The Man United all time 11 – What do you think?

Monday, February 1st, 2010

After Manchester United once again thrashed sorry Arsenal at the Emirates we’d thought it’s time to revisit our first ever Ultimate 11. One of our members has selected his all time United 11 (from 1970 onwards). Do you agree with Dan’s selection?

Do you really know your clubs proud history or are you just a teenage glory hunter? (not mentioning any names from the Kings Road & Eastlands). Remember you must pick a decent 11, not 10 forwards and a goalie. We’ll have a butchers and Dexy will give his verdict from Mustard to Pony. Send them to the e-mail address below.

dexy@ukfootballfinder.co.uk

U 11'S Man United

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Tagged as: best XI, FA, Manchester United, Old Trafford, premier league, Ultimate 11's

{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }

Darren March 16, 2009 at 8:25 am: muppet, George Best was still playing for United until 1974. And sorry Dexy me old mate, Rooney is not Mustard!
Martin Tibbetts March 16, 2009 at 9:35 am: I thought this was from 1970 onwards. No Best as Darren says, no Coppell? No Mcilroy, Law, Macari, Whiteside? And playing Cantona as a midfielder is cheating, he was a striker.

I assume your grandad was out when you called to ask if there was a Manchester United before taggart came along to manage them!
James March 16, 2009 at 9:38 am: must be a London Red, oh yeah, he is!! Say no more!
Dan Church March 16, 2009 at 10:15 am: Im aware Bestie was still there, but as i never got to see him play myself, i decided to omit him. besides, his glory years were behind him by then.
and granted, Coppell, McIlroy, Law, Macari and Whiteside were all quality players, but the game in the 70′s and the last 20 years are two very different styles. Its my belief that the majority of those players would struggle to play in todays high tempo game, hence why ive left them out. As much as people may point out people that ive left out, i dont see anyone critisizing those ive included. With a club the size and with the history of Manchester United, you cant pick everyone.
Martin Tibbetts March 16, 2009 at 10:27 am: But surely you can’t pick an all time (since the 70′s) side on that basis. Yes the game has changed, but you have to judge the contribution of players at their time. Your choices are all good, though you ignore the fact that Cantona was not a central midfield player, but the brief is a side from the last 4 decades and that is not what is displayed above. And I will question your choice of Rooney – has the potential to be one of the greats, but is not there yet. Give him a couple of seasons and maybe but he does not have the record of say Law, or even Stewart Pearson or Mark Hughes yet……
Dan Church March 16, 2009 at 10:36 am: Well as i started supporting them in 1983 then i feel its unfair for me to pick anyone that i didnt get to see play on a regular basis. I would be going on other peoples judgement rather than my own. and i agree, Cantona was a striker by trade, but i always saw him as a midfielder as he did a lot of his best work from deep in a similar role to Rooney does now and he plays his fair share of games out wide.
Dexy Longshot March 16, 2009 at 10:38 am: Got to say, Martin is bang on the money there. Cantona wasn’t a center midfielder. Scholes has been the best English midfielder for the last 15 years. The term round pegs in square holes springs to mind.
dexylongshot March 16, 2009 at 10:41 am: PS: You forgot all about keano as well be fore i reminded you. For me. Scholes and Keane were the best midfield double act in the history of the premier league let alone Man U. Robson is just a tad behind keano in my book, largely due to that shoulder.
Dan Church March 16, 2009 at 11:01 am: yeah how i forgot about Keano i dont know, my sodding cats even named after him…..
Sam March 16, 2009 at 11:14 am: Before you have a pop, Best doesn’t make the cut coz he was fading after the 71 season and jumped ship once in 72 – if it was an all time eleven then he and Bobby Charlton would make it, no questions asked.

Here’s how I would have gone:

Schmiechel, G Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic (last saturday’s performance aside), Irwin, Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Giggs, Ronaldo, Cantona. SUBS: Solskjaer, Robson, van Nistelrooy

You cannot underestimate the quality of that midfield four that we have built our domestic dominance upon.Ferdinand and Vidic complement each other perfectly when Torres isnt buzzing around. Ronaldo pretty much plays up front anyway and solskjaer is the world’s most ‘mustard’ sub to quote Dexy. Rooney narrowly misses out coz he cant hold a candle to Ruud’s goal scoring record. If you complain of the lack of 70s and 80s content – its coz pretty much 90% of our glory for the previous 40 years has come since the 90s came around. Nuff said.
rob pullinger March 16, 2009 at 11:17 am: not bad, were’s hughes, pallister….everyone to there own…

neville, well there’s gotta be a better right back than him, he’s good but not that good…???

not that im a a man u fan, especially after they got canned on saturday!!!!!

ho,ho,ho……….
Dan Church March 16, 2009 at 11:36 am: the idea basically is to pick the best player in their position for the last 40 years which i have done. Rooneys goalscoring admitadly isnt the best weve had but he gets in on workrate alone. ive never seen a striker who does more for his team defensively.

and Rob, congrats on your win, now if only you could put in the same effort as you did with us then you might beat Stoke home and away and you might stand a chance of winning the league next year.
dexylongshot March 16, 2009 at 12:49 pm: wwrroooowww, saucer of milk anyone. Poor old churchy, are we still hurting!!!
James Webb March 16, 2009 at 2:48 pm: I think the Manchester United best XI is probably harder to pick than for any other club especially in the midfield. Chosing some of the current squad is a bit premature and whether they will all be remembered as Man U greats in 10 years time its hard to say. All of the following signed after 1970.

