25 years of the Premier League: Sportsmail's experts pick their greatest player, goal and manager

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The Premier League is heading into its 25th season, with the English top flight still regarded as one of the most competitive competitions in world football.

Since the start of the 1992-93 season, there has been no shortage of drama, from Arsenal's 'Invincibles' to Leicester City's fairytale season.

To celebrate 25 years of the Premier League, we asked Sportsmail's experts to pick their best player and best goal of the era. 

Thierry Henry's arrival at Arsenal in 1999 would shape the future of the north London club

The past 25 years have seen some memorable matches that have gone down in folklore

Alan Shearer remains the Premier League all-time top scorer with 260 goals for three clubs

BEST PLAYER 

JAMIE REDKNAPP

Thierry Henry: It was like he was playing a different game at times. He used to glide, he was so smooth. The way he used to run down the left, cut inside and bend one into the corner was amazing. If you closed your eyes you could picture him doing it time after time. 

He was an incredible footballer, scored unbelievable goals and if you had him in your team you would have won league after league. He had a sensational appetite to win. There have been some brilliant Premier League players — Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Alan Shearer, Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira — but Henry was the one.

IAN LADYMAN

Roy Keane: Would have got in any Premier League team of the last 25 years. A leader and warrior and a much better technical footballer than many people appreciate.

Roy Keane's leadership qualities were second to none in 25 years of Premier League football

CHRIS SUTTON

Thierry Henry: I am a huge fan of Roy Keane — he was very influential in that unbelievable Manchester United era — and Alan Shearer's goals put him up there, but the best has to be Henry. 

Not only was he the best player in the Premier League, he was the best player in world football for a period. You could not say that about many others. In the Invincible team he was unplayable. The goals he scored and the threat he was in that Arsenal team were absolutely sensational.

LAURA WILLIAMSON 

Paul Scholes: I loved how this serial winner was so brilliantly effective and reliable without being the slightest bit flash. We'll overlook his tackling.

DOMINIC KING

Ryan Giggs: The boy wonder who accumulated a treasure chest of trophies. A fixture in Manchester United's team, capable of regularly providing moments of jaw-dropping brilliance.

MARTIN KEOWN

Thierry Henry: An Olympic sprinter with football boots instead of spikes. At his peak, his pace, power and swagger made him almost unplayable.

Arsenal's signing of Dennis Bergkamp in 1995 would prove to be one of their best in 25 years

SAMI MOKBEL

Dennis Bergkamp: A true magician. Scorer of great goals, and creator of them.

MATT LAWTON

Thierry Henry: A player with more flair, grace, skill and athleticism than anyone else we have seen in modern English football.

LEE CLAYTON

Thierry Henry: Pace, class, swagger, goals.

Henry provided moments of breathtaking ability during his time playing for Arsenal

MIKE KEEGAN

Alan Shearer: Guaranteed goals wherever he played. At Blackburn 113 in 133 games was incredible. Honourable mentions: Thierry Henry, Paul Scholes.

LAURIE WHITWELL

Paul Scholes: In terms of pure talent, it has to be Cristiano Ronaldo. But for a personal favourite: Scholes. He was a joy to watch, so utterly at ease on the ball and with a mind like no other. 

His passing was blade-of-grass perfect and his shooting absolute dynamite. He was tough and no-frills too, which appealed ever more as the game shifted on.

Paul Scholes had a sublime career in the Premier League at the heart of the United midfield

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

Thierry Henry: Close between Henry and Eric Cantona, who you suspect was never quite as good as he wanted to be. Henry is an example of sustained, bankable brilliance.

ADAM SHERGOLD

Ryan Giggs: Was a player unsurpassed in terms of longevity and consistency of success.

TOM FARMERY

Thierry Henry: Football should be fun. Thierry Henry on a football pitch made the game fun. One touch and go. Defenders feared his turn of pace and goalkeepers rarely worked out which part of their goal he'd target next. At his prime one of the best to play the game.

KIERAN GILL

Alan Shearer: The greatest goalscorer in the Premier League. Englishman who scored the simple and the spectacular.

Alan Shearer scores one of 58 penalties he converted during his time in the Premier League

SIMON JONES

Ryan Giggs: Great to watch. Longevity of his career underlined dedication to his craft

AMITAI WINEHOUSE

David Silva: Underappreciated because of his lack of goals but he is magical on the ball and with his vision.

SAM MORSHEAD

Ryan Giggs: A dribble wizard turned master craftsman, who won it all.

PETE JENSON

Matt Le Tissier: One-man goal of the season contest. And everything the Premier League was not supposed to be — understated, unfashionable, slightly out of condition and not interested in chasing the money.

JACK GAUGHAN

Thierry Henry: He was breathtaking to watch, scorer of stunners and owning the classiest sidefoot in world football.

Henry produces another impudent finish back-heeling the ball through the defender's legs

BEST GOAL

JAMIE REDKNAPP

Sergio Aguero (Man City v QPR, 2012)

The most incredible goal I have seen live. There have been great volleys from Alan Shearer, Henry's dribbling, great team goals, but the most dramatic I have seen was Aguero snatching the title for City — and denying United — in the dying seconds of the season.

The moment, added to Martin Tyler's commentary and Gary Neville's face — that makes it for me!

