Michaelf7
Gio
Michaelf7 Tactics
My team will play a 4-3-3 formation with George Best having the freedom to either cut inside or stay out wide on the left hand side with Park playing as a left hand side box-to-box midfielder who can choose to stay central or drift out wide particularly when Best cuts inside. The biggest advantage I feel that my team has is in attacking wide area's where judging by the squads the likely match-ups are Stanley Matthews vs. Luke Shaw and George Best vs. Jimmy Nicholl. I will now provide information on some of the less known players in my team.
Gary Bailey - For eight consecutive seasons at Manchester United (78/79-85/86) Bailey made at least 30 appearances for Manchester United keeping 161 clean sheets in 375 appearances. He also won 2 England caps which given the English GK's available in this era including Shilton and Clemence is impressive as is his being included consistently as an overage player in the England under 21's side (Source). He picked up a major injury which largely ended his career in Europe at the 1986 World Cup when he was only 27 (which is young for a GK). Even when United conceded a lot of goals he still played well such as in a 6-0 loss to Ipswich where he was at fault for none of the goals and saved 3 penalties (Source) or a 5-3 loss to West Brom where he was man of the match (Source). In 2012 Peter Schmeichel included Bailey in a list of his 5 favourite GK's of all time to watch (when changed to best he swapped him out for one of Peter Shilton, Sepp Maier, Neville Southall, Dino Zoff and Manuel Neuer) (Source).
Gordon McQueen - Gordon McQueen was a Scottish CB who won 30 caps between 1974 and 1981 (While playing for Leeds and Manchester United) and was included in the PFA Team of the Year for Division 1 in both the 1974/75 Season and the 1977/78 Season. McQueen was inducted into the Scottish football hall of fame in 2012 which was a year earlier than Martin Buchan was. When he moved to Manchester United from Leeds in February 1978 it was for a then British record transfer fee of 495,000 pounds. McQueen was tall (1.91 metres) and strong in the air. On his death in 2023, Bryan Robson described McQueen as "one of the best centre-backs I had the privilege of playing with" (Source) and that "He was strong and brave, and ahead of his times in being a defender who could play out from the back and contribute as much in attack as he did in defence" (Source).
Noel Cantwell - Noel Cantwell was an Irish LB who after signing for Manchester United in 1960 spent 7 years at the club winning 2 league titles and an FA Cup. When playing at West Ham prior to signing for Manchester United he was one of the three mentors that Bobby Moore had (Source). When referring to Cantwell Bobby Charlton stated that "...sometimes the quality of his playing ability was overlooked, but he was a defender of considerable class, strong on the left side and with a very nice touch" (Source). In a 2005 obituary, journalist Brian Glanville described Cantwell as follows:
Source
Johnny Giles - Johnny Giles was an Irish midfielder who was a key part of the great Leeds team of the late 1960's and early 1970's and was chosen by the Republic of Ireland as it's golden player of the previous 50 years at the UEFA jubilee awards in 2004 (over the likes of Roy Keane, Paul McGrath, Denis Irwin and Liam Brady). Giles was included in the PFA 1st division team of the year in 1973/74 (the first season in which the PFA chose such teams). Giles formed a great partnership with Billy Bremner at Leeds with Giles being more of a creator and Bremner more of a ball winner but both were capable of doing the other task. Chris Kamara described Giles as follows:
Gio Tactics
THE TEAM
True to the theme we go for a classic 4-4-2.
Holding the forte in the nets is David De Gea, whose 550 games for United and 5 PFA Team of the Year selections speak to just how exceptional he was from 2013 to 2018. Long-term club colleague Luke Shaw operates from his usual left-back slot, twice Man Utd Player of the Year and twice in the PFA Team of the Year. In the centre of defence is Lisandro Martinez whose dynamism, aggression and quality on the ball are a godsend for this current United side. His partner is Martin Buchan, another United legend with almost 500 appearances, a captain for Aberdeen at just 20, who went on take the armband at United, leading the club to 2 FA Cup wins. Team-mates spoke highly of his organisational skills, his reading of the game and use of the ball. To his right is his long-term club colleague from the '70s in Jimmy Nicholl who was solid and dependable and appeared in two World Cups.
