All Time Ferguson 11

TheMonster

From Todays Telegraph

Anyone who thinks the present Manchester United side can't hold a candle to those of Sir Alex Ferguson's previous teams during his 19-year reign at Old Trafford might well be right, but they also might be surprised how many they might choose to include of the current team in an all-time Ferguson XI.

As someone once said, form is temporary, class is permanent. One can no more evaluate Rio Ferdinand as a player over a handful of games as you can Ferguson as a manager over less than one third of a season. Consequently, when the office asked me to select my all-time Ferguson XI (1986-2005), I didn't hesitate in including five of today's team and it could easily have been more.

To me it seems ridiculously premature to suggest that Ferguson is under pressure at this stage of the season after all the success he has had. If at the end of the season United haven't won anything for the third season on the trot or failed to secure a place in the Champions League next season then maybe, but it would still be a bit of a gamble. To think of changing the manager now is ludicrous.



Besides, it's obvious that the team is in a transitional phase with young players coming through and one or two of the old guard moving on. Ferguson has been in these situations before and always managed to get another group of players together and I don't expect it will be any different this time.

Part of the supposed doom and gloom surrounding Ferguson's future, I think, stems from the assumption that United's new American owners are ruthless people, impatient for success. While they will want United to do well on the field as well off it, the truth is no one knows for sure whether they are the interfering type and, for the time being, they seem to be happy to leave the club in the hands of the chief executive David Gill. One thing Malcolm Glazer and his sons certainly wouldn't be able to do is select their all-time Ferguson XI, at least not with any great confidence. Nor I might add can I, but here goes...

Goalkeeper: Peter Schmeichel
The great Dane, of course, stands out as United's best ever, if not exactly head and shoulders above the rest, because Edwin van der Sar isn't small in either ability or stature and has been clearly the best of Schmeichel's successors. But with that height and overall size Schmeichel also had tremendous organisational qualities, quite apart from his uncanny ability to keep the ball out of his net. He was fiercely competitive and demanded the highest standards.

Full-backs: Gary Neville and Denis Irwin
As my BBC colleague Alan Hansen used to say: "Irwin is the best right back and left back in the country." And he remained so for a very long time. Gary Neville has been a stalwart for Manchester United and I would choose him ahead of my old England team-mate Paul Parker. He's not the most glamorous full-back in the world and occasionally takes up the odd bad position, but he is usually reliable and is a good leader. He also had a great understanding with David Beckham.

Centre-backs: Paul McGrath and Rio Ferdinand
McGrath was one of the best defenders I ever played against. When he was in good shape, he was quick, strong, aggressive, read the game well. Anyone would have to have him in their side. My preference for who would partner him might surprise a few; yes, he's had a dip in form recently and there was the problem with the drug-testing episode a year ago, but I think Ferdinand is actually the best footballer of the lot. It's a close call between him and Gary Pallister but, gifted as Pallister was, he didn't play as often for England as Ferdinand has. While his sidekick Steve Bruce, rightly or wrongly, never played for England.

Midfield: David Beckham, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs
This area of the team should pick itself with the Fab Four - Beckham, Scholes, Keane and Giggs. They were there through most of the glory years. The problem is it would mean omitting Robson and that would be impossible and not simply because he's one of my heroes. If you had Robson and Keane in the middle of central midfield, nobody would ever score against them. And obviously, because my team would have natural wide players in Beckham and Giggs, you would want a more solid midfield.

