Charlie Klein
Eight matches into the 2009/2010 English Premier League season and Manchester United are once again within two points of first place Chelsea in the league table. At this point last season, United were looking up at both Liverpool and Chelsea and many were wondering if the champions could muster a successful third defense of their league title. And that was with FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.
Why have United been so successful this season? Two words: Ryan Giggs. The harshest of football critics save nothing but the highest of superlatives for the manner in which Giggs has played thus far for the only club he has ever known. There was much speculation over who would step up in the absence of the Portuguese wunderkid. Would Nani finally realize his great potential? How would Luis Antonio Valencia cope with life at United? Neither of them with their much younger legs have managed to be as influential as the 35 year-old Ryan Giggs.
Manchester certainly owe some of their success to striker Wayne Rooney, who started the season on fire and has six goals to his account in eight fixtures. Darren Fletcher has also drawn plaudits for his incredible tackling and movement in the midfield. And yet the evergreen Giggs continues to outshine them both. Against Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium, a notoriously difficult place for any away side, it was not until the introduction of Ryan Giggs in the 56th minute that United managed to produce chances on the Stoke goal. Six minutes after his introduction, he set Dimitar Berbatov up with a picture perfect cross and all the dynamic Bulgarian had to do was stick his foot out and it was in the back of the net.
Giggs was superb again for United in the derby against Manchester City. He regularly skinned Micah Richards, who is 21 years old, sending in numerous crosses and proving that even at his age he can still play the wide position as well as anyone in the world.
For my money, Ryan Giggs is one of the best human beings to ever lace up a pair of football boots. A class act off the pitch, respected unanimously even amongst United's fiercest rivals, and a great United captain, and with 11 EPL and two CL titles to his name, Giggs is unquestionably the top footballer of the past 20 years. Sure, players like Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, etc get all of the headlines, but Ryan Giggs continues to turn in sublime performance after sublime performance.
Arise Sir Ryan Giggs.
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