Keane VS Cantona, who's a better captain for United?

RUnited

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Anyone with an opinion on this?

I would go for Cantona as my captain anyday because of following reasons:

1. He possesses sheer class.
2. His techinical knowledge and understanding of the game is outstanding.
3. He has unbelievable flair in his game which is good examples for youngsters.
4. He only worries about the game and winning. Never distracted by other things - the fans, the prawn sandwiches eaters, nothing.
5. He brought cheers to OT. Since Cantona OT has been a little quiet.

I can go on and on, but would also like to hear other people's opinions.
 
Keano is the better captain. Firstly keano leads by example on the pitch putting in tireless amounts of effort into winning a game. He doesnt have flair like cantona to turn a game but he has the desire and hunger beyond that of cantona and battles to the end. I dont think I really saw cantona working back the pitch or giving anyone a bollocking when they needed one. Also keano led Man Utd to victory in Europe and is clearly the better captain because of this as cantona was out of his league in Europe!!! Although keano didnt play in the final no one will forget the Juve game. While cantona delivered the premiership title and the first in 25 years with his introduction keano delivered the champions league.
 
Originally posted by RUnited:
<strong>Anyone with an opinion on this?
4. He only worries about the game and winning. Never distracted by other things - the fans, the prawn sandwiches eaters, nothing.
</strong><hr></blockquote>

1995 Crystal Palace - Bruce Lee in the making. He was distracted by a fan then
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Originally posted by Stick:
<strong> Also keano led Man Utd to victory in Europe and is clearly the better captain because of this as cantona was out of his league in Europe!!! </strong><hr></blockquote>


tis true cantona was a much better preformer in the prem but "out of his league" ?????????? :confused:


i would have to disagree.
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Maybe "out of his league" is harsh. However, he never hauled us back into a tie in the way Keano did against Juventus. Cantona inspired with his individual genius - building the confidence of the whole team in the process. Keano literally drags his colleagues back into games at times and get's my vote as captain.
 
But Keane is going bonkers on us. Cantona went mad once on a fan with the kungfu kick and he came back to apologize. Before that and since then he has been most of the gentleman among the United players. He brought up the United youngsters in excellent fashion, he also pulled out the best in Keane.

Keane simply continued the work of Cantona, only in a different fashion. Cantona didn't need so much effort making us play good football. Keane has to drag us out of slumps. Great men use their brains and not their physical effort.

Cantona didn't run around yelling at everyone, but he sure was at our goalmouth saving us embarassments in our 1-0 wins, which mind you, were scored by the King himself also.

If Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had to type up all the programs themselves I don't think Microsoft and Apple would have gone very far.

Besides, Keane still hasn't apologized and is still out to scalp more heads. This is not a true act of a captain. It is a true act of a man gone mad.
 
Keane v's Cantona as a Captain??

Cantona - great player

Keane - great player, great captain!!

Cantona was an inspiration but unfortunately he never really delivered in the big ones.

Keane has consistently delivered on the big stage for his club and his country (even taking consideration of the spat with that twat "Barnsley Mick")

PS. I hope you lose your feckin job and have to manage that shite City!!
 
Originally posted by oscar74:
<strong>Maybe "out of his league" is harsh. However, he never hauled us back into a tie in the way Keano did against Juventus.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I've never understood this talk of how Keano won us that Juventus match. He hauled us back into it, by how, scoring a goal. I thought other players played well that game. What if Beckham or Stam had knocked in that goal, would they be the one's United fans talk about as the player who took charge in that game. So, what I am getting to is Keane is a fantastic captain, but Cantona is something else. He was just on another plateau. He was and to be honest still is irreplacable, while Keane could be with another hard midfielder. Love them both, but Cantona could be my captain any day.
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Both players are very good captains, but I think Cantona had the edge. He created wins out of almost nothing a lot of the time and was very influential to the other players.
 
Cantona was a fantastic player, but he was defintely not captain material. He was not vocal enough. FFS he never spoke a great deal of english. I have to agree with some of the other comments in that I felt he never transferred his premiership performances onto the european stage enough. I always feel that a captain is better suited if he plays CM or CH.
 
