.

 

[Rozay]

Giggs. Bale could never move into central midfield and pull the strings. Giggs for me, although, Bale is superb player.

True, but so what? What about as wingers? Don’t get me wrong, if you also think Giggs is a better winger then fair enough, but when comparing two wingers/widemen -their ability to play central midfield isn’t really relevant surely? To me, it’s another skewed metric used to favour Giggs in these types of comparisons.

 

[Rozay]

310 all competitions, as per Mrs Smoker's fine work. Most assist stats from the PL era only pick up around the turn of the millennium.

310 is an impressive number.

 

[Bobski]

True, but so what? What about as wingers? Don’t get me wrong, if you also think Giggs is a better winger then fair enough, but when comparing two wingers/widemen -their ability to play central midfield isn’t really relevant surely? To me, it’s another skewed metric used to favour Giggs in these types of comparisons.

But surely then you have to adjust how you compare Giggs and Bale or any "winger" from those different eras. Bale never had the defensive responsibilites that Giggs had and Giggs never had the goalscoring onus of Bale or todays wide forwards.

 

[Paxi]

True, but so what? What about as wingers? Don’t get me wrong, if you also think Giggs is a better winger then fair enough, but when comparing two wingers/widemen -their ability to play central midfield isn’t really relevant surely? To me, it’s another skewed metric used to favour Giggs in these types of comparisons.

Giggs was pretty fantastic as winger. Went through a blip in early 2000's but otherwise a fantastic player. Obviously had to change his game after losing his pace and to me it shows you his quality. Bale has undoubtedly hit higher peaks with some amazing goals in CL finals and Copa Del Ray. Fantastic goalscoring record for Madrid all things considered. Still, Giggs for me, though it's a tough one undoubtedly.

 

[Baneofthegame]

True, but so what? What about as wingers? Don’t get me wrong, if you also think Giggs is a better winger then fair enough, but when comparing two wingers/widemen -their ability to play central midfield isn’t really relevant surely? To me, it’s another skewed metric used to favour Giggs in these types of comparisons.

Well I’m not sure it’s fair to compare them when the role of a winger was completely different in the 90’s and early 00’s.

 

[Rozay]

But surely then you have to adjust how you compare Giggs and Bale or any "winger" from those different eras. Bale never had the defensive responsibilites that Giggs had and Giggs never had the goalscoring onus of Bale or todays wide forwards.

That too is a fair point. So then are we saying that Giggs and Bale are not similar enough to compare? Or how do we compare them?

And for what it’s worth, I don’t think Ryan Giggs has a great deal of defensive responsibility either. There is no doubt that he was far and away, primarily an offensive player. And Bale started as a left back himself. That said, I think your point is fair that he didn’t necessarily get into as many goalscoring positions. Although a goalscoring position is subjective anyway. Half of the goals Bale has scored would not be considered goalscoring positions for other players. They are positions that Gareth Bale can score from.

I’m not sure what type of player is supposed to be compared to Giggs then, if we are to seemingly discount their superior goalscoring. Statistics aside, I don’t think it unreasonable to look at the general level a player has reached though. From wonderkid, I don’t think Giggs spent any significant time in his career as one of the best players in the world. And that’s by any metric. David Beckham was from the same era of wide player, and he came second in the Balon’Dor in 1999 for example. I just don’t think Giggs fulfilled his promise, and one of the best things he did for his legacy was retiring at 40. I don’t the the wonderkid ever became the man. He was a phenomenon as a very young player, and then matured into a player that joined the party sporadically and one who had his place in United’s XI regularly questioned at many points of his career. I think all that stuff gets airbrushed out though, and his career is compressed into a highlight reel, which of course, no active player can compete with.

 

[Rozay]

Well I’m not sure it’s fair to compare them when the role of a winger was completely different in the 90’s and early 00’s.

Well I didn’t make this thread! And the large majority of people who have been saying ‘obviously Giggs’ don’t seem to think it unfair to compare them!

 

[Bobski]

That too is a fair point. So then are we saying that Giggs and Bale are not similar enough to compare? Or how do we compare them?

And for what it’s worth, I don’t think Ryan Giggs has a great deal of defensive responsibility either. There is no doubt that he was far and away, primarily an offensive player. And Bale started as a left back himself. That said, I think your point is fair that he didn’t necessarily get into as many goalscoring positions. Although a goalscoring position is subjective anyway. Half of the goals Bale has scored would not be considered goalscoring positions for other players. They are positions that Gareth Bale can score from.

