It is our opinion that winning the Premier League title for the last three seasons represents the greatest achievement of Sir Alex Ferguson’s incredible career, eclipsing even 1999’s thrilling treble.
The achievement is made greater in part because of the quality of the competition but primarily because we believe that this current squad is one of the worst Ferguson has had.
The three victories were established primarily on two factors; a superb defence and a one-man attack. This season they have neither and yet incredibly are still in touch of the Premier League title.
Let’s compare this current crop with the one that ruled the footballing world in 1999:
Goalkeeper
1999 – Peter Schmeichel, Mark Bosnich
In the top three goalkeepers of his era and at the height of his powers in 1999. Schmeichel left at the end of the season and has never really been replaced. Bosnich was superb for Aston Villa but never solidified his place at Old Trafford.
2010 – Edwin van der Sar, Ben Foster
Having spent four seasons in obscurity at Fulham, van der Saar finally joined a team that deserved his talents in 2005. He is now 39 and both past his best as well as the best Manchester United have. Ben Foster, with eleven appearances for United in five years has all the hallmarks of many before him – not making the grade. He certainly has the talent but like so many others that talent is garnished with regular, critical errors.
Score: 1999 1 – 0 2010 (Schmeichel for ability, consistency, presence and match-winning).
Left-back
1999 – Dennis Irwin, Phil Neville
Scorer of 31 goals in 453 appearances, Dennis Irwin is a legend. Consistently superb in defence, performed in big matches and was a threat both at freekicks and penalties. Phil Neville was an able and adaptable backup who now plays for Everton.
2010 – Patrice Evra, Fabio
Evra is one of Ferguson’s better buys in recent years. Strong in attack, solid in defence and plays almost every match. He is critical to the United defence as an ever-present, ever-reliable presence. Fabio, like his brother is talented, more so in attack, but has yet to prove himself in the first team.
Score: 1999 2 – 0 2010 (Irwin for goals and consistency).
Right-back
1999 – Gary Neville, Wes Brown
24 Year old Gary Neville was already an England regular combining strong defence with a great attacking partnership with David Beckham. Great positioning, pace and tackling he was a dominant full-back. Wes Brown in 1999 was talented and 20 years old but rarely needed.
2010 – John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Rafael
John O’Shea has great ability and adaptability but has not quite nailed down any given position. His greatest asset is the same versatility that has prevented him from being a regular. In the intervening decade, Wes Brown has not improved appreciably and is still called upon only because of injuries. For Rafael, read Fabio.
Score: 1999 3 – 0 2010 (Neville for every reason there is).
Centrebacks
1999 – Jaap Stam, Ronny Johnsen
Dutch colossus Stam was the rock United’s defence was built on and was twice voted best player in the Champions League (1998/9 and 1999/0). Johnsen was good in the air, an excellent man-marker and was versatile. Injuries plagued him but he was first choice when fit.
Stam and Johnsen were backed up by Henning Berg and David May – neither of whom were either top class or commonly fit.
2010 – Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic
When fit and happy, Vidic and Ferdinand are as good a partnership as the Premier League has seen. Both complement each other (ball playing, reading defender with a strong, aerially dominant defender) just like the other great partnerships (Terry/Carvalho of a few years ago, Carragher/Hyypia of a few years ago). The problem this season is that one is not fit and the other is not happy. Ferdinand has a supposedly chronic back injury and has made only six appearances this season and Vidic is courting both Milan and Madrid to appease his unhappy wife and has played 14 times.
Consequently, Jonny Evans, Wes Brown and John O’Shea have played in the centre more than Ferguson would have liked and with that, the near-impregnable defence of last season has been far less impressive, this season.
This season, United have conceded 24 goals in 28 games in the league. Last season they conceded 24 goals over the whole campaign.
Score: 1999 4 – 1 2010 (Hard to call – too many “ifs” but we’d take Stam and one fit 2010 centreback).
Left Midfield
1999 – Ryan Giggs
In 1999 Ryan Giggs was 25 years old, fast, skillful, creative and already a legend. He did have his share of injuries but missed very few games in the treble season and had a number of critical performances. Backed up by the largely anonymous Jesper Blomqvist.
2010 – Ryan Giggs, Nani
Apart from the last two games before his silly red card, Nani has been a huge, Babel-style disappointment. Still at best a squad player trying to find his feet. Giggs, now 36 is still the best choice Ferguson has even without so much of what made him a great player. His continued presence is proof of Ferguson’s failure to replace the 1999 team.
Score: 1999 5 – 1 2010 (25 year old Giggs beats 36 year old Giggs and Nani by a mile).
