West Ham's Mark Noble believes Steven Gerrard narrowly edges out Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard when it comes to which of the three midfielders were better.
The trio of England internationals dominated the Premier League for over a decade with Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.
Boasting a range of similar attributes, the three midfielders were hard to separate for quality on the pitch but having played against all of them, Noble concedes the crown must go to the former Reds captain.
"Trust me when I say you only realise how good a player is when you play against them," Noble said in a Q and A from West Ham's Twitter account when asked to pick between the trio.
"All three were top, top players in their own right but all-round player, Stevie G was the complete footballer."
Noble also named Gerrard as the best player he's come up against, while listing Carlos Tevez and Dimitri Payet as the best he's played alongside.
Brazilian legend Kaka has also put Gerrard above Lampard and Scholes when asked to pick between the three earlier this year.
"I like Gerrard," Kaka told SPORTbible. "Because we had this challenge between ourselves in 2005 and 2007, I really admire him.
"Of course, Lampard was pretty amazing, Scholes the classic. But I'll have Gerrard."
Going against the grain, former Portugal international Deco believes Scholes should get the nod due to his unique style of play and ability to fit into any side.
"I played with and against so many fantastic players in midfield like Gerrard. I had the opportunity to play with Lampard together at Chelsea," Deco was quoted as saying in 2016.
"I think, because he was a different type of player to all other types of English midfielder, Paul Scholes was the best player that I saw playing for an English midfield and one of the best players in the world.
"There are not so many players with this style because I think most of the players are box-to-box, not about controlling the game, keeping the balance of the team.
"Maybe it’s the generation, but I think this kind of player always exists. England has a lot of fantastic players. What I say is that in midfield, with his style, Scholes could play at any club."
pumcdekmn
524
True talk Deco. These other guys were box to box. The y like to go forward score goals. But if you talk about the best "midfielder" asin a man I the middle to control things. It has to be Scholes. Xavi gave the best analysis one time. He doesn't play like English middle man. He taps it around always. One-two passes. Long passes. Finish passes. The legend. But second to him is Steven G. He is my bro. I love him. High spirits around him always. Always
CashErra10
284
This is a really interesting debate. These three guys were all amazing. But these guys had different attributes and each played in a very different role. Scholes was the master planner, he could pick out perfect pass, a great vision, amazing passing range. He could also shoot from distant and dictate the game from deep. Gerrard was THE LEADER, ORGANIZER, he was the team leader. Dangerous when bursting forward from midfield. LAMPARD was a scorer. Box to box. He could not dictate the game but he could win the game. HE WAS SIMPLY A SCORER.
Nesaiknruy_Legend
236
Frank Lampard has more goals and assists than both the other 2. Why is this comparison still being made when a midfielder who played in mainly defence systems all their career already outdone 2 midfielders who spent their prime years playing attractive attacking football which we all know gets all the stats. Frank Lampard is the highest scoring midfielder of the top 5 leagues from what I know and has a lot of assists too and had a career that spanned very long at the top level. He doesnt get the respect he deserves. If you want to know how good Lampard would be in an attacking system like Scholes and Gerrard played, here's his stats in 09/10 under Ancelotti; Not even KDB can have seasons like this in modern football. Frank was a beast.
Honcho__
142
I Rate Lampard Above Gerrard but Scholes was on another Level
maycmoruz
109
I think he was talking about another Lampard n Scholes🤔 Ask him again, because the Lampard n the Scholes we know were better than Gerrard[Crylaugh] Lampard n Scholes used score magic goals n making beautiful assists too, which Gerrard never did at Liverpool[Crylaugh] Lampard n Scholes helped their clubs win countless premier league titles, but Gerrard never won a title in his entire career[Crylaugh] Lampard n Scholes are real Legends n they shouldn't be compared to kids like Gerrard