I’m not sure what type of player is supposed to be compared to Giggs then, if we are to seemingly discount their superior goalscoring. Statistics aside, I don’t think it unreasonable to look at the general level a player has reached though. From wonderkid, I don’t think Giggs spent any significant time in his career as one of the best players in the world. And that’s by any metric. David Beckham was from the same era of wide player, and he came second in the Balon’Dor in 1999 for example. I just don’t think Giggs fulfilled his promise, and one of the best things he did for his legacy was retiring at 40. I don’t the the wonderkid ever became the man. He was a phenomenon as a very young player, and then matured into a player that joined the party sporadically and one who had his place in United’s XI regularly questioned at many points of his career. I think all that stuff gets airbrushed out though, and his career is compressed into a highlight reel, which of course, no active player can compete with.

Giggs was primarily an attacker of course, but his main job was to create and provide for a pair of strikers, or latterly a lone striker. Figo has a similar goalscoring record to Giggs, wide players scoring at better than 1 in 4 in the 90's through to the mid 00's was a rare. You can compare between eras but you do have to take on board other factors, Giggs being able to adapt his game and play exceptionally well in a different role has to be considered, it shows how rounded his game was. Who would you compare someone like Salah to? He is more of a poacher than anything else.

Did he fufill his potential? Perhaps not, the hope was that he would be a world player of the year contender, and that was never close to happening, even though on any given night, usually a European night, he could look as good as anyone in the world during his prime. He was still an exceptional player, and a quite beautiful one to watch.

 

[Posh Red]

True, but so what? What about as wingers? Don’t get me wrong, if you also think Giggs is a better winger then fair enough, but when comparing two wingers/widemen -their ability to play central midfield isn’t really relevant surely? To me, it’s another skewed metric used to favour Giggs in these types of comparisons.

But isn’t the question ‘who was the better player‘ rather than ‘who was the better winger’? And if that’s the case, isn’t Giggs’ versatility a positive when comparing them as players overall?

 

[Rozay]

Giggs was primarily an attacker of course, but his main job was to create and provide for a pair of strikers, or latterly a lone striker. Figo has a similar goalscoring record to Giggs, wide players scoring at better than 1 in 4 in the 90's through to the mid 00's was a rare. You can compare between eras but you do have to take on board other factors, Giggs being able to adapt his game and play exceptionally well in a different role has to be considered, it shows how rounded his game was. Who would you compare someone like Salah to? He is more of a poacher than anything else.

Did he fufill his potential? Perhaps not, the hope was that he would be a world player of the year contender, and that was never close to happening, even though on any given night, usually a European night, he could look as good as anyone in the world during his prime. He was still an exceptional player, and a quite beautiful one to watch.

No disagreement with any of this.

Although if what creating is to Giggs what goalscoring is to Bale - then he still averaged about 8 PL assists a season over his 22 years, in the most dominant team of his era.

 

[Rozay]

But isn’t the question ‘who was the better player‘ rather than ‘who was the better winger’? And if that’s the case, isn’t Giggs’ versatility a positive when comparing them as players overall?

I’m assuming that the question is posed due to some sort of assertion that they play in the same position. And if not, and it is just a ‘who is the better player?’ question, and there is some sort of relevance to the fact that Giggs also played centre mid - then there is equal relevance to Bale’s goalscoring record, regardless on what was asked of each player. If we are simply looking at two footballers, Bale is a far bigger goal threat than Giggs ever was.

Giggs was more naturally talented than Bale in terms of touch and technique etc. But he’s not a better player for my money, nor is he the only player with better touch and technique that is not as good a player as Gareth Bale. That isn’t how it works.

 

[Posh Red]

I’m assuming that the question is posed due to some sort of assertion that they play in the same position. And if not, and it is just a ‘who is the better player?’ question, and there is some sort of relevance to the fact that Giggs also played centre mid - then there is equal relevance to Bale’s goalscoring record, regardless on what was asked of each player. If we are simply looking at two footballers, Bale is a far bigger goal threat than Giggs ever was.

Giggs was more naturally talented than Bale in terms of touch and technique etc. But he’s not a better player for my money, nor is he the only player with better touch and technique that is not as good a player as Gareth Bale. That isn’t how it works.