The midfield four is comprised of the swashbuckling and effervescent Ryan Giggs on the left flank, who needs no introduction. Inside in his customary left-half position is Duncan Edwards who by the time of his passing at 21 already had almost 200 United appearances and 3rd place in the 1957 Ballon D'Or. Introduced is another club legend from the top drawer in Bryan Robson. Alongside Edwards this two will be expected to run the game from the heart of the park. And crafting from the right is Steve Coppell - inventive with good feet and a superb crosser who understood his role in the team. In particular he can work back in to double up on Best to cut the supply. Nicholl formed a similar partnership with Gerry Armstrong for Northern Ireland, which is why they shut down West Germany in Euro 84 qualification, beating them home and away 1-0, despite going up against the calibre of Littbarski and Rummenigge.
A good 4-4-2 always needs a strong strikeforce. We introduce another club legend in Eric Cantona who will take up the link-man role between attack and midfield. Forming a Cantona/Hughes-esque partnership, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will play as our centre-forward. He had a short but dominant spell at United, winning 3 trophies in 12 months. While both Eric and Zlatan can hold the ball in better than just about anybody else, Cantona will drop into the hole to bring our powerful midfielders into the game, and Ibrahimovic will play higher to repeat the role he has played at various times during his career. In his book he talks of how Capello changed him into a goalscorer who played off the shoulder and attacked the penalty box.
THE INSPIRATION
There are lots of similarities to how United played in 1993/94.
Gio
Michaelf7 Tactics
My team will play a 4-3-3 formation with George Best having the freedom to either cut inside or stay out wide on the left hand side with Park playing as a left hand side box-to-box midfielder who can choose to stay central or drift out wide particularly when Best cuts inside. The biggest advantage I feel that my team has is in attacking wide area's where judging by the squads the likely match-ups are Stanley Matthews vs. Luke Shaw and George Best vs. Jimmy Nicholl. I will now provide information on some of the less known players in my team.
Gary Bailey - For eight consecutive seasons at Manchester United (78/79-85/86) Bailey made at least 30 appearances for Manchester United keeping 161 clean sheets in 375 appearances. He also won 2 England caps which given the English GK's available in this era including Shilton and Clemence is impressive as is his being included consistently as an overage player in the England under 21's side (Source). He picked up a major injury which largely ended his career in Europe at the 1986 World Cup when he was only 27 (which is young for a GK). Even when United conceded a lot of goals he still played well such as in a 6-0 loss to Ipswich where he was at fault for none of the goals and saved 3 penalties (Source) or a 5-3 loss to West Brom where he was man of the match (Source). In 2012 Peter Schmeichel included Bailey in a list of his 5 favourite GK's of all time to watch (when changed to best he swapped him out for one of Peter Shilton, Sepp Maier, Neville Southall, Dino Zoff and Manuel Neuer) (Source).
Gordon McQueen - Gordon McQueen was a Scottish CB who won 30 caps between 1974 and 1981 (While playing for Leeds and Manchester United) and was included in the PFA Team of the Year for Division 1 in both the 1974/75 Season and the 1977/78 Season. McQueen was inducted into the Scottish football hall of fame in 2012 which was a year earlier than Martin Buchan was. When he moved to Manchester United from Leeds in February 1978 it was for a then British record transfer fee of 495,000 pounds. McQueen was tall (1.91 metres) and strong in the air. On his death in 2023, Bryan Robson described McQueen as "one of the best centre-backs I had the privilege of playing with" (Source) and that "He was strong and brave, and ahead of his times in being a defender who could play out from the back and contribute as much in attack as he did in defence" (Source).