Right Midfield
1999 – David Beckham
No great pace but the demonic right foot was at it’s greatest in 1999. Together with his best friend Gary Neville, Manchester United’s right flank was all-dominant in European football (unless playing against Roberto Carlos). Even without his majestic set pieces, Beckham was a deadly attacking presence and above average defensively.
2010 – Antonio Valencia
The 24 year old has made a good start to his United career with five goals and eight assists in the league. Being dropped for Nani recently was a strange move.
Score: 1999 6 – 1 2010 (Beckham at his greatest versus a steady, young winger is a no contest).
1999 – Roy Keane
Sometimes reckless and prone to picking up too many cards (caused him to miss the Champions League final). Apart from that… there is nothing that Keane did not possess. A true legend and arguable the finest defensive midfielder in Premiership history, his stint in the second leg of the Champions League semi final was one of the all-time great performances.
2010 – Darren Fletcher
We like Fletcher. He is a big game performer, scores goals and contributes to the play. He will no doubt improve even more in the coming years.
Score: 1999 7 - 1 2010 (All-time great versus promising player).
1999 – Paul Scholes
There was a time at Old-Trafford when the stadium announcer used to introduce Scholes as “Paul Scholes Scores Goals”. He always had the passing and vision and although his tackling was never the best or wisest, he played the position defensively well. At 24 he was at his peak.
2010 – Michael Carrick
Bought at great expense from Tottenham, Carrick has never quite proven himself to be top class (a regular in the England squad who almost never plays). Great passing, decent defensively he is yet to shed the view that doesn’t quite do enough on the pitch.
Score: 1999 8 - 1 2010 (Turning into a bit of a thrashing, isn’t it).
1999 – Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham
Yorke most notably formed a magical partnership with Andy/Andrew/Andy Cole whose value was far greater than the sum of its parts. Sheringham was always the brains of any partnership he formed and even at 33 proved to be a crucial component of the treble winning team.
2010 – Dimitar Berbatov
Bought in at even greater expense than Carrick, from Tottenham, Berbatov is one of the most talented players in the Premier League. However he has failed to live up to that billing providing only sporadic performances of note in his time at Old Trafford. In recent games, Ferguson appears to have accepted that Berbatov will never be a first team fixture, changing to a 4-3-3 which features a single striker – and no Berbatov. Sadly, Berbatov himself appears to have accepted this.
Score: 1999 9 - 1 2010 (While Berbatov’s talent should win this, his application and performances loses it).
1999 – Andy Cole, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Cole certainly knew where the goal was and even more so when partnered with Dwight Yorke. Solskjaer is famed for being one of the greatest (and most selfless) substitutes the Premier League has ever seen.
2010 – Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen
Rooney is currently playing the best football of his already stellar career. Though not quite capable of winning matches on his own like Christiano Ronaldo was, Rooney is now verging on the “world class” level of player that is inhabited by the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Ronaldo et al.
Owen – let this be stated – lost his pace while still at Liverpool. What he never lost was his finishing ability even though he was such a disappointment at Newcastle. We always assumed that it would return if he had his chance at a good club. It appears we were wrong and Owen is left with almost nothing to his game.
Final score:
Manchester United 1999 10 – 1 Manchester United 2010
So there we have it – a thrashing for the current crop of Manchester United. Surely this makes their achievements in past few seasons all the more astonishing?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
this article is bu****it.
this article is bu****it. + 1
Excellent, so the score is; 2 – 0.
I’m not hearing a great deal to back up the counter argument though.
See, Manchester is a first class team and Manchester can also 10-1 Macnhester 1999 or another team
Except Bayern Munich of course.
are so booring your texts.man utd 2010 is the favourite team of the football in world…
Manchester needs a new player in coming season
not just one but many
This is complete and utter trash. Sir you have absolutely no idea about football at all. The current United side is the best nucleus of players we’ve ever had and the treble winning side were incredibly fortunate to achieve what they did in that particular year. Please take note of the fact that they never came close to repeating their achievements any time before or after that fateful season, instead they were well beaten by both Spanish and Italian sides who played in far superior leagues than what the premier league was at the time.
Nowadays the Premier League is king and so are the English sides. The individual quality found within the ranks of the current United side simply outclass that of the 99 stock, to which I’d add there’s simply no contest, this side is way way superior to anything we’ve had before, and they should have won five trophies last season. anyway, your theory is so far off the mark I feel the need to correct, or at least express my opinion, here goes.
1. Goalkeeper. Peter Schmeichel, was a world class keeper, and one of the best in the game in his prime. Edwin Van Der Sar is however a better goalkeeper, if only just. In fact his spacial awareness and shot stopping are far superior to that of Schmeichel, who whilst we all remmber from kind nostalgia, we always forget that his shotstopping and attempts to win the ball in the air, which often left a lot to be desired. Van Der Sar, if only just.
