Ryan Giggs was an "unbelievably overrated Manchester United player", according to former Premier League midfielder Curtis Woodhouse.
Woodhouse, who is now a manager at Northern Premier League outfit Gainsborough Trinity, spent several seasons in England's top-flight playing for Sheffield United and Birmingham City.
While he admittedly never reached Giggs' level, Woodhouse believes the current Wales coach was overhyped at Old Trafford.
In a series of tweets, the ex-midfielder took aim at Giggs's record, claiming his individual output wasn't sufficient considering his position and the team he was a part of.
"Ryan Giggs another unbelievably overrated Manchester United player," Woodhouse posted on Twitter.
"Outstanding longevity but in a team that dominated for years and were a free scoring machine his statistics for goals and assists is awful. Another Manchester United myth, good player, never anything more
"Giggs has 162 assists in the PL over 22 years to go with his 109 goals, again over 22 years. His team dominated them 22 years of football breaking scoring records as they went. Ryan Giggs was a left winger, looking at his stats you may confuse him with a left back.
"Giggs didn’t even have a good left foot!! He was a outstanding athlete but his left foot wasn’t that good. His delivery was ok, not great, he couldn’t spray it about, he was a great athlete. Let’s keep it real.
"Giggs was a good player. Steady away down the left hand side, great energy, great pace. Good player, just not a great player, never had a world class season in 22 attempts but still a good player. Never poor but never brilliant, a good steady player."
Woodhouse would go on to compare Giggs to both Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale and Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, claiming that both boast superior skills.
"Yes, Bale is better than Giggs, had a bigger impact in club football and international football," Woodhouse tweeted. "Giggs will have longevity over Bale, that’s it. Ryan Giggs hasn’t got a single attribute better than Gareth Bale, not one.
"TAA [Trent Alexander-Arnold] is more of a attacking threat than Ryan Giggs was in 22 years. TAA is a right back and Ryan Giggs is a left winger."
zapalmnp
97
Ryan Giggs assist ratio was 0.26 per game. the same for David Silva & Bergkamp were 0.30 per game. Both played less than half the matches than Giggs. If they were to play another 300+ matches that would've come down even further. Gerrard & Lampard, who played 500+ matches had an assist ratio of 0.18 & 0.17 respectively. Even Beckham, who only played his best years in EPL (widely acclaimed for assists), and left before his level dropped, had a ratio of 0.30 per game. As players prolong their career into 30s, their contribution drops down as a result of age. David Silva, for example, had an assist ratio of 0.44 per game until he touched 30. However it dropped to 0.23 per game in the last 4 years for an overall assist ratio of 0.30 per game despite only playing half the matches Giggs played. If he plays on until the age when Giggs retired (40), (another 6 years) that is likely to come down well below Giggs ratio of 0.26 with the deterioration shown. David Silva was part of a hugely successful team during his time with Man City and won everything there's to win domestically. multiple times. he was even part of the teams with most goals scored in EPL history. So using the same theory, will it be wise for anyone to say David Silva was an overrated player? I bet not! People will say anything to get attention these days. In btw, WHO WAS CURTIS WOODHOUSE? 😜
AbhiSharma
24
I somewhat agree with Woodhouse, Giggs was really good player and had a long career but considering the statistics you can't much argue, 22 years in EPL and just 109 goals that is almost 5 goals each season that is simply not good enough for a left winger playing in a team that dominated EPL.. Bale is much better, so is TAA and it won't take him long to surpass Giggs goal and assist records..
OOOOlugbenga
21
I think the guy is right in a way, how can u play for a whole 22 seasons and have 109 goals & 162 assists ,its horrible. If not for the longevity, the most assist wouldn't have gone to him. I think what the guy is saying is that, he could have done more if he operate at the supposed world class level considering the 22 years he played for Man Utd. Let's not be sentimental in our judgment. He only achieved the legendary status because of his longevity & not because of the 109 goals & 162 assists. Truth be told.