We Can Be Heroes

A rundown of the Premier League’s geniuses and mavericks.

We Can Be Heroes

The start to this season’s English Premier League season has already been exciting and interesting stories have started to develop. Will Arne Slot be able to maintain his impressive start with Liverpool? Can Brighton genuinely

challenge for high profile European places? How many goals is Haaland actually capable of scoring this season? Are Everton really that bad? Ok, that last one was a cheap excuse to have a dig at my team’s rivals but I just couldn’t help myself!

There have also been a number of players who have stepped up and stood out in the first few matches too. Noni Madueke at Chelsea has impressed, including scoring a hat trick against Wolves in the second game week. Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa are showing that there is definitely life without Ivan Toney at Brentford. Eberichi Eze has been in tremendous form for Crystal Palace and is very unfortunate to have scored only one goal so far this season. Luis Diaz looks rejuvenated at Anfield and has been a huge part of Liverpool’s early success. Rico Lewis is proving that he easily belongs in Pep Guardiola’s first team plans at Manchester City should that be how the manager chooses to continue. And this is only scratching the surface. There is lots more still to come.

Every year I watch with interest, trying to determine who the future legends of the league will be to take their places alongside the likes of Shearer, Cantona, Gerrard, Henry and Lampard. These giants, alongside many others, are rightly lauded as being some of the best players that the Premier League has ever seen. Mo Salah and Erling Haaland will obviously eventually take their places on this list and there will be more as well.

When looking at the greats in the history of the Premier League though, I like to think back to a slightly different category. Some of them sit firmly in place on the list of legends just mentioned, and others are remembered more for moments of skill or sheer brilliance that cannot quite be described, rather than being consistently brilliant over a period of time. I am talking about the mavericks, the cult heroes. Those players who stand out for their genius and sometimes temperamental natures who can wow fans on the pitch but can, in some cases, be a nightmare for managers and match officials. They are brilliant to watch because it seems that even they don’t always know what they are going to do.

The Premier League has seen a great number of these players over the course of its 32 year existence and they have been wonderful to watch. I will not possibly be able to mention them all but hopefully I cover at least some of your favourites. I will be happy to hear about any I have missed in the comments section.

Matt Le Tissier

Le Tissier was one of the most naturally gifted footballers that I, or the Premier League has ever seen. The fact that he only received 8 senior caps for England seems absolutely ridiculous but shows how coaches may have struggled to decide how to fit this maverick of a player into a team. Spending pretty much his entire career at unfashionable Southampton probably didn’t help his cause either. He was a god to the club’s fans though. And rightly so.

Watch any of the many highlight reels of Le Tissier’s career and you will see how special he really was, from making mazy runs and doing ridiculous bits of skill to scoring loads of long-range screamers, he was a joy to watch. Add on to this his almost perfect penalty taking record, he scored 47 from 48 attempts with only Mark Crossley of Nottingham Forest ever denying him, and you have a gem of an attacking midfielder.

It is interesting to think what would have become of Le Tissier’s career had he joined one of the traditionally ‘bigger’ teams, but part of the beauty of his story is actually that he didn’t. Watch this video and salivate at his genius.

Paolo Di Canio

A player who has been known to score incredible goals but also fight with opponents and a x steam mates, and throw Nazi salutes towards the crowd, Di Canio was the epitome of a mercurial talent. He had already showcased what he could do, as well as his notorious short fuse, in a season with Celtic in Scotland where he scored 12 goals in 26 appearances before moving to Sheffield Wednesday in 1997. Over his time in the Premier League, he also played for Charlton Athletic and, most famously, West Ham.

Di Canio was one of those players who could do something brilliant one minute and something absolutely ridiculous the next. Two moments during his time in England sum this up perfectly. During his first season in Sheffield he was the top scorer with 14 goals but at the beginning of the next year, in September 1998, Di Canio disagreed with a decision made by referee Paul Durkin which resulted in him inexplicably pushing the official. Durkin’s almost comical stumble backwards into a fall to the ground made the moment even more memorable but Di Canio was rightly sent off and banned for 11 games following the incident.

By January of 1999 he was off to West Ham, and just over a year later, in March 2000, he pulled off a brilliant piece of skill when he scored a flying hitch-kick volley against Wimbledon that was voted goal of the season. The skill involved to control the ball with both feet off the ground was incredible. If only there had been more of these moments.

Eric Cantona

If you look back to my previous articles, you will find one that already covers Cantona in depth so I will not go into the full details here. However, in a list of geniuses and mavericks, he has to be mentioned.

The Frenchman was one of the biggest stars of the early days of the Premier League but, like Di Canio, was just as likely to fall out with others as he was to provide a moment of brilliance. The fact that he decided to walk away whilst still arguably at the peak of his career makes the man even more intriguing. A true legend.

Mario Balotelli

Why always me? Well you didn’t really help yourself Mario did you?

