How good was Denis Irwin?

Fantastic player

If he was Brazilian (or any other more successful footballing nationality) he’d be spoken of amongst the very best.

Very underrated but in part that’s due to never really getting the opportunity to deliver internationally.
 
Pexbo said:
I think the general consensus is that he put in a 7/10 performance every single game of his career which when averaged out makes him an 8.5/10 player.
Click to expand...

If he put in a 7/10 performance “every single game” would that not average out to 7/10 or am I missing something?
 
quirkey said:
If he put in a 7/10 performance “every single game” would that not average out to 7/10 or am I missing something?
Click to expand...
I think he meant he never dropped below a 7/10 it was 7/10 or higher every single game.
 
We bought him from Oldham. I'd only seen him play against United..but he looked great against us. Wasn't much fuss about the deal but I guess that's how transfers were conducted without social media and all that in those days. Great player though. I only ever saw him make one mistake throughout his United.
 
I don't have much memory of watching him live or even highlights, but one moment sticks with me until today. That is, his beautiful freekick goal against Liverpool at Anfield in that 3-3 game. Top corner, with speed and accuracy. Great goal.
 
NickSantigo said:
Outside of his final season when his pace started to go, I can never recall him struggling with a winger.
Super defender
Only one sending off in his career (at Anfield in '99, 2nd yellow and it was scandalous decision iirc) which shows how well he coped
Great set-piece taker (both Free-kicks and pens)
Super going forward
As consistent as you get
Could play LB or RB equally well
Click to expand...
Peter Beagrie used to tie him in knots. He struggled with Stuart Ripley , Summerbee as well from memory and that American guy from QPR can’t remember his name. He seemed to struggle with wingers who threw dummies in.

He was a very good player for us but for me another who has become a little overrated. Someone said he was the most consistent player he’s seen at United....I never came home from a game thinking Irwin was out of this world and Keane and Beckham were regularly and consistently out of this world. Very good player though.
 
Jeppers7 said:
Peter Beagrie used to tie him in knots. He struggled with Stuart Ripley , Summerbee as well from memory and that American guy from QPR can’t remember his name. He seemed to struggle with wingers who threw dummies in.
Click to expand...

Roy Wegerle? He's South African but was permitted to play for US through marriage.
 
What would we give to have him available for RB/LB right now? Might cost us more than £625,000. It's a shame we haven't got that data analytics driven scouting department that worked so well for us in the 90's.
 
A remarkably consistent full back with two great feet, an excellent first touch and a very good passer of the ball. Very rarely injured and came close to a thousand career games (according to wiki anyway). Easily had the capacity to be a 'modern fullback' too.

Gary Neville was fantastic for us for us but i'd always pick Irwin and Evra as my two full backs for any United premier league era 11.
 
Top 3 at worst. It's hard to think of a better fullback in the PL era. He was a 7 out of 10 every game he ever played. Rarely stood out but in a good way, he did everything exactly as you wanted him to.
 
With Irwin it felt like every pass, cross or shot he made were very precise and clean, as if he was a robot really, even when he played in those muddy grounds, he did everything cleanly and unforced.

The only player who was similar to him was Phillip Lahm.
 
paulscholes18 said:
Very consistent, bit like Cancelo for City but a bit better defensively.
Click to expand...
A bit better defensively than Cancelo? Nah he was miles better than him defensively.
Someone here wrote that Irwin was our best LB and our best RB ever, that summed him up pretty well imo.
 
He was that good he could suck balls up through the cheeks of his arse while running and accurately pin point spit them out all over the pitch like a gatling gun.
Na seriously, he was a very good football player and one you could definitely count on.
Feck me them headers from Bruce in the video, can we find a younger version of him somewhere?
 
CarbonStoolBites said:
A bit better defensively than Cancelo? Nah he was miles better than him defensively.
Someone here wrote that Irwin was our best LB and our best RB ever, that summed him up pretty well imo.
Click to expand...

I didn't see him but I think a few who did would have to see Roger Byrne's name in that left back slot.
 
Much better than Cancelo.

Top class player. Best full back I've ever seen at Utd or in England.
 
Has any United LB approached or transcended Irwin's qualities since he retired? Like, was Evra better at going forward than him, etc.?
 
Irwin, Rio, Stam, Evra

The Greatest back 4 Utd have ever had. Gary Neville was not good enough to get in this back 4.

Irwin was a better RB than Gary Neville. Even though he was a LB. That’s how good he was!
 
duffer said:
Lotta dosh for a full back in 1990.

Totally worth it of course, he was great.
Click to expand...

Not really - £625.000 was a fairly standard fee for a fullback at the time. Here are the most expensive fullbacks in 1989/90 and 90/91 - Irwin joined United in 1990.