Originally posted by epgino159:
<strong>

I've never understood this talk of how Keano won us that Juventus match. He hauled us back into it, by how, scoring a goal. I thought other players played well that game. What if Beckham or Stam had knocked in that goal, would they be the one's United fans talk about as the player who took charge in that game. So, what I am getting to is Keane is a fantastic captain, but Cantona is something else. He was just on another plateau. He was and to be honest still is irreplacable, while Keane could be with another hard midfielder. Love them both, but Cantona could be my captain any day.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I am glad someone is seeing it this way. This is the point i was trying to make.

Cantona is on another planet of football. Keane is just a hard tackler and we've almost found a replacement for him in Nicky Butt.

If keane keeps going bonkers on us, i doubt we'll get very far this year.
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"Keane is just another hard working tackler"

What a load of complete bollocks!!

Juventus '99 - if you don't believe Keane won us that game watch it again. After 10 minutes when the lads were on their knees he produced the best midfield performance from a Man Utd player in years. Remembering of course that he was only up against Deschamps, Zidane and Davids.

Cup Final v's Liverpool - Again a totally dominant performance where he covered every inch of the field, creating the foundation for flair players like Cantona to flourish in.

World Cup 2002 v's Portugal/Holland - He bossed both of these games against 2 teams that on their day could humilate anyone. If you are familar with the Ireland midfield it is not loaded with many world class players.

A captain needs to have the ability to do everything and must have a work ethic that ensures he commands the respect of all the players. Cantona did not have that!! He was undoubtedly a brilliant player (albeit in the Premiership) but unlike Keane he was not feared or revered in Europe as someone who could lead Utd to the holy grail.

I will never demean Eric's contribution but I'm also somewhat more honest in my appraisal of his talents. His reletatively recent induction as Man Utd's greatest player was not something any true red could agree with.

Lest us all not forget we won the European Cup in '99, one year after Eric's retirement.

As captain's go Keane is up there with the best and I for one will welcome back our best and most consistent player with open arms.
 
Whoever made the comment about that classic game against Juve must be kidding. Oh, Keano only scored a goal. How about what had gone on before?
Juventus scored twice in a short time, were looking as if they had Manchester United on the ropes.

Then in flies Keano, awesome in his attack on the Juve goal, putting one in that stunned the Italians and inspired the amazing United comeback.
He knew he would not play in the final but gave more than his all - Keano was everywhere, it seemed, that night. He absolutely demoralised Juve and the other United goals were the end product of that never say die performance.

He has also come in with other magnificent contributions to set United up for wins. I think he and Cantona as captains rank alongside each other, in different ways. As for Eric not performing in Europe - that is true, unfortunately, in a few vital European Cup ties. However, he did some good things in European games although Roy would have to win my vote as better than Cantona as captain in European Cup ties.

<img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" /> <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" /> <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" /> <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" /> <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" /> <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" />
 
As I have said before, Keane simply continued the work of the great man Eric.

The year we didn't get to the final of the ECC with 1-0 losses both home and away to Dortmund was the ultimate turning point for Cantona.

In those two games we had more than enough chances to put us through, their keeper (whom i don't remember) had brilliant nights. Cantona was all over the place, he had his shots sweeped off the line in one or two occasions.

Disappointing yes, but i believe that if he had score in that game we would have won the ECC. We looked strong in all areas.

Keane got us to the final yes, but was he there in the final when we played our most brilliant defensive game of the season? The thing he is good at? Keane is replaceable, but Cantona isn't for all his magic passes and touches. Cantona tought United how to play beautiful football. He got us all the fans around the World.

Keane built on it. He simply continued Cantona's work - and not in the same beautiful fashion. We haven't played beautiful football in quite sometime now and we had so much hope that Veron would bring it back.

Trust me, butt will do the job excellently this season, as much as Keane can. I do admit Keane is the best captain for this moment, but no, he isn't the best captain we could have.
 
Both were/are great players and fine captains in their own right and I think this debate is a tad silly to be honest.
 
I would choose Roy Keane, with Cantona got better personal skills but Keane got more determinations in winning leaderships.
 
Originally posted by Gazza:
<strong>Both were/are great players and fine captains in their own right and I think this debate is a tad silly to be honest.</strong><hr></blockquote>

it may be silly, but it's actually surprising to learn that there are so many who believe keane is a better captain.