2. Right Back. First of all your argument is invalid as both Wes Brown and Rafael are wing backs, as opposed to Gary Neville, who is more of a natural full back, different types of players with different uses. To this I’d definitely favour Rafael and Wes Brown, because both the aforementioned players are of the highest caliber whilst Gary Neville well, isn’t. He’s a decent professional who shows great passion, but technically is a consistent yet limited player, he’s often been left embarrassed by left sided players for his lack of pace and United themselves have suffered for this inadequacy over the years. Rafael will go on to be a world class wing back, whereas Wes Brown would have ended Neville’s first team career years ago if not for the injury troubles that have plagued him for years.
3. Left Back. You can’t be serious? No really. Just hilarious. Denis Irwin was an efficient squad player and little more, whilst Patrice Evra is currently the best LB in world football. Irwin could only dream of reaching the levels Evra has in the past three or four years. Seriously, think again.
4. Centre backs. An interesting one, though one with a definitive anwser. It just has to be Vidic and Rio, a partnership which is currently the best in world football. Yes I agree that Jaap Stam was a world class defender at his peak, but he cannot hold a torch to Rio Ferdinand, who has been the best cb in world football for the last 4 or 5 years now. As For Ronny Johnsen, please, efficient at the time, but wouldn’t get near the united lineup now.
5. Wingers. I’ve changed your argument slightly as you were pitting midfielders with completely different roles and characteristics against each other, which makes for an inaccurate comparison. In terms of wingers, United 99 had Giggs and Blomqvist as well as two makeshift wingers in Solskjaer and Jordi Cruyff. whilst our present Unite side has, Nani, Valencia, Obertan and Bebe. Now from the former list, only one winger would get into our current united side, that being of course, Ryan Giggs. even then, he is no match for what Nani will become within the next couple of years, that being one of THE BEST players in the game. Whilst Giggs was and is a world class player, he never quite achieved the levels that Nani, somewhat predictably will go on to achieve, in fact I’d say Nani is already better now than what Giggs was then. And as for the backup, Valencia/Obertan or Blomqvist/solskjaer? No disrespect to those players, but the current crop of players are of a far higher caliber, that distinction being found from decent role players, and world class talent.
6. Middle of the park. This is where the United 99 squad really put up a fight, first off with Paul Scholes, who was and still is an attacking midfield player of the highest calibre. The same can be said of Roy Keane, who was one of the best holding midfield players of his generation, and played an astronomical part in United’s European success of that time. In addition to this, the treble winning side also had useful squad players in the shape of Beckham and Butt, who both had useful qualities, particularly Beckham, who survived in the side for as long as he did largely down to his efficiency from set pieces. however, the current United crop at full strength harness adequate competition, with the likes of Hargreaves, Carrick and Anderson all being players of the highest calibre, not least Anderson, who I believe, much like Nani, will go on to become one of the best players in the world. Whilst somewhat speculative, it is safe to say Scholes as an attacking midfielder never quite achieved that level of ability, whilst Anderson is already knocking on the door now. Physically, technically and with explosive pace, Anderson matches Scholes passing ability whilst also demonstrating immense individual ability. For me It’s Ando, though I understand if people disagree with me for the time being. You’ll see. Whilst Carrick matches all of Beckham’s passing attributes, he also exceeds him through his defensive/interceptive qualities, and his reading of the game. Hargreaves meanwhile cannot match the overall package of Roy Keane, but certainly gives him a run for his money in such a comparison.
7. Strikers.
Well the final contestants are the deadly duo of Yorke and Cole, who whilst being very consistent and offering a variety of playable options up front, cannot hope to hold a torch to the individual qualities of Berbatov, Hernandez, and Owen. That is of course not even mentioning the beast that is Wayne Rooney, who is probably worth 40 Cole/Yorke combinations. One of the best players in the game at present, Rooney would have won the European cup on his own last season, if not for his unfortunate injury against Bayern Munich. We also have Sheringham and Solskjaer to add to the mix, who whilst admittedly were superb footballers, could never compete with the individual qualities of Rooney and Berbatov, their just in a different league. Quite simply a no brainer to finish. Ok, I might trade Owen for Cole, maybe.
anyway that’s a far more realistic perspective of how the two teams would match up. Whilst the treble winning side were compact, with a bulky 4-4-2, it was all about possession football. Nowadays their’s mainly a 4-5-1/4-3-3 being employed, with an emphasis being placed on pace and power, as well as technical ability to simply counter attack teams to death. It’s important to note that the Premier League has come a long way in the last ten years, from being a league with the odd world class player here and there, to a league where you need an entire line up of world class talent to compete, something that is reflected clearly in this debate. Still it’s an interesting comparison, though their is only one clear winner here.