Welbeck vs Real Madrid
Individual player's best performance for United
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
Great shout, that was by far his best match
Ray Wilkins vs Maradona, brilliant performance that nobody talks about sadly...
Nev vs Pool, brilliant as a left side centerback!
From this to bloody Casemiro
Watching this and Keane just makes me depressed...
Nev vs Pool, brilliant as a left side centerback!
From this to bloody Casemiro
Watching this and Keane just makes me depressed...
McT in that Leeds 6-2 game was a genuine 10/10 performance
Rashford off the bench against Leipzig in the CL, 10/10 sub performance.
Henning Berg against Inter Milan in the treble-winning year.
Henning Berg against Inter Milan in the treble-winning year.
That was such an odd season. Didn't he end up with like 25 goal or something but only scored in 7 or 8 gamesBerbatov scoring 5 goals versus Blackburn - 7-1 trashing
In 2008, we beat Arsenal 4-0 in the FA Cup. I thought that was Fletcher's best match for us, possibly Nani's too. Ferdinand and Brown's best matches were the Barcelona games. I always thought Keane's best match was vs Liverpool in the FA Cup final.
Keane against Juventus the obvious one but also Keane against Arsenal in 99/00 and Keane against Leverkusen in 01/02 semi-final. That one's not remembered as well because we lost on away goals in the end, but he did everything in his power that night to drag us there.
Not mentioning the obvious ones as they have been mentioned. The one that hasn't and has stuck in my mind was RVP away to Southampton in the league. It was one of his first games and he scored a hatrick. He was unplayable that day and it's was a moment when I thought "feck, this guy is world class"
Utd won 3-2, having been 2-1 down with 5 mins to go.
Utd won 3-2, having been 2-1 down with 5 mins to go.
I hope this isn't too long of a post but really trying to help.
C.Ronaldo's performances:
Vs Charlton and Fulham away in 2003/04.
Vs Aston Villa and Liverpool at home in 04/05
Vs Fulham home and Portsmouth Away 05/06
Vs Fulham home and Roma Away 06/07
Vs Portsmouth and Newcastle at home 07/08.
Vs Stoke City and Tottenham at home 08/09
Vs Tottenham and Norwich at home in 2021/22
Others:
Beckham Vs Barcelona home 98/99 and Vs Valencia home 99/2000
Scholes Vs Fulham home 2008/09
Nani Vs Arsenal away in 2009/10
Chicharito Vs Stoke City away 10/11
Mata Vs Newcastle in the Moyes season
Di Maria vs Leicester away 2014-15
Van Persie Vs Aston Villa the title match in 12-13, Vs Swansea away and Olympiacos at home in 13/14
Rashford vs Anderlecht at home in 16/17
Alexis Sanchez Vs Tottenham in the Fa Cup 17/18
Pogba vs Young Boys away in the 18/19 CL
Mctominay Vs Leeds in 2020/21
C.Ronaldo's performances:
Vs Charlton and Fulham away in 2003/04.
Vs Aston Villa and Liverpool at home in 04/05
Vs Fulham home and Portsmouth Away 05/06
Vs Fulham home and Roma Away 06/07
Vs Portsmouth and Newcastle at home 07/08.
Vs Stoke City and Tottenham at home 08/09
Vs Tottenham and Norwich at home in 2021/22
Others:
Beckham Vs Barcelona home 98/99 and Vs Valencia home 99/2000
Scholes Vs Fulham home 2008/09
Nani Vs Arsenal away in 2009/10
Chicharito Vs Stoke City away 10/11
Mata Vs Newcastle in the Moyes season
Di Maria vs Leicester away 2014-15
Van Persie Vs Aston Villa the title match in 12-13, Vs Swansea away and Olympiacos at home in 13/14
Rashford vs Anderlecht at home in 16/17
Alexis Sanchez Vs Tottenham in the Fa Cup 17/18
Pogba vs Young Boys away in the 18/19 CL
Mctominay Vs Leeds in 2020/21
The away game against Arsenal was one of my fave Keane performances but the home game display he put in against Arsenal that season was phenomenal as well. I think our team was just back from that world club championship thing and we were awful in the first half, absolutely dominated, but Keane just kept fighting on and on and dragged us to a 1-1 draw. He played better games in terms of quality, but in leadership that was only bettered by the Juve game.
