Sunday of course marked Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25 years in charge of Manchester United. During that time Old Trafford has seen countless amounts of fantastic players showcase their talents for the club with many of them providing moments of magic that will live on forever (check out my best Fergie XI)…
..There have sadly (as is expected at any club over a quarter of a century) been a fair amount of players who have not impressed at United, failing to shine for a number of reasons including not being talented or good enough, struggling to adapt to the English game and struggling to live with not only the pressure of playing in a Red shirt but the pressure of having a mega price-tag on thier shoulders.
With that in mind, just like every other football-related website has been doing over the last couple of days, I thought it’d be good to jot down a line-up of players who would make up the worst possible line-up in Sir Alex’s time at the club. Shake your heads in digust at this line-up:
Massimo Taibi,
Pat McGibbon, Laurent Blanc, William Prunier,
Eric Djemba-Djemba
Juan Sebastien Veron, Kleberson, Liam Miller, Ralph Milne,
David Bellion, Dong Fangzhuo
Now it’s fair to say that’s a poor team indeed. Whilst perhaps it’s harsh on McGibbon and Fangzhuo who made only 4 apperances between them for the club, the midfield pretty much picks itself. Djemba-Djemba was a major dissapointment after signing from Nantes and looked like a player more passionate about a lifestyle in England than doing anything on the pitch.
Kleberson was labelled by many as the man who ‘won Brazil the World Cup’ after his efforts in central midfield for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side in 2002, but his career never quite took off in England and he wasn’t strong enough to handle the pace and physicality of the Premier League. Miller was highly-rated at Celtic and joined the club on a free in 2004, but made only 22 apperances in two seasons and quitley left the club in the summer of 2006. Milne in Sir Alex’s words remains his ‘worst signing’ so it’s hard to argue his selection.
Then there’s the enigma that was Veron. Signed for a box-office price of £28.1million, despite starting well, the classy Argentine never got to grips with the pace and tenacity of the English game leaving his best games for the club in the Champions League. He was sold onto Chelsea in 2003 for £15million, where he continued to struggle. In his defence though, it would have been hard for any newcomer to slot into United’s midfield with Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, who for years had been the club’s first choice pairing in the heart of midfield.
Taibi in goal was simply a no-brainer!
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