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The old Man Utd Thread

ThePixelbarks

By ThePixelbarks
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Majora

Majora

Posted
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First half hour we looked the worst we have in months. I was all set for a rout after that. I don't think Van Gaal will be terribly happy with the game overall but you can't really argue with second and two points behind city right now.

Still not sure what Rooney's ultimate contribution to this particular team is going to be. He's such an unexciting player nowadays.

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SaintM

SaintM

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Rooney was pretty much invisible. I was really annoyed with how we let you pass without pressure after your second went in until the 80th minute. The mistake by Yoshida was unfortunate for us, but even then the only thing that meant we didn't get anything from the game was a series of world class saves by De Gea.

Overall, disappointing but entertaining.

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Rev

Rev

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Is that letter real? It looks really fake to me. No company details on a headed letter. Weird font used under the logo. 'The' Manchester United Football Club plc.

Seems weird.

Yes. It's in Ferguson's new book:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/sir-alex-ferguson-sent-a-heartfelt-letter-to-eric-cantona-after-he-left-manchester-united-i-kept-10513163.html

EDIT: And for the sake of thorough, The Manchester United Football Club PLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of Manchester United PLC:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rzz6CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA181&lpg=PA181&dq=%22the+manchester+united+football+club+plc%22&source=bl&ots=1_xirhEUi-&sig=LLL8KoD-HYentOUoe53Digb33LM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwA2oVChMIrsu_3MaNyAIVwdgeCh3__ArA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20manchester%20united%20football%20club%20plc%22&f=false

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feltmonkey

feltmonkey

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Three very good goals. Rooney's goal is absolutely brilliant - a fantastic touch to bring the ball down, great strength, then a good finish. Nice to see Pereira on the pitch and the scoresheet. I reckon we should use him more often - he's a really good player from what I've seen. Maybe not an LVG type of player, in that he does try a bit too much sometimes. Martial put his chance away with another cool finish. Already, you just expect him to score in those positions. Has he scored with every shot he's had since joining United?

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rumblecat

rumblecat

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Yeah, Martial's been pretty impressive. I'm not a United fan, but someone earlier in this thread - Gabe- was saying that his debut goal was "good but not that good" which I think is way off base- guy came on, big price tag on his head, a lot of pressure, and if you watch that debut goal again, how he shrugs off the defender, how calm and relaxed he seems, how he picks his spot- it's a fantastic goal, especially under the circumstances. And so far he's living up to that initial promise.

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The Fox

The Fox

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Class act.

It's odd though. Of all the players Ferguson missed - Ferdinand, Schmeichel, Keane, and more - Beckham would never be considered in that same bracket as 'world class' by anyone, surely?

From the point of view of a more objective outsider, not swayed by the cult hero thing (though even as an Arsenal fan I admittedly still thought he was cool), I personally think several of those omitted players are comfortably better than Cantona. He was probably Ferguson's most important signing, but I don't think he can really compete with some of those other guys in terms of actual quality. The domestic standard was pretty poor in his era, and he achieved absolutely nothing at the top level. Obviously still a very good player, just nowhere near Ferguson's best for me.

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ckny

ckny

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Oh totally. Eric is my hero, a divine being sent to save football. A majestic, awe-inspiring footballer.

But he wasn't 'world class', whatever that even means.

Oh totally. Eric is my hero, a divine being sent to save football. A majestic, awe-inspiring footballer.

But he wasn't 'world class', whatever that even means.

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MojoChin

MojoChin

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Posted

You're mental mate. ;)

EDIT: To expand upon that, define "he achieved absolutely nothing at the top level". He was a tempestuous bollix and fell out with the national team, granted a mediocre France, but still missed out on as much international appearances as he deserved. (45 with 20 goals isn't too shabby though)

He played in Utd team that were never gonna compete at European level, not because of the quality of players in the team but because of stupid regulations that restricted English teams in Europe. While the Spanish teams could happily play their South American imports, we had to decide between Peter Schmeichel and Denis Irwin! Trying to pick from Schmeichel, Irwin, Cantona, Kanchelskis, Keane was a nightmare!

Cantona was one of those players that could change a game just by being on the pitch. His aura was enough to unsettle most folks. He fought hard, sometimes too hard, had impeccable skill and confidence, and just dragged the level of that team, that dominated English football, to a much higher level. Only Ronaldo can touch him in terms of quality.

As for the other players mentioned, there is one player that was missing from the 2 lists (world class and best of the rest) who I would possibly put in the world class bracket. Jaap Stam. Best defender I've ever seen.

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The Fox

The Fox

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As for Beckham, he did some amazing things with a fairly limited skillset to be fair to him. Pretty slow, and not the best technique or tactical brain, but he had a prodigious engine and was probably the best crosser of all time.

I know the term is vague and a bit daft, but IMO he was probably 'world class' for a bit. When 4-4-2 was still very much in vogue I don't think there were too many wide players in the world who were in his league. Figo, Nedved, Giggs, Pires. That's probably it.

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Khrushchev

Khrushchev

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Most teams played with more conventional\multi-purpose midfielders in wide positions rather than classic winger types during that era, even playmakers like Zidane often lined up out wide.beckham was ideal if you had a certain type of striker and a "more than the sum of the parts" addition to United, but i never thought he was a great overall player.

Other wide players of that era that were certainly in his league(besides the ones you mentioned)-and all more versatile and naturally gifted- would be Rivaldo, Hagi(previous era really, but still going strong until 2000 or so), Karpin and Basler(should have done more with his career though, a brilliant talent).Kossovsky up until 98\99 before injuries ruined him was a beast too, could put in great crosses but also beat his man consistently with quality dribbling.Kanchelskis had he not been ruined by ankle and knee injuries when playing for Fiorentina and Russia was in Beckhams league too, though he had a goalscoring\cut inside oriented style that would have better suited today's love for 3 up top or three behind a lone striker.

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ukdazs

ukdazs

Posted
Posted

I was at the England v Greece game at Old Trafford when Beckham scored that free kick to get England through and I have never seen a better performance by a single player ever. England were awful to a man except for Beckham, who dragged them through single-handed. Never seen a player cover so much of the pitch and be so central to everything.

I'd probably agree he wasn't consistent enough to be considered truly world class but I've always thought he was far better than many gave him credit for due to all the off-field stuff.

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