Very god thread!
I asked my Dad who he thought had the greatest performance in a game for United. He said Schmeichel vs Newcastle! I was a little young for this one, so I looked it up online and found a video.
From my memory - Keane vs Juventus. This is one of very few games I've actually watched again! We have it on VHS recording. Knowing he's missing the final, Keano made sure leaving the pitch that night that his team was going to secure a European cup final. You can argue it was one of the best ever performances in a game of football.
I remember Ferguson mentioned it in his book and found the quote online;
I asked my Dad who he thought had the greatest performance in a game for United. He said Schmeichel vs Newcastle! I was a little young for this one, so I looked it up online and found a video.
From my memory - Keane vs Juventus. This is one of very few games I've actually watched again! We have it on VHS recording. Knowing he's missing the final, Keano made sure leaving the pitch that night that his team was going to secure a European cup final. You can argue it was one of the best ever performances in a game of football.
I remember Ferguson mentioned it in his book and found the quote online;
No point in me describing it when Ferguson did. For Ferguson to say that, it was one special performance!
Harry's redemption vs Fulham 16/08/2024
Underrated one but Chris Smalling Vs PSG. Monster performance from him. He was a very good defender on his day with his strength and speed, but just wasn't very great technically and a bit injury prone at times.
Fair enough….I'd love to hear your Smudge story.
Firstly, he’s the most down to earth bloke ever. Yorkshire lad through and through. He’s running academies in Florida, and loving it. His take on US coaching is completely in line with my own, and he was super friendly and easy to talk to. We chatted for a good 30 mins or so.
In brief, Alan had been injured for a while in the lead up to the game. About a week before he played a league cup tie I think it was, and he said that he felt and played absolutely horribly. In the days leading up to the Roma game, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs came up to him and suggested he go to “the gaffer’s office” and tell him he was ready and wanted to play versus Roma. This made him really nervous because he’d never been to the manager’s office before. He said most of the players never went in there unless they were called in for a major disciplinary issue or potential transfer or something.
He was worried that Giggs and Nev were on the windup, because it’s the sort of thing they’d do; but Louis Saha had just pulled up in training with a hamstring issue (and btw he said Saha was amazing), and so he decided to go with it. He wasn’t feeling super confident after his previous “horrible” display in the cup, but he still went to see SAF in his office. Giggs and Nev were in there with Fergie when he arrived. So he knocked and said “Hey gaffer, just letting you know that I’m ready to play against Roma”, to which Fergie immediately replied “Good, because you’re in the team.” And that was that. He walked out feeling stunned but also excited.
What occurred to him later was that SAF had a striker crisis with injuries and wanted to pick him, but was unsure if he was confident of himself enough to be picked. So he had had Giggs and Neville challenge him to go to the office - an otherwise very bold move - and pretty much ask for a place in the team. He figured that if he did it, then he was in the right frame of mind to play and up for the challenge, but if he didn’t, he’d have to go with another option. It was better than picking a player, who had just returned from serious injury, and putting him in a situation where he might fall apart. He put that onus on to the player, without the player knowing that’s what was happening.
Of course he played, and had a bloody great game. But the real moral of the story is that it’s just a very small and very simple example of what a brilliant man manager Ferguson was. He gave me loads of little tidbits like that, unfortunately I can’t remember them all. We spent most of the meeting talking about modern coaching. He told me that every club he’d ever been at, whether they were small or big, the thing that coaches and managers looked for more than anything else, were players that worked hard and ran a lot. He said at United there were sometimes more talented players in the squad who didn’t get the minutes they wanted because the manager would always pick the players who worked the hardest, day in, day out, week on week, month on month; and that players, even if they were great, who didn’t consistently work really hard - even if they were really, really good - just wouldn’t last at United under Fergie.
