There are several specific picks I'd argue against (e.g. Keane being too low, Giggs placed at #1), but overall I'd say the list is directionally correct.
FourFourTwo’s 50 greatest United players of all-time.
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Irwin at 18 ?? I get that FB is not a fashionable position but c’mon!! And Keane should be top 5 at least, possibly even top 3
I'd have Scholes and Cantona as first two. The others can be shuffled.
And Sheringham in there instead of Butt is a joke.
Also where are Varane and Martinez?
And Sheringham in there instead of Butt is a joke.
Also where are Varane and Martinez?
Stam was only here for 3 years - we won the league in each of them and the treble in his first
No Bailly?
I honestly think by whatever gauge you measure these things by, Keane is too low, he has to be top 10. For me he's easily top 5, maybe top 3. My main memories of Robson are of a fantastic player who always seemed to be injured. Should Keane be higher than him? I'll bow to the knowledge of those who have seen both in their prime.
Van der Sar and Irwin are also too low in my opinion.
Van der Sar and Irwin are also too low in my opinion.
Top 50 is just too difficult, probably thought if they'd gone top 10 or 20, they'd be too many complaints about who they left out.
There was a book which came out around 1999 of the 100 greatest United players. This was around the time Luke Chadwick was breaking through and he looked fantastic in the few appearances in his first season. He snuck in at 98!
There was a book which came out around 1999 of the 100 greatest United players. This was around the time Luke Chadwick was breaking through and he looked fantastic in the few appearances in his first season. He snuck in at 98!
Spot on with Edwards, the only player that Bobby Charlton always felt inferior to. Bobby Moore was a very good footballer, it would have great to see them both on the same team.
He’s longevity was his main asset but as a winger in his prime he was often inconsistent and quite injury prone. When he started playing more centrally, was it about United being on a budget and SAF loyalty to class 92 or him being a world class CM? As a CM he was more like Rodri (
) but without the positional sense to intercept and play simple balls from deep, so he played in a normal cm position.Top 5, in no particular order, should definitely include our 4 ballon d’or winners and Keane. The exact order among those 5 is extremely difficult to determine
Depends where he'd have played.
If CH, in 62, he'd have taken Norman's place, in 66.. Jack Charlton? Don't see an issue with Moore and Edwards playing as a CH p'ship. Who'd have been captain is another question ..
Unless he'd played as a MFer.
1. Giggs
2. Charlton
3. Best
4. Robson
5. Cantona
6. Law
7. Edwards
8. Schmeichel
9. Rooney
10. Scholes
11. Ferdinand
12. Ronaldo
13. Keane (
14. Beckham
15. G. Neville
16. Byrne
17. Taylor
18. Irwin
19. Foulkes
20. Van Nistlerooy
21. Stiles
22. De Gea
23. Violett
24. Vidic
25. M. Hughes
26. Buchan
27. Bruce
28. Evra
29. Whiteside
30. Pallister
31. Van der Sar
32. Solskjaer
33. McClair
34. McGrath
35. Coppell
36. Crerand
37. Carrick
38. ‘Billy’ Whelan
39. McIlroy
40. Ince
41. Albiston
42. Cole
43. Yorke
44. Kidd
45. Dunne
46. Stam
47. Carey
48. Pearson
49. Gregg
50. Sheringham
Link and their reasoning
Keane’s position is an absolute joke; others are questionable, too, but what do you think?
Can you be arsed doing a list of 50 or even re-jigging this one?
Ferdinand ahead of Keane? Nevermind just looked further through the list and it's clearly a joke.
Vidic should be higher, he was footballer of the year while here and him arriving began the most successful period in our history. Easily best few defenders in the world for most of his time here and broke some defensive records.
The debate over Giggs' position as #1 demonstrates how much his off-pitch bastardry has destroyed his on-pitch legacy, even amongst United fans.
He played 46 games the season we won the Premier League the first time and 32 games in the season we won it for the 13th time. Regardless of whether he was ever the best player in the team, never mind the world, the guy who won 30-odd trophies here over the course of 21 seasons is obviously going to be #1.
He played 46 games the season we won the Premier League the first time and 32 games in the season we won it for the 13th time. Regardless of whether he was ever the best player in the team, never mind the world, the guy who won 30-odd trophies here over the course of 21 seasons is obviously going to be #1.
If you have Sir in front of your name, perhaps you should be #1
Greatest players for me have to come from the 3 champions league winning teams and the title winners of 1992/93 season And longevity with success is key:
Charlton
Giggs
Scholes
Keane
Rooney
Cantona
Robson
Schmeichel and Van der Sar
Best
Irwin/Ferdinand/vidic/Evra: All great defenders
Ronaldo
Beckham
Van Nistelroy
Brown
Charlton
Giggs
Scholes
Keane
Rooney
Cantona
Robson
Schmeichel and Van der Sar
Best
Irwin/Ferdinand/vidic/Evra: All great defenders
Ronaldo
Beckham
Van Nistelroy
Brown
Keane should be much higher and De Gea being above Van Der Sat is mindblowingly wrong.
Hughes should be higher. Rvn won 3 trophies? Hughes was more important in our history.
Thank Woodward and his ingenious value retention strategy.
My top 5 would be
Charlton
Best
Law
Keane
Giggs
Stepney should be in there instead of de Gea, VDS is far too low.
Charlton
Best
Law
Keane
Giggs
Stepney should be in there instead of de Gea, VDS is far too low.