1989 Peter Shirtliff was bought by Sheffield W for £500.000 - you are probably thinking .. who ? Exactly
1989 QPR signed Peter Bardsley for £500.000 (Phil's dad) - a solid yet unspectacular fullback
1989 Spurs signed Pat van der Hauwe for £575.000 - his biggest achievment was being a solid 28 year old fullback with 13 caps for Wales
1990 Charlton signed a mediocre John Humphreys for £450.000
1990 Everton and City made a trade - Hinchcliffe went to Everton and Neil Pointon went to City - they were valued at £1.4 m and £600.000 respectively.
1990 Norwich signed Paul Blades from Derby for £700.000 - played both centrally and fullback.
1990 QPR signed Clive Wilson from Chelsea for £450.000

So a lot of mediocre fullbacks cost more or less the same - like Blades, van den Hauwe or Neil Pointon. But the one that really sticks out is the swap involving Andy Hinchcliffe and Neil Pointon - where Everton paid Manchester City £800.000 with Neil Pointon (valued at £600.000) going in the opposite direction, to sign Hinchcliffe.
 
Irwin would make a World XI today.

Even better, he was humble A.F and let his footballing ability do the talking…..something many of the modern players have no grasp of.
 
OmarUnited4ever said:
With Irwin it felt like every pass, cross or shot he made were very precise and clean, as if he was a robot really, even when he played in those muddy grounds, he did everything cleanly and unforced.
Click to expand...

That’s how I remember him playing. Technically very solid and efficient, no elaboration or waste. And then he had the mentality. Reminded me of the Juventus players at the time that Lippi would switch between midfield/full back (Pesotto, Di Livio, and Zambrotta a bit later on).
 
He was extremely consistent (on the top level of the game).

He was also a very intelligent player who rarely attempted anything he couldn't pull off.

He had his limitations (I have said before that he's almost a bit overrated by now, because of his legendary reliability) - but the point is that he knew what they were (and that in itself is a golden quality).
 
padzilla said:
Easily the best left back in my time supporting the club, also arguably the best right back.
Click to expand...

This is the thing most fail to realise, he only played at left back because he was capable of doing so. He was a right back when we signed him and played international full ball at right back.

He was probably better on the right as that was his natural side but it's just that he was so good he could play on either side. Now how would Neville, Cole, Evra TAA do on the opposite side I wonder.
 
calodo2003 said:
Has any United LB approached or transcended Irwin's qualities since he retired? Like, was Evra better at going forward than him, etc.?
Click to expand...
Yes, Evra was better going forward and had a fantastic burst of pace which was better than Irwin's, however, I just don't see any argument that Irwin couldn't play the modern attacking fullback if he was around as a player now. His touch and passing was top notch and he was generally very adept when he broke forward. I also seem to remember him winning a few penalties, FA cup final 94 for instance, when breaking into the oppo box.
 
calodo2003 said:
Has any United LB approached or transcended Irwin's qualities since he retired? Like, was Evra better at going forward than him, etc.?
Click to expand...

I'd say Evra wasn't as good defensively, more apt to make errors and lapses of judgement/positioning and generally less consistent.

Going forward, Evra was better at the classic 2000s full-back thing of staying wide, providing width and beating defenders for pace on the outside to get into crossing positions. However, Irwin wasn't by any means bad at that and I'd argue that his delivery into the box from out wide (even on his weak foot) was better than Evra's was.

What Irwin had that Evra really didn't was an ability to come inside and contribute to play in more congested areas. His composure, ball control and two-footedness in those situations allowed him to be very handy in those positions in a way Evra simply wasn't.
 
Irwin99 said:
Yes, Evra was better going forward and had a fantastic burst of pace which was better than Irwin's, however, I just don't see any argument that Irwin couldn't play the modern attacking fullback if he was around as a player now. His touch and passing was top notch and he was generally very adept when he broke forward. I also seem to remember him winning a few penalties, FA cup final 94 for instance, when breaking into the oppo box.
Click to expand...
jeff_goldblum said:
I'd say Evra wasn't as good defensively, more apt to make errors and lapses of judgement/positioning and generally less consistent.

Going forward, Evra was better at the classic 2000s full-back thing of staying wide, providing width and beating defenders for pace on the outside to get into crossing positions. However, Irwin wasn't by any means bad at that and I'd argue that his delivery into the box from out wide (even on his weak foot) was better than Evra's was.

What Irwin had that Evra really didn't was an ability to come inside and contribute to play in more congested areas. His composure, ball control and two-footedness in those situations allowed him to be very handy in those positions in a way Evra simply wasn't.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
Jeppers7 said:
Peter Beagrie used to tie him in knots. and Keane
Click to expand...

Yeah, and speaking of Roy The Boy, wouldn't let ya him hear ya slagging off his best mate, might pay ya a visit :lol:. Anyway he was the best left back we ever had, granted the generation that watched Evra growing will no doubt disagree, but aul Dinny Irwin was doing it while Evra was still shitting yellow, that's a fact, and he was better at both going forward and defending than Evra, no insult, again just fact having had the pleasure of watching both from start to finish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.