25 Greatest Manchester United players

Start with criteria, no?

Length of time at the club
Academy player yes/no
Number of appearances
Trophies won, major, minor
Individual awards (club/league/Europe/Int’l)
Culture/personality etc.
Played for rivals yes/no

The best player ever career-wise is obviously Ronaldo, but he falls short in the other criteria. Winning a Ballon D’Or while at United and a CL and the PL titles

Top 5 has to be Charlton, Best, Rooney, Cantona, Robson maybe? Wow, the more you look at it, it gets crowded. Giggs and Scholes have a shout being academy players. Law won the Ballon D’Or but also played for City.
 
Fr. Todd Unctious said:
Top 5 will be Robson, Law, Best, Charlton, Cantona IMO. With no disrespect to the others. Cantona's influence on the club was extremely consequential
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It’s hard to explain the aura Cantona had, he was a proper leader too who I think elevated those around him.
 
DSG said:
Top 5 has to be Charlton, Best, Rooney, Cantona, Robson maybe? Wow, the more you look at it, it gets crowded. Giggs and Scholes have a shout being academy players. Law won the Ballon D’Or but also played for City.
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I don't think you can overlook Keane either. Some United fans would have him as number one
 
It's obviously a joke of a list, but I imagine it is personal so hard to argue. Solskjaer way too high. Gary Neville too.
 
pacifictheme said:
I don't have an issue with this. Bruno is great and all but so was Neville. Starting fullback for over a decade and would have been longer if not for injuries. Won everything and was an absolutely guaranteed starter for us during our best years.
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Come on. Bruno is obviously a superior footballer compared to Neville. People are obsessed with winning. Neville would've won feck all if he played in United today. He would probably be hated like Dalot.
 
Mickson said:
It's obviously a joke of a list, but I imagine it is personal so hard to argue. Solskjaer way too high. Gary Neville too.
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Solskjaer is not too high, of course I'm impartial here. He produced some of the best moments in our history, was here for 10 highly successful years. Didn't always start but understood his role, never cried, always spoke very highly of the club/fans. Was out for almost 3 years while fans sang his name practically every match while he was out and had a more than reasonable comeback year.

As a manager not very successful but played some of our best football and again had a bond with the fans than I don't think anyone has since SAF. And you can see in his final interview what the club meant to him. He's easily top 15/20 for me
 
Davìd Moyéz said:
New piece out today from Mitten with Schmeichel at number 11. The list so far:
25. Fernandes
24. Irwin
23. Foulkes
22. Meredith
21. Byrne
20. Neville
19. Solskjaer (missed a trick not having him number 20)
18. Buchan
17. Crerand
16. Beckham
15. Hughes
14. Van Nistelrooy
13. Vidic
12. Edwards
11. Schmeichel

Looks like Ferdinand/Taylor/Stiles/Viollet will definitely not make his top 25 as I'd imagine the final 10 will be Law, Best, Charlton, Robson, Cantona, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Ronaldo
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Duncan Edwards at 12th? Is this a joke for gods sake!

I know these sort of rankings impossible to please all or get right, but that is just ridiculous.
 
25. Fernandes
24. Irwin
23. Foulkes
22. Meredith
21. Byrne
20. Neville
19. Solskjaer
18. Buchan
17. Crerand
16. Beckham
15. Hughes
14. Van Nistelrooy
13. Vidic
12. Edwards
11. Schmeichel
10. Ferdinand
9. Giggs
8. Robson
7. Best
6. Ronaldo
5. Charlton
4. Scholes
3. Keane
2. Rooney
1. Cantona
 
Gagsy said:
25. Fernandes
24. Irwin
23. Foulkes
22. Meredith
21. Byrne
20. Neville
19. Solskjaer
18. Buchan
17. Crerand
16. Beckham
15. Hughes
14. Van Nistelrooy
13. Vidic
12. Edwards
11. Schmeichel
10. Ferdinand
9. Giggs
8. Robson
7. Best
6. Ronaldo
5. Charlton
4. Scholes
3. Keane
2. Rooney
1. Cantona
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Seems disrespectful to the United trinity. None of them making the top 4 and Law not included at all...
 