From scoring brilliant goals, to being visited by police and fire workers for setting off fireworks in his own bathroom, to being a key part of the most memorable finish to a Premier League season of all time, Balotelli certainly had an eventful few years in the Premier League. Another player who had already had his fair share of controversy and arguments with managers and teammates before coming to England, Balotelli arrived at Manchester City before the 2010-11 season. His temperament was soon on display when he scored his first two goals against West Brom only to be later sent off for a violent incident. He continued to walk a fine line between superb and shambolic during the following, title winning season, where he scored a number of vital goals (including 2 against rivals United where he displayed his infamous t-shirt) but was also sent off four times, incurring a number of suspensions. His departure was also acrimonious, after trying to fight the club over a fine. However, he will always hold a special place in the hearts of City fans for providing the assist for Aguero to score the famous injury time title winning goal.

David Ginola

David Ginola just oozed cool. As a key part of the Newcastle revival under Kevin Keegan, the Frenchman brought skill and class to the league, as well as encouraging a wealth of female fans to suddenly take an interest. With his long locks flowing behind him, he glided across the pitch, often making others look foolish, and also scored some lovely goals. He also made a series of classic kits even more memorable.

Newcastle probably should have won the league in his first season but they were caught from behind by Manchester United, leading to Kevin Keegan’s infamous rant. It is strange thinking back now that he only had two seasons at St James’ Park and that he actually ended up playing far more games for Spurs after a transfer in 1997 after losing his starting place.

He continued to be wonderful to watch, but I personally will always remember him in black and white stripes as part of one of my favourite ever Premier League teams to watch.

Dennis Bergkamp

Bergkamp was already a star before arriving at Arsenal, having stood out for Ajax and Inter Milan as well as being a key part of the Netherlands progress to the quarter finals of the 1994 World Cup. However, his arrival in North London in 1995 allowed him to how off his skills to a wider audience with more regularity, and what a player he was. A man who moved around with grace and poise and never seemed in a hurry.

His greatest moment in an Arsenal shirt came in March of 2002 when he scored a truly superb goal against Newcastle, pirouetting around the defender before coolly slotting home.

Unlike some others on this list, Bergkamp did not have disciplinary troubles or cause problems, but he did have his own quirks. He was famously afraid of flying and, although he tried to travel by land if possible, this phobia meant that he ultimately missed quite a few of Arsenal’s away matches in Europe. In a team that was successful regardless, imagine what the Gunners could have achieved if the Dutchman had been available for those games too.

Jay-Jay Okocha

Certainly one of the most random Premier League signings of all time, Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha signed for Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2002 after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain came to an end. Okocha had been part of the Nigerian team that famously won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics and was a world class talent.

Unsurprisingly, the Bolton fans took to him immediately and he became somewhat of a cult hero. It didn’t hurt that he played a key part in his team avoiding relegation in his first season, scoring seven goals in the process. He also later helped the club reach the League Cup Final in 2004, although they ultimately lost to Middlesbrough.

He made 124 appearances during his 4 year tenure at Bolton and has since been voted the club’s best ever player at the Reebok stadium, and the scorer of their best ever Premier League goal. Not bad going.

 

Juninho

Another signing that seemingly came out of nowhere, diminutive Osvaldo Giroldo Junior, better known as Juninho Paulista, signed for Middlesbrough from Sao Paolo in October of 1995, despite being lauded by many of Europe’s top clubs. However, he seemed to fall in love with the fans in the North East and actually ended up having three separate spells with the club. Despite winning the League Cup during one of his later runs in 2004, beating Okocha’s Bolton in the final, it will always be his first run from 1995 to 1997 that will go down as his best for me.

Over those two season, the little wizard lit up the Premier League with his dribbling style and was part of a team that eventually reached both League Cup and FA Cup finals in 1997. Ultimately, they lost both, and then, following a three point deduction, were relegated. One of my abiding memories will always be of Juninho in floods of tears, devastated that he couldn’t save his team. We were all sad to see him go.

Gianfranco Zola

Another diminutive marvel, Zola was already 30 and had a wonderful career in his native Italy before making the move to Stamford Bridge. That didn’t stop him taking the league by storm though, playing for Chelsea for the next 7 years.

Another player who could dribble people into knots, Zola must have been a nightmare to play against. He was also capable of incredible pieces of skill and scored some genius goals.

In his first couple of seasons, he helped the club win the FA Cup, League Cup and, memorably, the Cup Winners’ Cup, where he came on as a substitute to score the winning goal.

Like those listed before him, he was brilliant to watch, and a player that all opposition fans would love to have as a part of their own team. He is a bona fide Chelsea and Premier League legend, and the league is a better place for having had him.

So there you have my cult heroes. Players who were always fun to watch and, believe it or not, not a Liverpool player in sight (I’m discounting Balotelli’s time there, although I was very close to putting in Luis Suarez). I also omitted some others, such as Gazza, as most of their most ntotrious moments happened outwith the Premier League. As I said though, if I have missed some of your favourites, please let me know.