Coutinho, Hazard, Scholes: The Premier League's top 10 No.10s have been ranked

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By Tom Ward

Published Mar 23, 2022

Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have picked the best players to play in the number 10 position in the Premier League era.

Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have picked the best players to play in the number 10 position from the Premier League era.

Unsurprisingly both men disagreed on pretty much everything as their rankings lists ended up looking very different indeed.

But they did agree that former Chelsea, Liverpool and England man Joe Cole is one of the best they've seen in the top flight since 1992.

Shearer opted for Manchester United legend Paul Scholes as his top pick, while Richards went with ex-Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp.

Both also think highly of Gary Lineker's former partner-in-crime Peter Beardsley, with the Premier League's record scorer making a space for him in the top five number 10s in the competition's history.

But the pair disagreed with each other over players such as former Chelsea ace Eden Hazard, who Richards placed third and Shearer placed fifth.

And they also couldn't agree on Hazard's old comrade Juan Mata, with Shearer placing him as high as seventh compared to Richards' tenth.

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 29: Paul Scholes of Manchester United celebrates scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final, second leg match between Manchester United and Barcelona at Old Trafford on April 29, 2008 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

He was followed closely by another former teammate Cole, who was named sixth on both lists despite spending most of his career playing on the wing.

Philippe Coutinho, Bruno Fernandes and Mesut Ozil also made it into the top 10 as Shearer and Richards ranked the Premier League's best number 10s in football history - with some assistance from Lineker of course.

But there were also some surprise names missing from the list, including West Ham icon Paulo di Canio and Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne.

Micah Richards' top 10 Premier League number 10s

1. Dennis Bergkamp
2. David Silva
3. Eden Hazard
4. Paul Scholes
5. Peter Beardsley
6. Joe Cole
7. Bruno Fernandes
8. Philippe Coutinho
9. Mesut Ozil
10. Juan Mata

30 Sep 1998: Dennis Bergkamp of Arsenal lets fly during the UEFA Champions League match against Panathinaikos at Wembley in London. Arsenal won 2-1. \ Mandatory Credit: Laurence Griffiths /Allsport

Alan Shearer's top 10 Premier League number 10s

1. Paul Scholes
2. Dennis Bergkamp
3. David Silva
4. Peter Beardsley
5. Eden Hazard
6. Joe Cole
7. Juan Mata
8. Bruno Fernandes
9. Philippe Coutinho
10. Mesut Ozil

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Addressing the pair, Lineker told the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast on BBC Sounds: "I think he's one of three players that could've won this, Silva, Bergkamp and Scholes.

"You've [Richards] gone Dennis Bergkamp obviously and you've [Shearer] gone Paul Scholes.

"I find it very difficult to choose between them so because of the fact that you've [Richards] got Silva in second I will go Bergkamp because you've both got Bergkamp in your top two.

"They're different players in a way but it could easily have been Paul Scholes and as we know it's not that important..."

Richards interjected: "It is, it is important. Of course it's important. I've been getting abuse online for the past six months!"