IAN LADYMAN

Dennis Bergkamp (Newcastle v Arsenal, 2002)

So exquisitely unique that even now — after endless viewings — I still can't work out exactly what he did, never mind how he did it.

Dennis Bergkamp beat Nikos Dabizas with an exquisite piece of skill before slotting home

CHRIS SUTTON

Matt Le Tissier (Southampton v Blackburn, 1994)

An incredible goal. There are a lot of good strikes and people who lash the ball in but this was Le Tissier at his best. He turned a couple of players inside out and then placed it from about 35 yards into Tim Flowers' top corner. 

Flowers tried to save it but eventually took his hands away because he's nowhere near it. It was the fact that he didn't go for sheer power that did it for me. He knew what he was doing, he placed it with amazing accuracy. A stunning goal.

LAURA WILLIAMSON

Gareth Bale (Tottenham v West Ham, 2013)

The way he salvaged a win for Spurs in the dying seconds with this wonderful strike summed up everything about a world star who was made in the Premier League.

Gareth Bale scored with a memorable long-range strike to consign West Ham to defeat

DOMINIC KING

Stan Collymore (Liverpool v Newcastle, 1996)

Not the most spectacular, not the most obvious but the dramatic strike that defined the greatest Premier League match played in the last 25 years.

MARTIN KEOWN 

Kanu (Chelsea v Arsenal, 1999)

After selling onrushing goalkeeper Ed De Goey with a dummy on the byline, Kanu floated in a shot from the tightest of angles that left two World Cup-winning defenders in Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf floundering. This last-minute strike completed a hat-trick that saw us win from 2-0 down!

Nwankwo Kanu gets Martin Keown's vote for the greatest goal of the Premier League era

Matthew Le Tissier was a scorer of great goals

SAMI MOKBEL

Matt Le Tissier (Southampton v Wimbledon, 1994)

Perhaps the most inventive free-kick in the Premier League era. Flick up, volley, goal. Truly audacious, utterly brilliant.

MATT LAWTON

Thierry Henry (Arsenal v Man Utd, 2000)

Extraordinary — back to goal, flick of the foot and a stunning volley on the turn.

LEE CLAYTON

Dennis Bergkamp (Newcastle v Arsenal, 2002)

Mentions for Yeboah (v Liverpool), Shearer (v Everton), Carroll (v Crystal Palace).

MIKE KEEGAN

Dalian Atkinson (Wimbledon v Aston Villa, 1992)

Stunning display of skill, balance, pace and precision from the sadly departed Villa man. Brilliant goal, brilliant celebration.

LAURIE WHITWELL

Eric Cantona (Man Utd v Sunderland, 1996)

Possibly because it came during the early days of my match-going experience but this chip has a magnetism about it like no other goal in my memory. It was a cold winter night but Cantona strutted across the pitch and delivered a finish that hung in the air before hitting its target with millimetre precision. Then that celebration.

Eric Cantona's time in the Premier League was relatively short but there was no lack of drama

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

Dennis Bergkamp (Newcastle v Arsenal, 2002)

Only his brain and feet could have come up with that.

ADAM SHERGOLD

Dennis Bergkamp (Newcastle v Arsenal, 2002)

Balletic spin and sublime finish.

TOM FARMERY

Stan Collymore (Liverpool v Newcastle, 1996)

'Barnes, Rush, Barnes, still John Barnes... Collymore closing in!' Late, late goals are great. This one had an impact, a 4-3 scoreline ending Newcastle's title hopes. Pure drama and a deafening roar from the Kop.

Stan Collymore scored one of the most iconic goals of the Premier League era in 1996

KIERAN GILL

Thierry Henry (Arsenal v Man Utd, 2000)

The flick, the turn, the finish. A thing of beauty.

SIMON JONES

Sergio Aguero (City v QPR, 2012)

Peter Crouch for Stoke against Manchester City in 2012 deserves a mention but, for importance, Aguero's title clincher in 2012

Sergio Aguero celebrates his last-minute strike which earned Manchester City the title

AMITAI WINEHOUSE

Tony Yeboah (Leeds v Liverpool, 1995)

'Yeboah with a chance,' said the commentator, arguably the biggest overstatement in football history. Better because he hit the bar.

SAM MORSHEAD

Thierry Henry (Arsenal v Man Utd, 2000)

Arrogance, skill and style — everything that defined Henry — in an extraordinary bundle.

Henry scored with a sublime effort in October 200 to beat United 1-0 at the old Highbury

PETE JENSON

Dalian Atkinson (Wimbledon v Aston Villa, 1992)

I can still hear the commentary: 'It's a great run, now what about the finish? Oh! That's not bad either!'

JACK GAUGHAN

Thierry Henry (Arsenal v Man Utd, 2000)

Back to goal, flick up under pressure from Denis Irwin and a volley all in one movement to leave Fabian Barthez helpless.

Dalian Atkinson's wonderful strike for Aston Villa against Wimbledon was the first iconic goal

BEST MANAGER

We also asked our experts to pick the best manager and, bar one dissenting voice, they all plumped for Sir Alex Ferguson.

AMITAI WINEHOUSE

Arsene Wenger: If it were not for Wenger, the Premier League would not be in the shape it is today. Revolutionised the game. 

Arsene Wenger developed an infamous rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson during their time