Strikers: Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eric Cantona The Frenchman was such a massive figure for United and so pivotal in their early success, I would have to choose him for that position in the hole fractionally ahead of Teddy Sheringham. Wayne Rooney might sneak in ahead of Cantona for that position in a couple of years' time but he hasn't been there long enough to justify selection now. Eventually, I'm sure he'd be in everybody's all-time Ferguson team. Choosing the out-and-out striker is tougher than some might think because Mark Hughes would go close for me, but I think I would need someone who scores more goals. So I'll go for Van Nistelrooy

Mine Would be(4-3-3)
Schmeichel
G Neville
Irwin
S Bruce
J Stam
D Beckham
R Keane
B Robson
W Rooney
E Cantona
R Van Nistelrooy

Changed to 4-3-3 to accomodate Rooney and Cantona

Big Nelly

Schmeichel
G Neville
Irwin
P McGrath
J Stam
D Beckham
R Keane
B Robson
R Giggs
T Sheringham
R Van Nistelrooy

Cantona was lacking in europe as Keane pointed out....would choose Sheringham instead of him.....rest of team speaks for itself but not sure about Robson and Keane.....but on current form of Scholes would put in Robson ahead!!

Roar

SCHMEICHEL

IRWIN PALLISTER BRUCE JAAP STAAM

GIGGS ROBSON KEANE

CANTONA HUGES VAN NISTELROOY

not a formation that would work with those players, but my favourite united 11 in the ferguson era

evad_lhorg

man this is tough. too many good ones. Giggs and Keane are the two definites for me tbh. And for some reason I just really like the way paul scholes plays. nothing fancy but he is solid and scores(well maybe not recently)

Kingp35

Big Nelly wrote:

Schmeichel
G Neville
Irwin
P McGrath
J Stam
D Beckham
R Keane
B Robson
R Giggs
T Sheringham
R Van Nistelrooy

I agree with Big Nellys team but I would only have Beckham in there purely because I cant think of anyone else

Roddy23

was going to post until I seen Roar's team.
Exactly the way i would have it too.
maybe with the exception of Jaap Stam in right back, prob give it Garry Neville.

eirebhoy

Who wrote this article?

"McGrath was one of the best defenders I ever played against."

Iago

Schmeichel

Stam McGrath Irwin

Keane

Beckham Robson Giggs

Cantona

Yorke Cole

Bench:

Barthez
Heinze
Scholes
Rooney
Van Nistlerooy

I think as a partnership Yorke and Cole where outstanding and far better than anything United have had since, or for a long time before. They make a far better front two than Van Nistlerooy and Rooney, who still play as individuals far too often.

pickarooney

I was thinking Andy Gray?

Big Nelly

Iago wrote:

Barthez

Thats a joke right??? one of the worst keepers to wear the jersey for UTd....let them down too many times...I would put Van Der Sar before him....althou only at Utd this season he is quality and will become a legend!! or even Les Sealey!!

Draupnir

Lineker. Had to be.

He writes for the Telegraph and he is Alan Hansens BBC colleague.

bucks73

Schmeichel
G.Neville Bruce Pallister Irwin
Beckham Keane Robson Giggs
Cantona Van Nistelrooy

Heinze and Rooney arent there long enough to get in yet. Maybe in another few years. After all Eric and Dinny are legends. Stam doesnt get in as Bruce and Pally were brilliant together.

Slash/ED

pickarooney wrote:

I was thinking Andy Gray?

That would explain why the person writeing it was idiotic enough to put Rio Ferdinand in.

besty

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Schmikes

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G.Neville---Pallister---Stam--Irwin
Beckham--Keane---Robson---Giggs

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Cantona

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RVN

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The Muppet

Peter Smeichel no contest


Gary Neville - Paul Mc Grath - Steve BRUCE - Denis Irwin


Andrei Kanchelskis - Roy Keane - Eric Cantona - Ryan Giggs

Dwight Yorke
Andy cole


SUBS

MARK HUGHES
Kevin Moran
Wayne Rooney
David Beckham
Ole
Ruud

Thats a realy tough thing to do. The reason I picked Kanchelskis ahead of Beckham was for his pace and ability to go by players but I would be equally happy with becks.You would have to put cantona in any best 11 for united , to accomodate that I had to have him in midfield.

If I had to pick Fergies best ever striker it would not be cole or yorke but think they had a unique understanding of each others game that makes them fergies best strike partnership. To accomodate them in the team I had to relegate Ruud Rooney and Mark Hughes to the subs bench.

Even at that there are other player that could easily take the place of some i have included.

astrofool

I always wondered what happened to Kanchelskis, was my fave utd. player back in the day.

