The Official Manchester United Thread

[darkman]

 

Who would you put above him?

[O Fenomeno]

I had enough of pointless back and forths with you

There is no reasoning with you(Pato)

[darkman]

That's what I thought. You can't

[O Fenomeno]

Eto'o

Villa

Ibra

Drogba

[darkman]

Eto'o - Was coming to end of his time at Barca. Not his best form

 

Villa  - No. Hence Torres being Spain's number 9

 

Ibra - Bottle job

 

Drogba - Great player but no

 

As for prem's best CF's the contenders can only be Torres, RVN, Drogba and Klinsman and I think he edges it

[Gambino]

You rate Torres better than guys like Henry and Cantona?

[O Fenomeno]

Oh meu deus

[O Fenomeno]

CF in premier history must be very very poor quality if that's true

How can Torres be in your top 5

I know for fact he wouldn't make La Liga y Serie A top 5

[Zizouz]

CF in premier history must be very very poor quality if that's true

How can Torres be in your top 5

I know for fact he wouldn't make La Liga y Serie A top 5

 

produce the list for nostalgia's sake

[O Fenomeno]

Batistuta

Del Piero

Crespo

Vieri

Totti

Ibrahimovic

Baggio

Trezeguet

Di Natale

I won't even mention the best CF in the last 17 years and the guy who has been top 5 selected CF in world football since 98

[8BALL]

Torres (peak) is the best Centre Forward the league's ever seen and he was the best in world at one point. Who was touching him 2009 times?

 

 

PMSL

 

cannot be serious

[Michel Kane]

Fuck Darkman.

Told you man from early, he been starved attention as a wee lad.

Outlandish stuff.

[darkman]

You man are forgetting how awesome Torres was

 

Batistuta
Del Piero
Crespo
Vieri
Totti
Ibrahimovic
Baggio
Trezeguet
Di Natale

I won't even mention the best CF in the last 17 years and the guy who has been top 5 selected CF in world football since 98

 

You flipping tosspot. Baggio, Totti and Del Piero are all No 10's.

 

I hope you added Di Natale as a joke?

 

He pisses all over Trezeguet too

 

f*ck Darkman.

Told you man from early, he been starved attention as a wee lad.

Outlandish stuff.

 

How's world class VDV getting on?

[O Fenomeno]

You have tr0lled me for too long

[Lenny]

Awful statement for so many reasons

[Benicio del Toney]

I don't think the statement was that awful tbh.

 

Torres was quickest Liverpool striker to 50 and the list of great strikers Liverpool have had doesn't even need to be mentioned.

 

 

He would be right up there as a no.9 in his peak.

 

 

Alan Shearer in his prime I would say was the best in Prem though.

[Fresh]

Henry

[Kompressor]

U-21's 1-0 down to Liverpool. Shelvey with a too goal, Liverpool also down to 10 men. United playing with no striker as usual.

[Kompressor]

1-1 9 minutes to go.

[Tee]

Shelvey goal was a banger

[Kompressor]

Sheer quality.

[Lieutenant]

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=rbdUDIEtnnY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrbdUDIEtnnY%26feature%3Dyoutu.be

[Mame Biram Diouf]

[The Somalian]

Sir Alex to retire ??

Need the New York stock exchange to open

[kerser]

Alex Ferguson retires: his greatest players and the best United XI under their most successful manager

From a team without a trophy to treble winners and now a new generation, Sir Alex Ferguson has changed his teams over the years to maintain Manchester United's remarkable success. Here, Alan Smith considers the players and his all-time greatest Fergie XI.

 

1992-94: Ending the drought

This was arguably the toughest, most physically imposing XI Sir Alex Ferguson ever put together.

You were never going to bully this lot, starting in goal with the commanding Peter Schmeichel. Just in front, Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce formed a stout, well-matched partnership, certainly one of the best I ever played against.

That strength continued in midfield with the rampaging Paul Ince behind a front pair that certainly knew how to look after themselves.

Mark Hughes was practically impossible to knock off the ball once he got those powerful legs in position, whilst Eric Cantona’s sheer size and strength often get overlooked because of his charismatic skill.

But this team could also play a bit, and they did it quite often in swashbuckling style. Andrei Kanchelskis typified this approach, flying down the right to attack his full-back at full throttle.

The flying Russian could also weigh in with a goal or two, as could a young Ryan Giggs on the other side.

Paul Parker and Dennis Irwin would get themselves forward when the time was right but nowhere near as often as the modern-day full-back. This pair concentrated more on defending and Irwin, in particular, rarely got beaten in one-on-one duels.