Schmeichel, Irwin, Albiston, Bruce, Pallister, Robson, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy, Hughes. SUBS: Neville, McClair, Cantona
dexylongshot March 16, 2009 at 3:43 pm: Stam anyone, he was a great player. If he had stayed, i’d fancy them to have nicked another Champs League. McGrath would be up there around the subs as well and for boozing ability. We might have to do a top boozer/badboy 11 one day!!!
Darren March 16, 2009 at 5:22 pm: true say James, they have dominated proceedings for the last 15 years so I guess there are so many excellent players to pick from.
Stevie March 17, 2009 at 8:20 am: Stevie Coppel was class, he scored one of the best goals I’ve ever seen, a superb 30 yard driver which spun at the back of the net for seconds after it went it. And what about Bobby Charlton? Wasn’t he still at Man U in the early 70′s?
ROBERT BARRETT March 19, 2009 at 7:59 am: HI MAN UNITED SIDE OF THE 19-70 IS 1 ALEXSTEPNEY 2 GORDON MC QUEEN 3 BRYAN ROBSON 4SIR BOBBY CHARLTON 5 DNIS LAW 6DEN IRWIN 7 PAUL SCHOLES 8 BRAIN MCCLAIR 9 STEVE BRUCE 10 RYAN GIGGS 11 GEORGE BEST SUB RIO FERLAND MARK HUGHES ARTHUR ALBISTON THANKS ROBERT BARETT
Darren March 19, 2009 at 10:02 am: Dexy rides again!

In an interview for the New Statesman, Sir Alex Ferguson has conceded that his biggest mistake as manager of Manchester United was allowing defender Jaap Stam to leave the club, while his biggest regret was not signing former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne. (The Times)
epochmania February 1, 2010 at 8:36 am: I am not a man utd fan but I would have certainly found a place for Coppell, Hughes, Robson and best in the starting 11. Maybe you should hunt down some old man utd games.
John February 1, 2010 at 10:42 am: I’m surprised about Hughes actually, but saying that, who would you drop? There’s also no Andy Cole & Dwight Yorke. Between them I’m sure United won more trophies then they did with Bryon Robson & Steve Coppel in the side
W.A. February 1, 2010 at 11:23 am: What about a United Premier League XI playing a 70s & 80s Ultimate XI?

Schmeichel; Neville, Ferdinand, Stam, Evra; Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, Giggs; Cantona, Rooney
SUBS: Beckham, van Nistelrooy, Vidic

Stepney; Nicholl, McGrath, Buchan, Houston; Coppell, Robson, McIlroy, Best; Hughes, Law
SUBS: McQueen, Macari, Sharpe
Dave February 1, 2010 at 12:18 pm: You all missed out possibly the greatest United player ever……..

Eric Djemba-Djemba

So good they named him twice
jimmythegent February 1, 2010 at 1:57 pm: I think Rooney deserves his place, he’s got to be top 3 in the world on current form.
Magikal February 1, 2010 at 3:23 pm: No kanchelskis??? Oh Come On!!
Darren February 1, 2010 at 4:06 pm: Eric Djemba-Djemba, now you’re talking! If only they still had him in the United midfield, Arsenal might have won yesterday!
Darren February 1, 2010 at 4:07 pm: so who would you drop to get kanchelskis into that squad Magikal?
jimmythegent February 1, 2010 at 4:13 pm: Kanchelskis??? I thought it was Feb the 1st not April. Majikal, you do make me laugh!!!!
Jim February 4, 2010 at 1:25 pm: Im relatively young so please excuse me for not knowing any players before the 1990′s. I first got the Man Utd buzz when Steve Bruce scored those two injury time headers against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993?

My all time eleven would consist of:

Peter Schmichael – Absolute legend, I loved the way he used to throw the ball past the half way line and set up a goal. That and the fact he’d give anyone a bollocking.
Gary Neville – I just love the fact he hats scouseers as much as me.
Patrice Evra – Best left back in the world in my opinion.
Jaap Stam – Though he let Fergie down the man was a tank.
Steve Bruce – He started Uniteds success under Fergie in my eyes. Lovely bloke too.
Eric Cantona – enough said
Roy Keane – enough said
Andrei Kanchelkis – Not the best player ever but again as a kid I remember the way he used to run down the wing.
David Beckham – He wasn’t the best technically but his influence was great. He was very quick at his peak too, I’ll never forget the first time I saw him live, he was great.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Purely because he is the best player I have ever seen!
Wayne Rooney – Enough said

The Man United all time 11 – What do you think?

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