Didn't he go to Everton, and then Rangers? When did he retire?

Nimrod's Son

Big Nelly wrote:

Thats a joke right??? one of the worst keepers to wear the jersey for UTd....let them down too many times...I would put Van Der Sar before him....althou only at Utd this season he is quality and will become a legend!! or even Les Sealey!!

I'd have Jim Leighton or Andy Goram in ahead of Barthez!

Nunu

Big Nelly wrote:

Thats a joke right??? one of the worst keepers to wear the jersey for UTd....let them down too many times...I would put Van Der Sar before him....althou only at Utd this season he is quality and will become a legend!! or even Les Sealey!!

I agree he made some high profile errors, but he was a quality keeper. Remember, like VDS he was also outstanding in his debut season, walking away with the clubs player of the year award.

padser

Schmeichel
Irwin, Bruce, Pally, Irwin
Kanchelskis, Keane, Cantona,Giggs
Ruud, Hughes


Put Irwin in right and left back since he was the best in both positions. Always considered beckham slightly overrated but was still a close call. Didnt see enough of robson to include him. Had to be pallister since himself and Bruce were the best partnetship. Finally had to leave out the boy wonder because i refuse to put a teenager into the list of all time greats just yet.



Tell ya lads we would give chelsea some run for their money if we had any of these teams out on the pitch this season!

[Jackass]

4-4-2

1. Schemichael
2. Irwin
3. Stam
4. Pallister
5. Bruce
6. Keane
7. Cantona
8. Ince
9. RV Nistleroy
10. Hughes
11. giggs

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Schemichael

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Irwin

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Pallister

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Bruce

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Stam
Cantona----Ince

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Keane

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Giggs

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Hughes

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RV Nistleroy

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Jimi-Spandex

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Schmeichel

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G.Neville--Bruce--Stam--Irwin
Beckham-Robson-Keane-Giggs

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Cantona

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Van. Nistelrooy

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scuba steve

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Schmeichel

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G.Neville -- Bruce -- Ferdinand -- Irwin

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Beckham -- Keane -- Giggs

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Rooney --- Cantona

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Ruud

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Subs: Van der Sar
Gary Pallister
Scholes
Yorke
Cole

MrJoeSoap

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Taibi

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--Parker--Prunier--Blanc--Blackmore---

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--Veron--Kleberson--Djemba²--Miller---

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Forlan---Robins

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50% Sarcastic, 50% Memory Lane...

Pepe LeFrits

Schmeichel, Irwin, McGrath, Pallister, Neville, Giggs, Keane, Robson, Beckham, Rooney, Nistelrooy

Jonny Arson

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1. Schmeichel

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-- 2. G. Neville -- 3. Bruce --- 4. Stam

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5. Irwin

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-- 9. Beckham -- 6. Keane -- 8. Scholes --- 11. Giggs ----

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7. Cantona ---- 10. Rooney

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Gary Neville scrapes in their due to the fact that the right-back position has always been a problem for Man United. It really was a toss of a coin between Steve Bruce and the underrated Ronny Johnsen. Sorry for being arrogant but anyone who has an alternative to my midfield is just wrong. That midfield of Beckham/Keane/Scholes/Giggs was the perfect midfield combination for years. I scratch my head as to why some people have left the legend that is Eric Cantona out.... beggars belief. Rooney with Cantona IMO would have been the ultimate strikeforce.

bucks73

MrJoeSoap wrote:

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Taibi

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--Parker--Prunier--Blanc--Blackmore---

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--Veron--Kleberson--Djemba²--Miller---

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Forlan---Robins

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50% Sarcastic, 50% Memory Lane...

