The best Premier League XI of all time is one of those things that’ll be debated by pundits and drunken armchair experts (ourselves included) sat around pub tables forever but, nevertheless, it’s something we always love to toy with every season.
However, when you take out opinion and the blatant fan bias we all wear proudly on our sleeves week in and week out, it can be tough to sit back and objectively sift through all the countless superstars the English top flight has seen down the years.
That’s why when we heard someone had decided to ask the question not of themselves but the super smart artificial intelligence (AI) system known as ChatGPT, we were obviously very curious.
While it seems to be everywhere now, we’re still pretty new to AI and when Bettingapps.org tasked ChatGPT with coming up with the greatest Premier League starting 11 of all time, it didn’t disappoint. Here’s what it came up with.
ChatGPT’s best Premier League XI of all time
Basing its decision on players that “demonstrated exceptional skill, impact, and longevity in the Premier League”, the AI sifted through numerous top talents that ever graced the English game.
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Setting up in a 4-3-3 formation, the team is as follows:
Goalkeeper: Peter Schmeichel – Man United
Defenders: Gary Neville – Man United, John Terry – Chelsea, Vincent Kompany – Man City, Ashley Cole – Arsenal/Chelsea
Midfielders: Steven Gerrard – Liverpool, Paul Scholes – Man United, Frank Lampard – Chelsea
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo – Man United, Thierry Henry – Arsenal, Alan Shearer – Blackburn Rovers / Newcastle
In case you need to better visualise it, here’s an idea of how it might look:
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Damn, that’s a team and a half that…
You’ve got to admit, that’s not just up there with the likes of Barcelona’s 2008/09 squad, City or United‘s treble-winning seasons or any of the other great teams football’s ever seen, it would most likely wipe the floor with pretty much anyone.
That being said, when it initially pumped out the results, the AI-generated dream team manager did concede that there were a lot of other players who didn’t quite make the cut but would more than happily sit on the subs bench.
These players included Petr Čech, Rio Ferdinand, Patrick Viera, Erling Haaland and so, so, SO many others absolute world-beaters.
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Even just a handful of them would probably make the greatest second team ever conceived.
What do you make of ChatGPT’s assembly of the greatest-ever Premier League players? Would it work as a team or would that midfield literally just be a repeat of England’s ‘Golden Generation‘ where Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes simply never worked in the same squad?
More importantly, are there glaring errors and players you think simply have to be in that team?
Either way, you can’t pretend the world of AI isn’t fascinating and it’s quite incredible to see how much information it can pull together with just the click of a button. We even asked it to write an article on how to spend the perfect day out in Manchester.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
27th August 2023 