I am a big fan of Cantona, but also believe Keane is our best defensive player... i just don't think he's stable enough to lead the team on... he has no dignity and our past captains have always had this particular trait...
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Niether Keane or Cantona come near to Robbo when it comes to Captain status. <img src="graemlins/devil.gif" border="0" alt="[Devil]" />
 
After redaing Roy's book you can see the influence that Cantona had on him, and Eric's persona and will to win was a factor in how Roy approaches the game as a player and a captain. Eric was one of Roy's mentors, along with Stuart Pearce, Robbo and Bruce. ERic moreso than the others is the impression I got from the book. Roy has led United in the same manner as Eric did and as Robbo and Bruce did. The ability of every player is different, but all of them have had the same attitude. Just as Roy looked up to Eric Beckham looks up to Roy, and he takes the same approah to the game as Roy does. Hence he will do the same kind of job. The player who I would in line after Becks, despite his position(as I feel it is hard to captain a team from the front) is Ruud. Since his first appearance his attitude has reminded me so much of Roy and Eric and is evident in his tireless work and the passion he shows when he scores. One thing we will never be short is passionate captains.
 
Originally posted by Lynott:
<strong>After redaing Roy's book you can see the influence that Cantona had on him, and Eric's persona and will to win was a factor in how Roy approaches the game as a player and a captain. Eric was one of Roy's mentors, along with Stuart Pearce, Robbo and Bruce. ERic moreso than the others is the impression I got from the book. Roy has led United in the same manner as Eric did and as Robbo and Bruce did. The ability of every player is different, but all of them have had the same attitude. Just as Roy looked up to Eric Beckham looks up to Roy, and he takes the same approah to the game as Roy does. Hence he will do the same kind of job. The player who I would in line after Becks, despite his position(as I feel it is hard to captain a team from the front) is Ruud. Since his first appearance his attitude has reminded me so much of Roy and Eric and is evident in his tireless work and the passion he shows when he scores. One thing we will never be short is passionate captains.</strong><hr></blockquote>


Spot on Lynott, bravo for your great understanding of the game.

I too, would love to see Ruud continues on as Captain if possible right behind Beckham.

Anyhow, the point you made about Keane taking after Cantona has got to be your best point made. Keane grew up playing his wonderful football in the footsteps of Cantona. He has done a wonderful job learning from Bruce Robbo and Cantona.

The King will live on in everyone's hearts for his contribution to the beauty of the game he has provided to us.
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Welcome newcomers by the way, its good to see an interesting football debate and some new opinions.
 
They both brought/bring so much to the team thats its hard to say who was the best. The only thing that would sway me to Keano would be that we won the treble with him as captain but we only won a couple of doubles with Cantona.

Imagine having this debate as a Leeds fan <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" />
 
Still dont think cantona was the man to lead united to success in Europe. Whoever said that uniteds defensive performance in the champions league final 99 was excellent should watch the match again. Munich hit the bar and post and scored a soft free kick, dominated for much of the first half and half the second and then bottled it and 2 great substitutions and excellent set pieces bought united the cup and a deserved one for standing up and being counted but keano got them there with his display against Juve. Keano hasnt gone mad in any way and hasnt lost his head hes just exacting revenge on the Irish team for ruining his last chance at a world cup. He is replacable but so is everyone in football such is the nature of the game. Cantona was replacable look the treble was won without him. Just think that keanes drive stamina and influence on others was stronger than cantonas.
 
Originally posted by Stick:
<strong>Still dont think cantona was the man to lead united to success in Europe. Whoever said that uniteds defensive performance in the champions league final 99 was excellent should watch the match again. Munich hit the bar and post and scored a soft free kick, dominated for much of the first half and half the second and then bottled it and 2 great substitutions and excellent set pieces bought united the cup and a deserved one for standing up and being counted but keano got them there with his display against Juve. Keano hasnt gone mad in any way and hasnt lost his head hes just exacting revenge on the Irish team for ruining his last chance at a world cup. He is replacable but so is everyone in football such is the nature of the game. Cantona was replacable look the treble was won without him. Just think that keanes drive stamina and influence on others was stronger than cantonas.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Firstly, we lost a lot of goals in the '99 season. Our defensive were not the backbone of our success in that year. It was rather the contribution of the attacking team who kept scoring 2 or more goals every game to save the defensive team the embarassment.

