Being born into a family where my dad, grandfather and great-grandfather all support Manchester United, there was only ever going to be one team I supported. The players I have chosen here are all talented players; United have had plenty of them throughout the years, but these players were something else, they all symbolised what it takes to be a United legend. Hard work, desire and a do or die attitude to win trophies.
Formation: 3-4-3
Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar
This was a close call between Schmeichel and van der Sar but I have to give it to the latter. I saw a lot more games featuring van der Sar, including being at Wembley for the 2007 Community Shield win against Chelsea where he saved all 3 penalties. However, it was his performance later in the same season against Chelsea in the Champions League final that earned him this spot, saving Anelka’s penalty and making United kings of Europe for a third time. As if that wasn’t enough, he still currently holds the world record for league clean sheets, not conceding a goal for 1,311 minutes – a true United legend.
Defender: Gary Neville
Spending your entire career with one club is true loyalty. Part of the famous class of ’92, Gary Neville would develop into one of the best and most successful right backs in English football history. He also joins Scholes and Giggs as one of only three players in United’s history to win the Champions League twice throughout his career. When you add the fact that he became captain from 2005 till his retirement in 2011 to his CV, there really isn’t much Gary hasn’t achieved.
Defender: Rio Ferdinand
When United broke the British record fee for a player by paying Leeds £30 million for Ferdinand, they couldn’t have known just how good an investment they made. Initially beginning his career as a forward, Ferdinand had great pace and ball skills which made him a great box to box centre-back allowing him to start attacks from that back, and at 6″2, he was a strong aerial threat too. Adored by United fans everywhere, his dismissal by David Moyes was untimely and unwarranted.
Defender: Nemanja Vidic
Every great defensive partnership thrives due to one player having different qualities to the other. Ferdinand was a great box to box defender, but Vidic was the rock that defended United’s goal. Not since Jaap Stam have United had a defender with such strength, leadership and awareness. After becoming the only defender in history to win the Premier League Player of the Season award twice its no wonder he became United’s captain after Gary Neville’s retirement.
Midfielder: Roy Keane
I would have hated to be playing against Manchester United when Roy Keane was there. One of the toughest, most aggressive midfielder’s to wear the red shirt, he was always there to make the tackle no one else could and take one for the team. He was also the most successful captain United have ever had, winning four league titles, two FA cups and a champions league during his eight-year reign. Nobody will ever forget his heroics against Juventus in 1999 – a performance of a true legend.
Midfielder: Paul Scholes
Off the pitch, Scholes was a quiet, humble player who liked to stay out of the spotlight and peoples’ attention but on the pitch it was a whole different story. The perfect midfielder, he could score beautiful goals but still get back and make the tackles required to help the defence, an all-rounder through and through. Even when Scholes retired in 2011, he was still there when United truly needed him as he returned in 2012 to help a strained and injury-hit United midfield, a true team player.
Midfielder: Sir Bobby Charlton
Where do you start with Sir Bobby himself? The all-time leading goal scorer for United despite playing the majority of his career as a midfielder shows the quality he possessed and was the all-time leader in appearances for the club before being usurped by Ryan Giggs. For some, surviving the Munich air disaster would be a career ender if you were one of the survivors, but for Charlton, it pushed him to become a literal legend and break record after record for the club. You’ll still see him at Old Trafford to this day.
Midfielder: Ryan Giggs
The all-time leader for United appearances, 963… what can be said that hasn’t been said already, Ryan Giggs is as Manchester United as it gets. Another home-grown product of the class of ’92, once he gained a position in Sir Alex Ferguson’s starting eleven, he never seemed to lose it. Even when David Moyes was sacked, Giggs took up the burden of being interim player-manager for the last few games and retired at the end of the season only to stand alongside Louis van Gaal as the new assistant manger for United. The team would never be the same without ‘Giggsy’ being a part of it.
Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo
When Ronaldo arrived from Sporting CP for £12 million, he was a skinny 18 year old with blonde highlights in his hair and big boots to fill after the departure of David Beckham. 6 years later he left Manchester as the hottest piece of property in Europe, worth a then-world-record £80 million. His pace, his dribbling and his goal scoring ability was reminiscent of Pele, Best or his nemesis Lionel Messi. As one of three players on the list still playing and in his prime, it is every United fans dream that he one day returns to Old Trafford – and he loves to hint that he might.
Forward: Wayne Rooney
Our current captain. Rooney is only 20 goals away from surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton as United’s all-time leading goal scorer, a miraculous feat considering he hasn’t been played exclusively as a centre forward for the last few seasons. Personally that’s what I love about Rooney, what other striker would happily play as a defensive midfielder because his manager and the team are low on options, let alone play the position well! Back in his favoured position this season, one to watch out for sure – don’t discount him from the race for the Premier League Golden Boot!
Forward: George Best
Not only one of the greatest players to ever put on the United shirt but one of the greatest players to ever kick a ball and I’m not just saying that because I’m Northern Irish. Making his United debut at just 17, Best quickly gained a reputation as one of the best dribblers in the world and became a key part of ‘The United Trinity’, a deadly force made up of Charlton, Best and Denis Law, scoring 547 goals between them over 10 seasons and was a key figure in United winning their first European Cup in 1968. Sadly Best left United at 27 and never truly regained his previous form due to off-field antics, mainly centering around the frivolities women and alcohol. When even the legendary Pele calls you the greatest player in the world, you have to admit, George Best really was the best.
“Going on up to the spirit in the sky…”
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