United's All-Time 23 Man Squad

3 GKs: DDG, VDS, Schmeichel
8 Defenders: Vidic, Ferdinand, McGrath, Stam, Irwin, Evra, Rafael, Neville
8 Midfielders: Ronaldo, Best, Giggs, Beckham, Charlton, Scholes, Keane, Robson (haven't been able to find enough footage or any full games to watch Duncan Edwards so can't include him)
4 Strikers: Rooney, RVN, Law, Cantona

This was honestly so difficult. I've seen many full matches from all of these players. I've only seen little bits of footage of Edwards and the Busby Babes and the only full game I saw of Edwards was when he was playing for England as a cb where he looked good but not amazing by any means so I can't really include him even though I'm sure he was amazing given his reputation. Liam "Billy" Whelan also appeared to be very talented from the footage I've seen, same situation with Dennis Viollet, Jack Rowley, Roger Byrne and Johnny Carey but I haven't seen any full matches so not going to include them. Have also heard Billy Meredith was amazing but don't even think any footage exists of him. I have seen full matches of Bill Foulkes but he was older in the matches I saw him and honestly based on what I saw of him in the later seasons I wouldn't have him in ahead of Pallister or Bruce and certainly not ahead of Vida, Rio, McGrath or Stam. Of players I have seen plenty of full matches of, it was really difficult to exclude Nobby Stiles (the closest of anyone to making my 23, the lad was a mini tank in midfield, midfield is so stacked though), Crerand, Bruce, Pallister, Buchan, Carrick, Ince, Valencia, Whiteside (at his young peak he was class but suffered a dramatically fast collapse), Kanchelskis, Fernandes, RVP, Cole, Yorke, Hughes, McClair, Ole.

Making a 1st XI is even more difficult, but I think it would be this (taking all players at their peak, not necessarily longevity):

De Gea

Irwin Vidic Ferdinand Evra

Ronaldo Scholes Keane Best

Cantona
RVN
​
Giggs, Law, Charlton, McGrath and Rooney are really difficult to leave out of the XI honestly, I would rotate them in a lot. Best, Ronaldo, Scholes, Irwin and Evra can never leave the first XI imo.
 
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KeanoMagicHat said:
I understand why people might pick van der Sar over De Gea, but declining peak? De Gea is 31. Van der Sar joined United at 35. Van der Sar was also struggling a bit around age 30 and a late career revival. Such is the nature of being a goalkeeper for 15 years, it happens to a lot of goalkeepers, there are very few who are consistently good every year. I'm hopeful given De Gea's form this year that he is on the way back to how he was.
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The problem is that

1. VDS slump doesn't happen when he's with us
2. De Gea slump happens when he's with us, and recency bias
3. De Gea at the top of his game is as good as VdS and Schemeichel average, so anything less than his top form means he's out of the race
4. De Gea presides in the worst United teams since SAF, so he didn't win that much
 
Dazzmondo said:
(haven't been able to find enough footage or any full games to watch Duncan Edwards so can't include him)
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In case you are interested — this is the only full game that remains of Duncan Edwards, at least from those that are available to the general public. United played with 10 man with Jackie Blanchflower, half back, in goal after Villa forward Peter McParland knocked our keeper unconscious only 6 minutes into the game. Edwards had to step in as an emergency centre back — substitutions weren't allowed at that point.

 
harms said:
In case you are interested — this is the only full game that remains of Duncan Edwards, at least from those that are available to the general public. United played with 10 man with Jackie Blanchflower, half back, in goal after Villa forward Peter McParland knocked our keeper unconscious only 6 minutes into the game. Edwards had to step in as an emergency centre back — substitutions weren't allowed at that point.

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Thanks, actually I think I have seen this match, just forgot about it.
 
