Don’t normally include too much football stuff on these pages unless it’s truly outrageous, but I think this interview with former Man City player Stephen Ireland where he says that he was better than Lampard, Ronaldo and Gerrard probably fits the bill.
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Ireland was asked who the best players he faced and played with during his career when he made this deluded claim, saying the following:
Surely Stephen Ireland is on a wind up…
— Barstool Football (@StoolFootball) May 2, 2023
There’s a lot of players I played with, names you’d expect to be good but they weren’t. I’ve played against huge names and on the day they’ve never really got the better of me, I never played against someone and thought ‘Wow, these are incredible’.
Steven Gerrard for example, Frank Lampard every time I played against them I’ve got the better of them.
Even though they’re incredible players, Paul Scholes, I’ve never had a game where I thought ‘God, I’m out of my death’, that was never the case.
Eden Hazard was incredible to play against, absolutely frightening. Playing with, Shaun Wright Phillips was fantastic I loved playing with him, Robinho was very very good, Vincent Kompany was good at the time I suppose.
I suppose he’s saying there that Gerrard, Lampard and Ronaldo were never great when he played against them which could be true – although some Chelsea fans found a game from 2007 when Chelsea’s Lampard beat Ireland’s Man City 6-0 – but it still seems like a bit of a stretch considering the careers that both of them had. There’s also the fairly huge caveat that Ireland probably only played against them once or twice as he only really had one good season at Man City and then spent the rest of his career in and out of the team at places like Aston Villa and Stoke. Not exactly the great career of those three legends of the game is it?
Again, there’s an argument that Ireland could have a been a great player himself – that one season with Robinho at Man City he was undeniably very good – but was hampered by injuries. However, you also have to remember he was a grade A weirdo, lying to the Irish FA about two of his grandmas dying to get out of international duty and also buying ridiculous cars like the one below.
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See what I mean? With that in mind, it’s not too much a of a stretch to think that Ireland actually thought he was the best player of his time. Guy definitely has a screw loose and definitely believes his own hype, despite scoring as many goals throughout his career as Ronaldo did in one season for Manchester United. Sad.
For more of the same, check out this Brazilian footballer who faked a kidnapping to get out of training. More believable than some of Stephen Ireland’s excuses.