Surely Ralph Milne would have made that team. Red Issue once said he was so ugly he gave birth to the leg of a chair.:D

blu_sonic

MrJoeSoap wrote:

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Taibi

---

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--Parker--Prunier--Blanc--Blackmore---

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--Veron--Kleberson--Djemba²--Miller---

---

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Forlan---Robins

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50% Sarcastic, 50% Memory Lane...

class


shemichal
g.nev

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steve b--palaster--irwin
kanchelskis--keane---giggs
---rooney

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cantona

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hughes

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FatherTed

bucks73 wrote:

Schmeichel
G.Neville Bruce Pallister Irwin
Beckham Keane Robson Giggs
Cantona Van Nistelrooy

Heinze and Rooney arent there long enough to get in yet. Maybe in another few years. After all Eric and Dinny are legends. Stam doesnt get in as Bruce and Pally were brilliant together.

This is THE best team. Anyone excluding Cantona needs to have their head examined. Alex Fergussen would be retired someplace up in Scotland for about 10 years by now if Cantona had not come along.

Also regarding Bruce-Pallister, go look back at the number of goals conceeded when these two were manning the back line. Never spectacular but they were always tough as nails.

homerjay2005

GK - Schmeichel
RB - Neville
LB - Irwin
CB - Bruce
CB - Pallister
RM - Beckham
LM - Giggs
CM - Keane
CM - Scholes
FWD - Van Nistelrooy
FWD - Cantona

randomfella

Stam is def better than Rio by a mile. He was so underrated at the time, and obviously still is by the looks of things.

Def the best central defender united had, even though they never found a decent partner for him. Blanc, Ronny Johnsen and others weren't up to it.

The Muppet

astrofool wrote:

I always wondered what happened to Kanchelskis, was my fave utd. player back in the day.

Didn't he go to Everton, and then Rangers? When did he retire?

Sorry for the off topic but astrofools question inspired me to do a little googling. iIt appears andrei was playing up until last year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Kanchelskis . It a great shame tha he had the management team and problems he had as he was a great player who could easily have played at united for years longer that he did.


Lee sharp is another player that never reached his full potential, he awas a bit too fond of the high life for his own good.

I dont think you could accomodate Keane and Robson in the same team as they were so alike (one would just be a passsenger).

Big Nelly

FatherTed wrote:

This is THE best team. Anyone excluding Cantona needs to have their head examined.

Cantona was useless in Europe......was only after he left that Utd started to make waves in Europe.....thats the simple reason!!! alot of high profile people agree with me here......you dont pick a team based on home form.....the biggest thing with Utd was the Champions League....this has been the way for years.....all the players on my team where both good in PL and CL.....Cantona was useless in CL and prob because they persisted in playing him lost alot of games!!

PHB

Schmeichel
G.Neville Ferdinand Stam Irwin
Beckham Keane Scholes Giggs
Sheringham Van Nistelrooy

Robson and Keane are too alike, and Keano takes it.
Scholes used to be absolutely amazing.
Sheringham has preformed at alll levels for United, unlike Cantona.
Van Nist is a scoring machine.
Beckham and Giggs speak for themselves.
Bruce and Pallister weren't at the same level as Stam, obviously, and Ferdinand, until his recent run of bad form.

deisedevil

Can't understand how some people are leaving out Gary Neville, very odd seein as he has been on team of the season in the prem 2 years in a row now and was also voted in at right back for team of the DECADE!

Schmichael
G Neville
Bruce
Pallister
Irwin
Beckham
Keane
Robson
Giggs
Cantona
Van Nistelrooy

Sparky close sub:D

p.pete

bucks73 wrote:

Surely Ralph Milne would have made that team. Red Issue once said he was so ugly he gave birth to the leg of a chair.:D

And no Luke Chadwick either - I'm surprised the incidents of teenage girls getting nightmares from ManU team posters hasn't been better documented over the years

The Muppet

Big Nelly wrote:

Cantona was useless in Europe......was only after he left that Utd started to make waves in Europe.....thats the simple reason!!! alot of high profile people agree with me here......you dont pick a team based on home form.....the biggest thing with Utd was the Champions League....this has been the way for years.....all the players on my team where both good in PL and CL.....Cantona was useless in CL and prob because they persisted in playing him lost alot of games!!