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Ha! That's a great story that.
That is genius from Fergie, what a way to assess if someone is right for the team and also protect him as well.
Rooney vs Milan 2007
Giggs vs City 2009
Ronaldo vs Arsenal 2009
Rooney vs Spurs 2009
Ferdinand vs Barca 2008
The game against Roma 7-1, was United finest hour as a team. It clicked for everyone.
1. Ronaldo first goal in CL proper. We went on to be CL top scorer. Got 2 of them that night.
2. Carrick first ever goal in Europe. Got 2 of them that night.
3. Evra first goal in CL.
4. Smith first goal in after 14 months.
United went to the first CL semi final in 5 years...
Giggs vs City 2009
Ronaldo vs Arsenal 2009
Rooney vs Spurs 2009
Ferdinand vs Barca 2008
The game against Roma 7-1, was United finest hour as a team. It clicked for everyone.
1. Ronaldo first goal in CL proper. We went on to be CL top scorer. Got 2 of them that night.
2. Carrick first ever goal in Europe. Got 2 of them that night.
3. Evra first goal in CL.
4. Smith first goal in after 14 months.
United went to the first CL semi final in 5 years...
Often forgotten about is Rooney vs West Ham away in 10/11. He scored a hat trick in a come from behind win that all but secured the title that season, and then promptly got banned for swearing after celebrating one of the goals and thus he missed the FA Cup semi final vs City
Some of you have much better memories than me. It all just blurs into one.
Wan Bissaka vs newcastle in Carabao Cup final sub appearance - completley shut down saint maximam and their attack
Cavani vs Roma away - 2 great goals
Cavani vs Roma away - 2 great goals
I'm technically not doing this correctly as it's not his best game for United and it probably sounds like a random choice but Rooney vs Chelsea in late August 2013 was great. That whole summer it looked like he was leaving for Chelsea and it was really horrible feeling as it looked like it was inevitable (also Chelsea were obviously bigger rivals to us then than now + Mourinho as their manager). Then that game at Old Trafford came and Rooney was phenomenal. He was basically everywhere and gave his all that day, basically it was clear he'd stay at the club after the incredible work rate he put in that game.
I'm most probably overrating his performance from that game as I was a 14 year old kid, we just lost Fergie and it looked like one of our best (probably the best) players was leaving for a PL rival. But it was still nice and think Mourinho said in his post-match interview that it was clear now Rooney would stay at United.
Also - Axel Tuanzebe at PSG. He's only 26 so plenty of years to go in football for him but he won't have a better performance than that again in his career I think.
I'm most probably overrating his performance from that game as I was a 14 year old kid, we just lost Fergie and it looked like one of our best (probably the best) players was leaving for a PL rival. But it was still nice and think Mourinho said in his post-match interview that it was clear now Rooney would stay at United.
Also - Axel Tuanzebe at PSG. He's only 26 so plenty of years to go in football for him but he won't have a better performance than that again in his career I think.
Nah. He had a game against Newcastle (I think) when he played right wing and looked like a world beater. Impacted the game and ran it for 90. Better than both of those.
I might have got the team wrong. Which doesn’t help my argument I admit.
De Gea v Tottenham was absurd, possibly the greatest keeper performance of all time, well at least on British soil. The saves were outrageous and they were not few.
De Gea vs Arsenal (A) in 2017/18. I can't remember seeing a United keeper pull off so many unbelievable saves in one match.
Edit: just seen this post.
Edit: just seen this post.
Also a very good shout but iirc a lot of Spurs' shots that game were saveable and our victory was more down to their attackers being wasteful than De Gea's brilliance. Whereas when I watched the Arsenal game, I thought he had no right to save a lot of those shots.
I was thinking about that game too. Both utterly ridiculous and well beyond any individual performance during the Ferguson era apart from Keane v Juve.
Bold call, that. There were a few big-game Beckham and Rooney performances that blew me away, but I can't put my finger on which exact games. Perhaps an earlier poster was correct when mentioning Rooney vs Milan 07. He was a man on a mission in some of those CL knockout matches.