Yeah I agree that the question can be interpreted in various ways and you can easily make an argument for either

 

[Bebestation]

Bale was playing comfortably and not looking out of sort moving within the 3rd-9th top footballers during the peak C.Ronaldo VS Messi era.

What was Giggs actually rated as? Maybe a top 20 at best? And how long was that for? When that finished he maintained being a top 30-40 player for what 60 years?

Bale completely demolishes him. Just because Giggs lost his pace so he had a manager who loved him enough to allow him to change position and become a very average midfielder for us during his retirement years doesnt mean much.

Bale broke transfer records, impacted CL finals, scored some crazy wonder goals against teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter Milan, impacted trophies - he even scores better goals than Giggs like come on that goal against Liverpool, can you imagine Giggs doing that I'm supposed to be convinced Giggs is better because SAF allows him to retire and change position to CM and he can pass a ball?

Bale was a different level of magic to watch.

 

[Stadjer]

‘Had the nerve’. Pizz off.

For the record, I am not Curtis Woodhouse. This is just another human being who said almost the same things I said, word for word, of his own accord.

For me, the wonderkid never became the man. There are a few wingers in my lifetime I’d say we’re better players than him, but the rules of the comparison will need to be established before we even bother to begin. If they have to play in a top league for 22 years to be better, then nobody is better. In fact, no footballer ever, is better. If that is the metric.

Didnt mean the ‘had the nerve’ in a bad way, more in a response to how some poster reacted to you and how zealously some of the pro Giggs post were.

English isnt my first language.. lets just blame it on that.

 

[Rozay]

Didnt mean the ‘had the nerve’ in a bad way, more in a response to how some poster reacted to you and how zealously some of the pro Giggs post were.

English isnt my first language.. lets just blame it on that.

Ah, apologies kind sir. Or Madam. Actually, it’s 2020, there’s about 70 more of these now, so I’ll go with ‘friend’.

 

[cyberman]

Bale was playing comfortably and not looking out of sort moving within the 3rd-9th top footballers during the peak C.Ronaldo VS Messi era.

What was Giggs actually rated as? Maybe a top 20 at best? And how long was that for? When that finished he maintained being a top 30-40 player for what 60 years?

Bale completely demolishes him. Just because Giggs lost his pace so he had a manager who loved him enough to allow him to change position and become a very average midfielder for us during his retirement years doesnt mean much.

Bale broke transfer records, impacted CL finals, scored some crazy wonder goals against teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter Milan, impacted trophies - he even scores better goals than Giggs like come on that goal against Liverpool, can you imagine Giggs doing that I'm supposed to be convinced Giggs is better because SAF allows him to retire and change position to CM and he can pass a ball?

Bale was a different level of magic to watch.

Was? He's 30. Kind of telling you talk like everything is in the distant past

 

[adexkola]

Well I disagree (as we all know!) But I don’t think it could ever be a fair argument anyway so probably unproductive to have it.

I know

 

[Ludens the Red]

Bale was playing comfortably and not looking out of sort moving within the 3rd-9th top footballers during the peak C.Ronaldo VS Messi era.

What was Giggs actually rated as? Maybe a top 20 at best? And how long was that for? When that finished he maintained being a top 30-40 player for what 60 years?

Bale completely demolishes him. Just because Giggs lost his pace so he had a manager who loved him enough to allow him to change position and become a very average midfielder for us during his retirement years doesnt mean much.

Bale broke transfer records, impacted CL finals, scored some crazy wonder goals against teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter Milan, impacted trophies - he even scores better goals than Giggs like come on that goal against Liverpool, can you imagine Giggs doing that I'm supposed to be convinced Giggs is better because SAF allows him to retire and change position to CM and he can pass a ball?

Bale was a different level of magic to watch.

Where to start with these flawed arguments...

Why is breaking a transfer record being used as a metric? Do you actually believe Giggs at his peak would not go for 85 million back when Bale did?
Paul Pogba was the most expensive player in the world for a while. I wouldn’t even put him in top 10 midfielders to play for Man United.

And you may say Bale was in the top 10 of players during the Messi/Ronaldo era but a lot of people would massively disagree with that, it’s debatable. Off the top of my head during the period of 2012- 2016 (Bale’s peak). I’d argue the following were all superior..
Aguero, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta, Neymar, Yaya Toure, Hazard.
And even in the early part of this era you still had the likes of van Persie, Robben, Pirlo, Zlatan all still at a high level. And all these players are better than Bale.