Basicly when you said Munich hit the bar and post you are saying we got lucky to have won the match. Same goes with when Cantona was with us and we just couldn't score despite so many chances against Dortmund the year before that. We lost the chance because we were'nt lucky enough. I can still say proudly that i feel we were more solid when cantona was around. How many goals did he score to give us those 1-0 wins? Countless. He single handedly brought us two doubles. He left an almost complete jigsaw puzzle for Kenae to solve. Cantona started it all.

And as for Keane having gone mad only because of the Irish team, have you read his book? He's gone mad way... way.... before June 2002.
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Cantona provided assurance that someone will get the goals for us.

Since he's been gone Keane has been playing too much like an attacking midfielder and causing us to lose a lot of goals..

we had the most solid defence when cantona was around, because keane didn't have to worry about the attacking team. While Cantona was also on hand a couple of times at our goalmouth, heading and kicking balls out from there.

Whoever said he didn't worry too much about defence should go and watch tapes.
 
Ive read keanes book ffs I'm the most disappointed Irish lad ever since he missed the world cup. As for Cantona on defending and quoting from keanes book he never really worked back and nobody minded cos he would pop up with something special to win the game but that wasnt always the case!!! He wasnt good enough in Europe and of that there can be no doubt which is why utd won the treble after his departure. He was the catalyst to the success but he by no means left a half finished puzzle. The approach in Europe is completely different to domestic football as has been shown with Arsenals impotence in the Champs league. Would suggest that keane isnt mad in any way. His prawn sandwich thing which was blown out of proportion was an attemp to get the crowd behind united again. As for saipan & mccarthy well we'll let Derek Dunne and the cheese sandwiches do the talking. Keane is a winner and always wants to win never takes anything for granted and is an inspirational leader. I think cantona was a massive influence and did things differently but keane has been a more successfull captain.
 
Originally posted by Bill Molloy:
<strong>Keane v's Cantona as a Captain??

"Barnsley Mick")-

PS. I hope you lose your feckin job and have to manage that shite City!!</strong><hr></blockquote>

"have to manage that shite City!!"- if i was mick mccarthy I'd be feckin grateful for the chance to manage City, with all the magagerial talent of David Brent.
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I would chose Cantona over Keane. For me, I think Keane has pissed off alot off teammates with some of his comments in the press. I would think that Cantona was better liked by his teammates. Otherwise, both posses the drive to lead by example. but, for me Bobby Charlton would be United's greatest captain.
 
Originally posted by darko:
<strong>I would chose Cantona over Keane. For me, I think Keane has pissed off alot off teammates with some of his comments in the press. I would think that Cantona was better liked by his teammates. Otherwise, both posses the drive to lead by example. but, for me Bobby Charlton would be United's greatest captain.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I'M sure Cantona pissed off Lee Chapman when he was doing his wife at Leeds.
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Good points lynott but I have to disagree about Ruud looking like future captain`s material at the present.

Somebody pointed out in a different thread that Ruud is somewhat selfish - he puts his head down, runs with the ball and at times because of this misses the opportunity to pass to a team mate in a better position or trick the opposition.

1 thing I think most posters can agree with - the Manchester United of last season and more so this season doesn`t tend to work as hard for each other. I think there is a tad more selfishness about the play and not enough of the hunting the opposition down in packs and team work that won us so glory,

Ruud is a great striker for us but I believe he has shown selfishness (as well as an embarrassing tendency to dive - for a big man he goes down easy) and he would have to really change that before he was even considered a contender for captain.
 
As for Eric, was he really shagging Lee Chapman`s wife? If so that explains his keenness to get out of the club after a title winning first season and his eagerness to leave the training ground without socialising with his team mates!
 
We had some fantastic captains at Utd like Buchan, Bruce, Robbo, Cantona & Keane. (Don't know much about prior to the 70s). For me THE captain who really stands out is the one and only Bryan Robson. I just cannot see anything wrong with him. Fantastic player, fantastic leader, extraordinary charisma..
 