That's very unfair on Cantona. It's true that United did not do very well in europe at the time but I would think that was down to the 4 foreigner rule rather than cantona. United were prevented from fielding their strongest teams in europe because of this rule and ended up playing squad players who were not anywhere near as good as those they replaced.

I would also disagre with your assumption that the Champions League was more important than the premiership. At the time Cantona palyed the League was the holy grail and Uniteds main target , it was only after they won that a few times that they started to seriously focus on Europe.

Possibly the money men behind the club would rather win the Champions League because of the money they get for doing so but I would think that most fans would rather have their club win the Premiership than the CL, I certainly would although it would be nice to do the double or treble even and (thats not intended to belittle Champions League winners in any way)

For me Cantona was the final Piece in Fergies Jigsaw as he laid the foundations for the success that followed. IMO Cantona would have to be in any all time 11 United team.

deisedevil

The Muppet wrote:

That's very unfair on Cantona. It's true that United did not do very well in europe at the time but I would think that was down to the 4 foreigner rule rather than cantona. United were prevented from fielding their strongest teams in europe because of this rule and ended up playing squad players who were not anywhere near as good as those they replaced.

I would also disagre with your assumption that the Champions League was more important than the premiership. At the time Cantona palyed the League was the holy grail and Uniteds main target , it was only after they won that a few times that they started to seriously focus on Europe.

Possibly the money men behind the club would rather win the Champions League because of the money they get for doing so but I would think that most fans would rather have their club win the Premiership than the CL, I certainly would although it would be nice to do the double or treble even and (thats not intended to belittle Champions League winners in any way)

For me Cantona was the final Piece in Fergies Jigsaw as he laid the foundations for the success that followed. IMO Cantona would have to be in any all time 11 United team.

Well said! Time after time he was the difference between a win and a draw for united, scored goals at the most important times and it's no wonder the fans still chant his name years after he left the club. A true Utd legend. Ya, if it was a choice of the Prem or the CL i'd pick the Prem any day.

mchurl

1Schmeichal
2.stam
3irwin
4.pallister
5.bruce
6.keane
7.beckham
8.robson
9.cantona
10.rooney
11.giggs

unbeatable team

johnor

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Schmichael

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--G Neville--Bruce--Stam

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Irwin----

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Robson--Keane--Scholes

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---Cantona

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Rooney----

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Hughes

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1.VanNistelrooy
2.VanDerSaar
3.Ferdinhand
4.Giggs
5.Ince

Corben Dallas

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Schmeikel

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Irwin----McGrath---Japp Stam---Silvestre

Beckham----Roy---Cantona----Kanchelkis

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Cole

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Ruud Van

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Bench--
Les Sealey only j/k (but was good?)
>>Van De Saar
Hughes
Robson
Giggs
Rooney
Paul Ince

Rikand

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Schmeichel

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G.Neville---Pallister---Stam--Irwin
Beckham--Keane---Robson---Giggs

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Cantona

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RVN

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Steve_o

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Schmeichel

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G.Neville---Bruce----McGrath

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Irwin
Beckham

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Keane

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Robson/Giggs <tis hard to decide>

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Cantona

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Andy Cole

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V.Nistelrooy

Subs: Gary Bailey
Gary Pallister
Paul Scholes
Paul Ince
Ole Gunner Solskjaer <Mainly cause of May 26th 1999>

astrofool

tbh, all time subs bench in the world would love to have Solskjaer

wheres me jumpa

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schmeichel

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g. neville-stam-johnsen-heinze
beckham-keane-robson-giggs
rvn---mark hughes

im sure rooney and ronaldo will one day be worthy of a place in this team but quiet yet.

Necronomicon

Nobody has Solskjaer on their team? You'd be hard pushed to find a better servant to United over the years. He is loyalty personified.

wheres me jumpa

there are some very tough choices there. it would be impossible to find a team we would all agree on. one thing that is for sure it seems to be the centre of defense that differs from our current crop of cb's.

rio, brown, silvestre and o'shea (i know he is a full back but he does cover occassionally) struggle to make our best elevens.