John O'Shea vs Tottenham, 2007
There were many great individual performances over the years. Keane of course. Cantona, so many. Scholes, Giggs, Vidic, Rooney, Ronaldo and even Berbatov.
But most of those individually incredible performances were made possible, at least in some small part, by outstanding teammates at the top of their game. But during the shit decade we’ve had to endure, when De Gea was surrounded by inferior teammates, he put in some of the greatest individual performances I’ve seen since Best.
Herrera vs Chelsea
Mata vs Liverpool
Pogba vs City
De Gea vs Arsenal
Rashford vs Arsenal (2 goals, 1 assist in debut)
McTominay vs Leeds
Roy Keane vs Juventus
Mata vs Liverpool
Pogba vs City
De Gea vs Arsenal
Rashford vs Arsenal (2 goals, 1 assist in debut)
McTominay vs Leeds
Roy Keane vs Juventus
Carrick vs Chelsea and Schalke 04 away in the Champions League 2011 run in was magnificent.
Tony vs Liverpool.
Anyone for a Berbatov hatrick versus the filth?
That's such a cool story. Thanks for sharing.
And people have the nerve to say that Guardiola is better than Fergie.
GK performance - De Gea vs Arsenal. Sensational.
Schmeichel vs Newcastle was the more important, Newcastle win the league IMO if they win that game, but in terms of 90 mins of brilliance it's De Gea. Newcastle ran out of ideas in that game and Schmeichel had nothing to do 2nd half, hence every highlight of it has all the action in the one goal.
Defensive performance - I remember Vidic vs Everton was sensational one season. He was brilliant at the back, then he scored a bullet header in the last minute to win the game 1-0. I remember a close Arsenal friend of mine at the time saying that was the difference between us and them; they didn't have anyone who would throw themselves at the ball the way he does to win.
Midfield performance - Got to be either Robson vs Barca or Keane vs Juve.
Winger performance - Before my time but I'd say Best vs Benfica 1966 based on what I've seen and heard. He was christened the 5th Beatle after that match, absolutely tore them apart and was the performance that really brought him to the worlds attention.
Striker - A lot to choose from. Berba and Cole scoring 5 in a game is pretty impressive. Rooney hattrick on his debut. Rooney hattrick vs Arsenal. Zlatan in the league cup final. I'd go Rooney debut, to do that, at 18, on your debut, in the Champions League, in front of 76,000 people, with a 28M price tag around your neck. Breathtaking.
Schmeichel vs Newcastle was the more important, Newcastle win the league IMO if they win that game, but in terms of 90 mins of brilliance it's De Gea. Newcastle ran out of ideas in that game and Schmeichel had nothing to do 2nd half, hence every highlight of it has all the action in the one goal.
Defensive performance - I remember Vidic vs Everton was sensational one season. He was brilliant at the back, then he scored a bullet header in the last minute to win the game 1-0. I remember a close Arsenal friend of mine at the time saying that was the difference between us and them; they didn't have anyone who would throw themselves at the ball the way he does to win.
Midfield performance - Got to be either Robson vs Barca or Keane vs Juve.
Winger performance - Before my time but I'd say Best vs Benfica 1966 based on what I've seen and heard. He was christened the 5th Beatle after that match, absolutely tore them apart and was the performance that really brought him to the worlds attention.
Striker - A lot to choose from. Berba and Cole scoring 5 in a game is pretty impressive. Rooney hattrick on his debut. Rooney hattrick vs Arsenal. Zlatan in the league cup final. I'd go Rooney debut, to do that, at 18, on your debut, in the Champions League, in front of 76,000 people, with a 28M price tag around your neck. Breathtaking.
That's s cool story. Thanks for sharing. Give me a Alan Smith, Gabriel Heinze or Carlos Tevez type on the pitch any day. Hope Ugarte can bring us some of that aggression without the off the field nonsense.
Well, it helps if you think only about your favorite players.
Or you go by position, from GK performance to FW.
Makes you wonder how long Rashford would have lasted under Fergie...