Originally posted by giggsgirl:
<strong>As for Eric, was he really shagging Lee Chapman`s wife? If so that explains his keenness to get out of the club after a title winning first season and his eagerness to leave the training ground without socialising with his team mates!</strong><hr></blockquote>

You see, it's us girls what get down to the really important things. :)
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Originally posted by MauritianRed:
<strong>We had some fantastic captains at Utd like Buchan, Bruce, Robbo, Cantona & Keane. (Don't know much about prior to the 70s). For me THE captain who really stands out is the one and only Bryan Robson. I just cannot see anything wrong with him. Fantastic player, fantastic leader, extraordinary charisma..</strong><hr></blockquote>

i started watching united in the early 90's.. just near the end of Robbo's career with us. By the time we looked solid it was already keane & Cantona's era - so i've always thought Cantona was the best captain during my time watching United.

I think Robbo played for us at the wrong times. he would have made a great team member for us right now alongside keane in midfield. i really wouldn't mind playing 4-5-1 with robbo and keane alongside each other.
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"I will never demean Eric's contribution but I'm also somewhat more honest in my appraisal of his talents. His reletatively recent induction as Man Utd's greatest player was not something any true red could agree with."

Do you decide who's a true red ?

:rolleyes:

You should just accept that some think Cantona was better and other think Keane is better.
 
"Whoever said that uniteds defensive performance in the champions league final 99 was excellent should watch the match again. Munich hit the bar and post and scored a soft free kick, dominated for much of the first half and half the second and then bottled it and 2 great substitutions and excellent set pieces bought united the cup and a deserved one for standing up and being counted but keano got them there with his display against Juve."

That is exactly the type of post, I don`t like. Because so many Irish here think that the reason for Uniteds success is only Keane.
First to make it clear: Keane is a great captain and is missed at the moment; without him we wouldn`t have won the CL or so many trophies. No doubt about it.
But the same goes for so many other players. I always hear Keanes performance in Turin.... That`s right he was superb that night, but:

- he only scored one goal of three

- without Yorkes goals and Beckhams crosses against inter milan, we wouldn't have played juventus

-Schmeichels saves brought us the CL too.

And your summary of that night in Barcelona. :rolleyes: I think you should watch the game again mate. (I did at least 5 times)
It is right Keane was missed and we were lucky to win. But Bayern dominated for much of the game... what a complete rubbish!
Bayern scored after just a few minutes after a freekick. Then Bayern defended deep with 10 Men behind the Ball. We always had the ball, though we couldn`t break the defence and create clear chances ( A bit like Argentina against England in the worldcup). But Bayewr, who dominated the first half according to you, didn`t have a single chance and were hardly in our half until 20 minutes from time. When we had to take bigger risks because time was running out, Bayern had more space and hit the bar and the post on the counterattack. But they never dominated the game!!
 
Anyone with an opinion on this?
4. He only worries about the game and winning. Never distracted by other things - the fans, the prawn sandwiches eaters, nothing.
<hr></blockquote>

have we forgtten crystal palace 95' ??
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Originally posted by RUnited:
<strong>

i started watching united in the early 90's.. just near the end of Robbo's career with us. By the time we looked solid it was already keane & Cantona's era - so i've always thought Cantona was the best captain during my time watching United.

I think Robbo played for us at the wrong times. he would have made a great team member for us right now alongside keane in midfield. i really wouldn't mind playing 4-5-1 with robbo and keane alongside each other.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Don't want to get into slanging match with you because you make good points on this site, but how can you say a guy who didn't speak english and was crap in Europe would be a better captain than a man who dragged us from the depths against Juve and lead us to unlimited success would be a lesser captain. Cantona- great player. Keano- Great player, great captain. Please respect the greatest all round player this club has ever had.
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Originally posted by RUnited:
<strong>If keane keeps going bonkers on us, i doubt we'll get very far this year.</strong><hr></blockquote>excuse me, how about a little respect...

labelling one of europe's best players and a united legend as 'bonkers' is ridiculous in the extreme.

he may be prone to flashes of madness every once in a while, but he is our captain, and I bet you wouldnt call him bonkers to his face.

:rolleyes:
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