Gagsy said:
25. Fernandes
24. Irwin
23. Foulkes
22. Meredith
21. Byrne
20. Neville
19. Solskjaer
18. Buchan
17. Crerand
16. Beckham
15. Hughes
14. Van Nistelrooy
13. Vidic
12. Edwards
11. Schmeichel
10. Ferdinand
9. Giggs
8. Robson
7. Best
6. Ronaldo
5. Charlton
4. Scholes
3. Keane
2. Rooney
1. Cantona
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No Dennis Law???????????
 
Wonder how many posters realize how good the holy trinity were. They were for example the Mbappe’s of that period. Dennis Bergkamp for example, was named after Dennis Law.
 
Rams said:
Wonder how many posters realize how good the holy trinity were. They were for example the Mbappe’s of that period. Dennis Bergkamp for example, was named after Dennis Law.
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He was but it’s still Denis Law (and Dennis Bergkamp).
 
RedKnight88 said:
Duncan Edwards at 12th? Is this a joke for gods sake!

I know these sort of rankings impossible to please all or get right, but that is just ridiculous.
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Why? I’ve seen all of the footage (literally every available second including the odd England U-23 game that miraculously survived) and I’m an enormous fan, he would’ve likely been the best player in the world at one point and by all accounts he was a great human being…

But many players have achieved more for United and some of them played better than Edwards did (before his peak though). Without a doubt he is the greatest “what if” in our club’s history but it’s not too outlandish to say that the likes of Charlton, Best, Law, Keane, Cantona, Scholes or Rooney (and a few others) deserve a place ahead of him on merit.
 
If this is greatest players why is Ole in and not Law.

I’d also give a shout to Coppell.
Ones to argue about; Alex Stepney, Edwin van der Sar if we’re including Schmeichel, personally I preferred this two over him.
 
For me, Ferdinand doesn't make this list, though I think Mitten will include him. McGrath was a better player than he was, sadly his United career is tainted by the way he left the club and the reasons behind it, same with Whiteside. Though everyone who was part of that team says everyone was involved, the "drinking culture around the club is always noted as being Robson, Whiteside and McGrath. Hard to imagine, but if Robson had gone at that point would we be ignoring him as well??

These lists are always subjective and sadly as each generation passes, we lose those that saw some of these play, who can give first hand experience of what they were like on a cold Tuesday in Stoke, rather than what little is available on film. Big Duncan is the prime example here, I've not heard one person who saw him play, played with and against him anything other than he's the greatest. What evidence we have today is a few bits of pathe news reels and sadly passed down word of mouth. Those that did see him play now will be in the 80's or 90's and few and far between.
 
scream said:
If this is greatest players why is Ole in and not Law.

I’d also give a shout to Coppell.
Ones to argue about; Alex Stepney, Edwin van der Sar if we’re including Schmeichel, personally I preferred this two over him.
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Now Stevie Coppell was my United number 7, my first United hero and not many would have seen him play here. I'll say this outfield player that goes 206 games without missing a game has to be considered, his consistency in that period was extraordinary. However, some of the wingers we are talking about who may well be on this list probably beat Coppell on skill and talent level and that hurts me to admit it.
 
scream said:
If this is greatest players why is Ole in and not Law.

I’d also give a shout to Coppell.
Ones to argue about; Alex Stepney, Edwin van der Sar if we’re including Schmeichel, personally I preferred this two over him.
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The list isn't finished yet. I'm sure he'll find room for Law
 
I think the list is supposed to be about the “greatest” as opposed to the “best”.
Thus taking into account their longevity, influence and success whilst at the club.
I wasn’t around during the holy trinity era but United was more successful during the 90’s and 2000’s.
If the list was about literally the best players to ever play for United, then it would be a lot more straight forward.
You’d have Ronaldo first, Best or Charlton second but I don’t think that’s what the list is about.

I’m a bit surprised by picking Ruud over Andy Cole, Cole’s goal record isn’t that far of from Ruud’s and he was around during a far more successful period than Ruud, which is what United is all about really.
I’d have Andy Cole over Mark Hughes for that reason as well.
 
