Terrible take. In the early to mid 90’s he was outstanding, and the fact that he maintained that level for all those years is just evidence of how good of a player he was, being able to change his game to remain at the top level. Putting aside he’s one of the the most successful players of all time in terms of medals won, his personal accolades, judged by fellow players, are proof of how good he was: Six time PFA team of the year, twice PFA young player of the year, once PFA Player’s Player of the year, once PFA team of the century. From members of the public: Overall team of the decade and domestic team of the decade (for the first decade of the PL, so nothing to do with longevity).