Noel Cantwell - Noel Cantwell was an Irish LB who after signing for Manchester United in 1960 spent 7 years at the club winning 2 league titles and an FA Cup. When playing at West Ham prior to signing for Manchester United he was one of the three mentors that Bobby Moore had (Source). When referring to Cantwell Bobby Charlton stated that "...sometimes the quality of his playing ability was overlooked, but he was a defender of considerable class, strong on the left side and with a very nice touch" (Source). In a 2005 obituary, journalist Brian Glanville described Cantwell as follows:
Source
Johnny Giles - Johnny Giles was an Irish midfielder who was a key part of the great Leeds team of the late 1960's and early 1970's and was chosen by the Republic of Ireland as it's golden player of the previous 50 years at the UEFA jubilee awards in 2004 (over the likes of Roy Keane, Paul McGrath, Denis Irwin and Liam Brady). Giles was included in the PFA 1st division team of the year in 1973/74 (the first season in which the PFA chose such teams). Giles formed a great partnership with Billy Bremner at Leeds with Giles being more of a creator and Bremner more of a ball winner but both were capable of doing the other task. Chris Kamara described Giles as follows:
Gio Tactics
THE TEAM
True to the theme we go for a classic 4-4-2.
Holding the forte in the nets is David De Gea, whose 550 games for United and 5 PFA Team of the Year selections speak to just how exceptional he was from 2013 to 2018. Long-term club colleague Luke Shaw operates from his usual left-back slot, twice Man Utd Player of the Year and twice in the PFA Team of the Year. In the centre of defence is Lisandro Martinez whose dynamism, aggression and quality on the ball are a godsend for this current United side. His partner is Martin Buchan, another United legend with almost 500 appearances, a captain for Aberdeen at just 20, who went on take the armband at United, leading the club to 2 FA Cup wins. Team-mates spoke highly of his organisational skills, his reading of the game and use of the ball. To his right is his long-term club colleague from the '70s in Jimmy Nicholl who was solid and dependable and appeared in two World Cups.
Docherty's United said: said:
The midfield four is comprised of the swashbuckling and effervescent Ryan Giggs on the left flank, who needs no introduction. Inside in his customary left-half position is Duncan Edwards who by the time of his passing at 21 already had almost 200 United appearances and 3rd place in the 1957 Ballon D'Or. Introduced is another club legend from the top drawer in Bryan Robson. Alongside Edwards this two will be expected to run the game from the heart of the park. And crafting from the right is Steve Coppell - inventive with good feet and a superb crosser who understood his role in the team. In particular he can work back in to double up on Best to cut the supply. Nicholl formed a similar partnership with Gerry Armstrong for Northern Ireland, which is why they shut down West Germany in Euro 84 qualification, beating them home and away 1-0, despite going up against the calibre of Littbarski and Rummenigge.
A good 4-4-2 always needs a strong strikeforce. We introduce another club legend in Eric Cantona who will take up the link-man role between attack and midfield. Forming a Cantona/Hughes-esque partnership, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will play as our centre-forward. He had a short but dominant spell at United, winning 3 trophies in 12 months. While both Eric and Zlatan can hold the ball in better than just about anybody else, Cantona will drop into the hole to bring our powerful midfielders into the game, and Ibrahimovic will play higher to repeat the role he has played at various times during his career. In his book he talks of how Capello changed him into a goalscorer who played off the shoulder and attacked the penalty box.
THE INSPIRATION
There are lots of similarities to how United played in 1993/94.
- The same 4-4-2 / 4-4-1-1 shape with players who all fit the job demanded of them.
- The strong midfields with flying wingers and an all-dominating central partnership in Keane/Ince and Robson/Edwards.
- The physical partnership up top. Cantona helped himself to 38 goals and assists in 93/94, Hughes to 33. Both were in double figures with assists because, not only did their partnership work, but they fed in the midfielders to big attacking returns. Giggs scored 17 which was exceptional work for a left midfielder in a proper 4-4-2. Keane and Ince scored 17 between them which demonstrated how well the front two held things up, and how well the wide men provided service (Kanchelskis with 20 goals and assists). Robson will have a field day.
And the fluid movement - Giggs and Kanchelskis (Coppell) moving into the middle to the CF positions, Hughes and Cantona dropping in as double 10s, Ince (Robbo) overloading.