Sky1981 said:
The problem is that

1. VDS slump doesn't happen when he's with us
2. De Gea slump happens when he's with us, and recency bias
3. De Gea at the top of his game is as good as VdS and Schemeichel average, so anything less than his top form means he's out of the race
4. De Gea presides in the worst United teams since SAF, so he didn't win that much
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I think this is very unfair and completely untrue. De Gea at his best was absolutely incredible and he was unquestionably the best goalkeeper in the world for at least 2 seasons. This recency bias has really clouded people's opinions on De Gea. The same thing happened with Rooney and he was being completely underrated by people. Thankfully, since he's retired people have started to appreciate Rooney as the incredible player he was. Hope the same happens with De Gea because I find the lack of respect towards what he gave for Utd during such a bad time in our history pretty distasteful
 
Dazzmondo said:
I think this is very unfair and completely untrue. De Gea at his best was absolutely incredible and he was unquestionably the best goalkeeper in the world for at least 2 seasons. This recency bias has really clouded people's opinions on De Gea. The same thing happened with Rooney and he was being completely underrated by people. Thankfully, since he's retired people have started to appreciate Rooney as the incredible player he was. Hope the same happens with De Gea because I find the lack of respect towards what he gave for Utd during such a bad time in our history pretty distasteful
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I don't know about lack of respect, but from my part not being as good as VdS and Schemeichel isn't some sort of disrespect. They are two of our best GK in SAF era, so 2 out of 3 isn't that bad
 
Sky1981 said:
I don't know about lack of respect, but from my part not being as good as VdS and Schemeichel isn't some sort of disrespect. They are two of our best GK in SAF era, so 2 out of 3 isn't that bad
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It's fine if you think the other 2 are better but to suggest that De Gea at his best isn't as good as either of them playing an average game is another thing. De Gea had some absolutely unbelievable performances for us that were on a par if not better than some of the best performances VDS and Schmeichel gave. I think the other points you made about silverware or maybe longevity are valid points depending on the criteria but I think you're significantly underrating De Gea's ability when he was at his peak.
 
Dazzmondo said:
It's fine if you think the other 2 are better but to suggest that De Gea at his best isn't as good as either of them playing an average game is another thing. De Gea had some absolutely unbelievable performances for us that were on a par if not better than some of the best performances VDS and Schmeichel gave. I think the other points you made about silverware or maybe longevity are valid points depending on the criteria but I think you're significantly underrating De Gea's ability when he was at his peak.
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More like VdS and Schemeichel high consistency of playing at their top form.

If they averaged 8, De Gea might averaged 9 on his best days, but 6 on his off years. As shown last year when people wanted him sold.
 
Sky1981 said:
I don't know about lack of respect, but from my part not being as good as VdS and Schemeichel isn't some sort of disrespect. They are two of our best GK in SAF era, so 2 out of 3 isn't that bad
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De Gea let’s not forget was Man United player of the year 3 times, unusual for a keeper, and PFA team of year 5 times. Van der Sar was only 3 times. Van der Sar also had Vidic and Ferdinand in front of him. As for success, it wasn’t Robson or Gerrard’s fault that their teams didn’t win that much it’s only one position in a team.
 
KeanoMagicHat said:
De Gea let’s not forget was Man United player of the year 3 times, unusual for a keeper, and PFA team of year 5 times. Van der Sar was only 3 times. Van der Sar also had Vidic and Ferdinand in front of him. As for success, it wasn’t Robson or Gerrard’s fault that their teams didn’t win that much it’s only one position in a team.
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So you think DDG > those 2?
 
Sky1981 said:
So you think DDG > those 2?
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Peter Schmeichel is the best, undisputed, in my opinion. I think De Gea and Van der Sar is very close at the moment and I don't have a problem with someone picking either. My preference would be De Gea over Van der Sar marginally.
 
Sky1981 said:
Sure, but picking VdS over him is hardly a sin right?
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Oh not at all, think I just pointed out the peak thing that De Gea is not finished yet and relatively young still for a keeper (for better or for worse, I hope better!)
 
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