Looking at this line-up, there are not too many weaknesses. They showed the mental strength to finally bring back the title to Old Trafford after a 26-year wait.

That took a lot of bottle, not to mention ability. It was a wonderful side built in Ferguson’s image. You get the feeling he still looks back on this group as one of his favourites.

 

1995-1999: Treble winners

A few years on and the team has changed significantly thanks to the emergence of some special home grown talent, namely Gary Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt joining Giggs in the mix. But just take a look at that midfield.

It must go down as the best unit ever assembled at Manchester United, never mind just under Ferguson. In Roy Keane and Scholes you have two exceptional talents with complimenting qualities flanked by a couple of wide men at the peak of their powers.

That takes some beating, as did that partnership up front. Well suited on the pitch and good mates off it, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke formed part of an incredibly strong attack.

Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer proved that, of course, in the most dramatic way possible by grabbing late goals against Bayern Munich to win the 1999 Champions League Final.

By this time Schmeichel was widely recognised as one of the world’s best goalkeepers. His long and accurate throw outs would often start goalscoring moves and his knack of masking the goal with his huge frame gave the back four so much confidence.

The undoubted star of that rearguard was Jaap Stam, a monster of a centre-half who led with great poise and authority. Whether it was Ronny Johnsen, Henning Berg or Wes Brown alongside, the big Dutchman, on his game, was an absolute colossus.

As squads go, this one was strong. You don’t win the treble without quality in depth.

 

 

2006-09 Conquerors of Europe

After four years without a Premier League title, the bulk of the players in this line-up helped steer the team to three on the trot. They did it, what’s more, via varying systems as Ferguson sporadically moved away from his orthodox 4-4-2.

In doing this, it helps, of course, to have the right players and in the quite brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo, the adaptable Wayne Rooney and the hardworking Carlos Tévez the manager could swap his attack around according to the challenge.

Ronaldo would be used right across the line while Rooney and Tevez would perform wider or deeper roles at times. It gave Ferguson tremendous options, especially in Europe where the team’s versatility ended in a glorious night in Moscow as Champions League winners.

This was also a team that had finally found a world-class keeper once more. Following several unsuccessful attempts to replace Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar had arrived to lend a composed and classy air between the sticks.

Nothing flustered the lanky Dutchman. He made everything look easy, even when asked to juggle the ball with his feet. And when you factor in the newly formed partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic just in front, Ferguson could count on a strong base in the hunt for silverware.

Not that it was a particularly big squad. The manager depended on a fairly tight group. Giggs, Nani and Ji-Sung Park offered alternatives in midfield and Dimitar Berbatov was signed with the intention of providing something different in attack.

A growing criticism, however, was the lack of a dominant central midfielder in the Roy Keane mould; someone to drive the team forward with real dynamism. Yet Ferguson achieved great success without such a force.

 

2012-13 The new generation

Ferguson has described the current squad as potentially his best given the room for improvement in many of the younger players. He refers in the main to David De Gea, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Rafael, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley – all under 24 and learning all the time.

He may have a point. Jones and Smalling, for sure, have the ability to go on and establish themselves as United’s central defensive partnership for many years to come.

And given Ferdinand’s age and the injury problems of Vidic, the time to grasp the nettle may not be too far away. As it is, Jones deserves a place in the present first XI for his sterling work this season in the middle of the park where he has often been deployed as a specialist firefighter.

Think back to how well he coped with Gareth Bale at White Hart Lane and how effective he was in the Bernabéu. Next to Michael Carrick, the 21-year-old offers energy and assurance like few others can.

But when you compare this line up to some from the past, it can hardly be described as the pick of the bunch. Patrice Evra’s defensive work isn’t what it was whilst Antonio Valencia’s season has been strangely muted. Rooney, meanwhile, heads for a crossroads.

If United buy another striker, Robert Lewandowski perhaps, his standing at Old Trafford takes a nosedive.

On the plus side, however, you have the enduring class of Robin van Persie, De Gea’s growing confidence and the prospect of Shinji Kagawa kicking on next season. Allied to Welbeck’s versatility and the arrival of the exciting Wilfried Zaha, that gives the new manager some inviting options.

That said, it would be a major surprise if United ran away with the title again. They are, after all, without their biggest asset.

 

My all-time greatest Fergie XI

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/10045166/Alex-Ferguson-retires-his-greatest-players-and-the-best-United-XI-under-their-most-successful-manager.html