Rooney should be higher…
Cole is the most egregious mistake. Swap him with Solskjaer who he kept out of the team for most of their time at the club and he's in the right ballpark but 42 is silly. Keane and Carrick too low, VDS and De Gea should be swapped (and thats probably generous to De Gea). I'd push Rooney and Schmeichel below Ronaldo and bump the rest up. Irwin swapped with Neville. Cant agree with Giggs at #1 and i dont think its just the recent personal stuff.
Sir Bobby is a better pick for the top spot. Academy product, less off-field controversy, arguably more on-field influence, won leagues, won a European Cup where he scored in the final, won a Ballon d'Or, won the World Cup while at the club, survived Munich, led both the scoring and appearance charts for decades and had a role at the club for over 30 years post-retirement. He personifies what this club is and has always been.
Giggs is a wanker. As immaculate as his playing career was, associating him with the word 'greatness' leaves a sour taste in my mouth. For that reason alone he can never be the greatest, when there are so many others that can make a legitimate claim. Top 10 for sure, but not no. 1.
Giggs is a wanker. As immaculate as his playing career was, associating him with the word 'greatness' leaves a sour taste in my mouth. For that reason alone he can never be the greatest, when there are so many others that can make a legitimate claim. Top 10 for sure, but not no. 1.
My top 10 would be:
1. Charlton
2. Giggs
3. Cantona
4. Best
5. Law
6. Scholes
7. Keane
8. Edwards
9. Robson
10. Rooney
1. Charlton
2. Giggs
3. Cantona
4. Best
5. Law
6. Scholes
7. Keane
8. Edwards
9. Robson
10. Rooney
Duncan Edwards is one of the All-Time best players, not just of United.
Bobby Charlton said he wasn't fit to lace up Duncan's boots.
My top five...
Duncan Edwards
Bobby Charlton
George Best
Bryan Robson
Ryan Giggs
Bobby Charlton said he wasn't fit to lace up Duncan's boots.
My top five...
Duncan Edwards
Bobby Charlton
George Best
Bryan Robson
Ryan Giggs
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The list seems to focus on longevity and “cult status” more than actual ability and/or peak performances.
Giggs was never the best player in the team.
Can't get my head around having Schmeichel above giggs. I wouldn't have him at 1 but I am struggling to argue more than 2 or 3 above him.
Because greatness isn't just about achieving the highest peak. It's about the sum of all parts, at least in my opinion. A whole career of consistently being one of the best players at the club and avoiding any drama off the pitch (Scholes) is more in line with my definition of greatness than playing for six seasons - all good, but two in particular being Ballon d'Or-worthy - and then fecking off to Madrid for a world record fee, even if the latter is the best player I've ever seen in a United kit by a huge margin.
Giggs being number 1 is just silly in comparison to others. Nothing to do with his off field carry on either, if this list was published 10 years ago its safe to say Giggs still wouldnt have been number 1 for most of us.
VDS below De Gea is wrong.
VDS below De Gea is wrong.
Longevity and years of service seems to be a big factor in the rankings.
Call me crazy but I think Nani should be in there somewhere towards the end.
Most posters seem to have Giggs in their top 5, so I don't think his off-pitch bastardry has done that much damage. Was Giggs ever undisputedly considered our best player of all time?
If you go back to the time before all the Giggs scandals, then I'm quite sure that a lot of fans still would rate the Duncan Edwards, the Ballon d'Or winners, Robson, Cantona, Keane and Scholes more highly. Rating players has always been based on what you value. Some fans just value peak level and general important to the team more.
No disrespect, but based on this argument Gary Neville is possibly the 3rd best United player of all time. Big trophies and longevity are of course important, but they're not the only important things.
FourFourTwo's lists are a bit shite really. It's better than the Real Madrid one, but @harms' list is more evidence-based and a clearer reflection of United's history.
If that's the criteria. Cristiano Ronaldo is number 1 by far.
I don't anyone much under 80 would have properly seen him play, it was 64 years ago after all
I’ve always found that Bobby Moore argument, well, wrong? Edwards barely ever played as a center back aside from an odd game like Villa when our keeper got injured and we’ve played with 10 men. And even if he was playing there, he would for sure play next to Moore, not instead of Moore… as @BeforeKeanetherewasRobson rightly said, the only real question would’ve been the captaincy.
But realistically he’d have played in midfield like he always did.
People are letting recency bias infiltrate their opinion of De Gea. De Gea from 2014-2018 was better than Van der Sar ever was for United. It's easy to forget there was actually some talk that he was one of the best goalkeepers ever (even outside United) at one point.
De Gea has been PL team of the year 5 times, Man United player of the year 4 times and been in Fifa World XI.
Whether De Gea's mostly shite play since then has ruined his legacy is another question.
De Gea has been PL team of the year 5 times, Man United player of the year 4 times and been in Fifa World XI.
Whether De Gea's mostly shite play since then has ruined his legacy is another question.
I meant for United specifically. And my deeper point was that there has never been a general consensus. United fans can't seem to decide on Edwards, Charlton, Best, Cantona, Scholes, Keane and Giggs. And if there has never been a consensus, then it's hardly harsh to not put Giggs in the number 1 spot if he's generally considered near the top.
But yes, if the criteria was "who is the best player who has also played for United" then the answer would probably be Ronaldo.
I think "best" is very different to "greatest". Giggs is certainly not the best player to ever play for the club, for most of the time he played there were better players in the team, but he was an important player for the entirety of a 20 year period where we became the most successful club in English football and was key to that success. I also think the longevity point/Neville comparison downplays how good Giggs was. There was a 10 year period where he was one of the best in the world in his position, and he was the best winger in the league for significant periods during his career.