Tribec said:
Now Stevie Coppell was my United number 7, my first United hero and not many would have seen him play here. I'll say this outfield player that goes 206 games without missing a game has to be considered, his consistency in that period was extraordinary. However, some of the wingers we are talking about who may well be on this list probably beat Coppell on skill and talent level and that hurts me to admit it.
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Coppell and Pearson were my first two favourites.
Still think Coppell should be above Ole.
IMO Ole wasn’t one of the top 25 greatest United players as much as I loved him at the time.
 
Davìd Moyéz said:
New piece out today from Mitten with Schmeichel at number 11. The list so far:
25. Fernandes
24. Irwin
23. Foulkes
22. Meredith
21. Byrne
20. Neville
19. Solskjaer (missed a trick not having him number 20)
18. Buchan
17. Crerand
16. Beckham
15. Hughes
14. Van Nistelrooy
13. Vidic
12. Edwards
11. Schmeichel

Looks like Ferdinand/Taylor/Stiles/Viollet will definitely not make his top 25 as I'd imagine the final 10 will be Law, Best, Charlton, Robson, Cantona, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Ronaldo
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Rio not making the top 25 is crazy.

With Bruno and Irwin behind Neville and Solskjær, it seems that talent and skill is secondary to success etc. But how does that explain Van Nistelrooy at 14th then? He just won 1 title and spent 5 years at the club. And he wasn't a talisman like Cantona either.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ruud and absolutely think he should be in the top 25. But the ranking method seems a bit inconsistent.
 
Ole'sgunnarwin said:
Solskjaer is not too high, of course I'm impartial here. He produced some of the best moments in our history, was here for 10 highly successful years. Didn't always start but understood his role, never cried, always spoke very highly of the club/fans. Was out for almost 3 years while fans sang his name practically every match while he was out and had a more than reasonable comeback year.

As a manager not very successful but played some of our best football and again had a bond with the fans than I don't think anyone has since SAF. And you can see in his final interview what the club meant to him. He's easily top 15/20 for me
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Totally irrelevant regarding the best players in the club's history.

A player who never was first-choice is per definition, of course, not one of the best players in the club's history.
 
scream said:
If this is greatest players why is Ole in and not Law.

I’d also give a shout to Coppell.
Ones to argue about; Alex Stepney, Edwin van der Sar if we’re including Schmeichel, personally I preferred this two over him.
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Yeah Coppell will be on my list too, very underrated and my first United favourite player. Late 70’s early 80’s he was England’s best player (better than Keegan or Hoddle or Brooking) and one of the best players in the league. He was also two footed who could cut inside and shoot or go outside and cross, great dribbler, great passer, pace, and would keep on running for 90 minutes. Such shame injuries eventually ruined his career.
 
If you go by pure skill and top level, Ruud is by far the best sole striker we've ever had.
He was unfortunate to join in a period when we were struggling, but he is easily one of the best out and out strikers to play in the Premier League. Some of his Champions League records were also so good, they just got beaten last year.

He got 150 goals in just over 200 matches.
That's the most prolific goalscorer in our entire history, except for Tommy Taylor who just edges him out by 0,01 %.
Dennis Viollet is also close.
But those two are from an era without much video evidence to actually properly make a valid judgment on how good their overall play was. Not to mention the defenders he played against.
You basically have to rely on eyewitness testimony and historical write-ups.

If RvN had joined us earlier and we hadn't sold him, he would probably be our all time top scorer. That was the rate at which he was scoring.

I'd argue he should be in our top 10.
He is one of the best players to ever play not only for us, but in the Premier League and Champions League in general.
 
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Mickson said:
Totally irrelevant regarding the best players in the club's history.