Bale is a highlights reel player, hence why people in general, Real Madrid fans included, do not rate him as an upper tier player. He has moments of explosion and long rangers which admittedly are exciting but Have massively and I mean massively skewed how some people see him.

I don’t know if you were asleep during the 90’s and 00’s but maybe go have a look at Giggs’ goals away to Liverpool, against Arsenal, against Juventus (multiple times) in particular if you wanna know about wonder goals.
Impacted trophies? I guess Giggs being in the team of the year six times in seasons United were crowned champions didn’t matter much. How many league titles has Bale won again?

This just looks to me to be a classic case of overrating the current and underrating the past. The same sort of metric that’ll soon see people claim something like Mo Salah was better than Thierry Henry cos he ran really fast and scored in a CL final.

 

[youngrell]

Where to start with these flawed arguments...

Why is breaking a transfer record being used as a metric? Do you actually believe Giggs at his peak would not go for 85 million back when Bale did?
Paul Pogba was the most expensive player in the world for a while. I wouldn’t even put him in top 10 midfielders to play for Man United.

And you may say Bale was in the top 10 of players during the Messi/Ronaldo era but a lot of people would massively disagree with that, it’s debatable. Off the top of my head during the period of 2012- 2016 (Bale’s peak). I’d argue the following were all superior..
Aguero, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta, Neymar, Yaya Toure, Hazard.
And even in the early part of this era you still had the likes of van Persie, Robben, Pirlo, Zlatan all still at a high level. And all these players are better than Bale.

Bale is a highlights reel player, hence why people in general, Real Madrid fans included, do not rate him as an upper tier player. He has moments of explosion and long rangers which admittedly are exciting but Have massively and I mean massively skewed how some people see him.

I don’t know if you were asleep during the 90’s and 00’s but maybe go have a look at Giggs’ goals away to Liverpool, against Arsenal, against Juventus (multiple times) in particular if you wanna know about wonder goals.
Impacted trophies? I guess Giggs being in the team of the year six times in seasons United were crowned champions didn’t matter much. How many league titles has Bale won again?

This just looks to me to be a classic case of overrating the current and underrating the past. The same sort of metric that’ll soon see people claim something like Mo Salah was better than Thierry Henry cos he ran really fast and scored in a CL final.

Thank for saving me the hassle.

 

[Rozay]

Where to start with these flawed arguments...

Why is breaking a transfer record being used as a metric? Do you actually believe Giggs at his peak would not go for 85 million back when Bale did?
Paul Pogba was the most expensive player in the world for a while. I wouldn’t even put him in top 10 midfielders to play for Man United.

And you may say Bale was in the top 10 of players during the Messi/Ronaldo era but a lot of people would massively disagree with that, it’s debatable. Off the top of my head during the period of 2012- 2016 (Bale’s peak). I’d argue the following were all superior..
Aguero, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta, Neymar, Yaya Toure, Hazard.
And even in the early part of this era you still had the likes of van Persie, Robben, Pirlo, Zlatan all still at a high level. And all these players are better than Bale.

Bale is a highlights reel player, hence why people in general, Real Madrid fans included, do not rate him as an upper tier player. He has moments of explosion and long rangers which admittedly are exciting but Have massively and I mean massively skewed how some people see him.

I don’t know if you were asleep during the 90’s and 00’s but maybe go have a look at Giggs’ goals away to Liverpool, against Arsenal, against Juventus (multiple times) in particular if you wanna know about wonder goals.
Impacted trophies? I guess Giggs being in the team of the year six times in seasons United were crowned champions didn’t matter much. How many league titles has Bale won again?

This just looks to me to be a classic case of overrating the current and underrating the past. The same sort of metric that’ll soon see people claim something like Mo Salah was better than Thierry Henry cos he ran really fast and scored in a CL final.

That’s a new way of describing a goalscorer. I guess goals are ‘highlight moments’ tbh.

That said, I agree that Bebestation’s post was a bit overboard.

P.S - of course Giggs wouldn’t have gone for £85m back when Bale did. He was almost fecking 40 for a start, and had about a year left of his career. In fact, I think he retired the same summer.