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.
Manchester City release new ‘The Decade Collection’ celebrating 10 years of Pep Guardiola
Danny Jones
Manchester City and PUMA have just released a new clothing line celebrating 10 seasons of Pep Guardiolaat the club.
Simply entitled ‘The Decade Collection’, the new PUMA range revolves entirely around Pep as he marks his 10th anniversary in charge of the Blues, focusing on minimalistic style.
Guardiola has always been a trendy bloke, often being highlighted for his fashion choices on the touchline – even some of the questionable ones…
But with a much plainer approach this time around, the Pep clothing collab
Debuting the lifestyle drop on Wednesday, 15 April, Man City wrote on social media, “Ten seasons on the touchline. Ten seasons of setting the standard.
“Introducing the Puma Football Decade Collection with the Pep Team – celebrating Pep’s ten seasons as our manager and inspired by memorable moments from his tenure at the Club.”
While it’s unclear how much (if any) of these new clothes the Catalan coach has helped design or had influence on, but given its exclusive nature, you can expect it to sell out pretty quickly.
They go on to add: “Created to honour a defining chapter that reshaped the club’s modern identity, this exclusive collection is available in limited quantities.
Starting at £30 for the cheapest item – a ‘P’ logo baseball cap – the most expensive part of the collection clocks in at £110: his special anniversary edition ‘Majesty Low Decade’ PUMA trainers.
You can see some more examples of what we’ve already seen him wearing, and what we’ll no doubt see him in pitchside very soon, down below.
Obviously, City has plenty of other brand partnerships when it comes to both official sports apparel and more casual clothing, many of which we’ve already seen the 55-year-old football manager wear, but you can almost guarantee he’ll be donning them for the coming fixtures.
You can see Man City x PUMA x Pep Guardiola ‘Decade Collection’ in full HERE.
Speaking of which, up next for Pep and co is what could prove to be THE big twist in this year’s Premier League campaign, with his squad of serial winners taking on league leaders Arsenal at home.
Not only did the Gunners’ surprise loss to Bournemouth last weekend help City close the gap on the top spot, but with them refinding their form ahead of hosting the title hopefuls at the Etihad Stadium, it all looks to be shifting back in their favour at the moment.
With seven games left, and one in hand compared to Arsenal, do you see them beating Mikel Arteta’s side to another trophy?
Featured Images — Manchester City Football Club (publicity pictures)
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Sale Sharks announce signing of exciting new winger David Opoku-Fordjour
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks have revealed their latest bit of recruitment as they have announced an agreement to sign promising young winger, David Opoku-Fordjour.
The brother of existing Sharks player, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, David, is set to join Sale at the start of next Gallagher PREM season.
Sharing the news with their fans on social media, the Greater Manchester rugby union outfit is tipping the ‘exciting’ and very fast forward to achieve big things at the club.
As the older sibling of 21-year-old prop Asher (only slightly), they might be of a similar profile in some ways, but they are still two very unique talents with their own attributes.
The fellow Coventry-born prospect came through his local side’s youth academy, making over half a century of appearances for the Championship team.
He will now become the second member of the Opoku-Fordjour family, who are originally from Ghana, to play for Sale Sharks.
Already capped England star Asher is actually the youngest of the four Midlands-born brothers.
Meanwhile, David Opoku-Fordjour – still just 22 himself – will make his Premiership debut in the coming 2026/27 campaign, penning a one-year deal with an option of extending by another 12 months as part of his contract:
The youngster said in an official statement: “I know the levels at a PREM club will be much higher, but I’m really looking forward to playing and training with internationals every day.
“There are so many good wingers at the club – guys like Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed – and I just want to be a sponge and learn from them and develop as much as I can.”
“Asher and I are really close, and playing with him again will be brilliant. When I spoke to him, he just said that the environment at Sale is great and that I would really enjoy it. He said the club is full of good people, so I can’t wait to get started.”
🗣️ "Playing with my brother again will be brilliant."
Commenting on his arrival, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said, “There’s some real talent and potential in the Champ, and we think we’ve found one in David.
“He scores tries for fun, but there’s plenty more to his game, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he develops in this environment, learning and playing with the international wingers we’ve got.”
Looking forward to seeing him on the pitch, Sharks?
Danny Jones -
27th August 2023 