A player who never was first-choice is per definition, of course, not one of the best players in the club's history.
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I actually read this as biggest legends so I admit defeat here
 
Davìd Moyéz said:
New piece out today from Mitten with Schmeichel at number 11. The list so far:
25. Fernandes
24. Irwin
23. Foulkes
22. Meredith
21. Byrne
20. Neville
19. Solskjaer (missed a trick not having him number 20)
18. Buchan
17. Crerand
16. Beckham
15. Hughes
14. Van Nistelrooy
13. Vidic
12. Edwards
11. Schmeichel

Looks like Ferdinand/Taylor/Stiles/Viollet will definitely not make his top 25 as I'd imagine the final 10 will be Law, Best, Charlton, Robson, Cantona, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Ronaldo
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I think that Rio should rank higher than Vidic, but can be argued either way.

I do not see any argument (except, he was captain) on Neville ahead of Rio.

The top 10 will be what you are putting and there is no argument against that (the order could be in many ways, but I guess Charlton should be No.1, with Giggs, Rooney, Ronaldo, Cantona and Best in top 6, whatever order).
 
ifightdragons said:
If you go by pure skill and top level, Ruud is by far the best sole striker we've ever had.
He was unfortunate to join in a period when we were struggling, but he is easily one of the best out and out strikers to play in the Premier League. Some of his Champions League records were also so good, they just got beaten last year.

He got 150 goals in just over 200 matches.
That's the most prolific goalscorer in our entire history, except for Tommy Taylor who just edges him out by 0,01 %.
Dennis Viollet is also close.
But those two are from an era without much video evidence to actually properly make a valid judgment on how good their overall play was. Not to mention the defenders he played against.
You basically have to rely on eyewitness testimony and historical write-ups.

If RvN had joined us earlier and we hadn't sold him, he would probably be our all time top scorer. That was the rate at which he was scoring.

I'd argue he should be in our top 10.
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I’m not arguing that RVN shouldn’t be on the list. But Law’s first 5 seasons at United were equally as good, and Law was a more allround and even more skillful than RVN. Law was one of the greats of his era.
 
I would say United had 5 truly world elite players: Edwards, Charlton, Law, Best and Ronaldo. Those 5 have to be in any list imo, they are a level above the other great players imo.
 
Rams said:
I’m not arguing that RVN shouldn’t be on the list. But Law’s first 5 seasons at United were equally as good, and Law was a more allround and even more skillful than RVN. Law was one of the greats of his era.
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To be honest, I was born in the 80s. Making me about 40 years old.

To have watched Denis Law in his prime and be old enough at the time to actually understand his game, I would have to be born in the 1940s or maybe 1950s if I was a child prodigy.

That would make me 80-90 years old.

And sadly, the amount of footage available from Law's prime in the 1960s is pretty slim pickings.
There's a handful of full matches available to watch.

Therefore, I don't really like comparing past legends to modern day equivalents.

I know by watching a few matches and clips, reading history and listening to veterans of the game that Law was really good.
And I can see his statue outside the ground.
But I honestly can't make a fair first-hand assessment on his actual level, compared to the players who played in the modern age of almost every match being televised.

I can easily judge Ruud van Nistelrooys United career by myself. I watched nearly all his matches at the time, and can easily download or stream the few games I didn't get to see.

So if we are going to rate legends I would easily throw in the likes of Meredith, Edwards and Law.

But if we are ranking the best, we need to be objective and use all available data, the best of which is video.

I could more easily make an exception for George Best. The footage that exists of him clearly shows his technical skills is decades ahead of most players who played at the time.
He looks like a player who was teleported back in time, like it's magical. He looks like he belongs in those legendary Brazil teams.
It wouldn't be until Ronaldo's debut against Bolton in 2003 that we'd again witness someone with that type of raw technical ability again at Old Trafford. Even Best said the same thing himself about Ronaldo.

But how can anyone here speak with authority on someone like Billy Meredith? As a legend, sure. And some stats, sure. He played a lot of games and scored a lot of goals. But unless you were born in the 1800s you probably never watched even one second of him actually play.
 
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Fr. Todd Unctious said:
Top 5 will be Robson, Law, Best, Charlton, Cantona IMO. With no disrespect to the others. Cantona's influence on the club was extremely consequential
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Giggs and Scholes have to be in the top 5. Won more league titles than any of the others by a mile and also have 2 European Cups. Robson and Cantona have no European Cups and won a lot less domestically.
 
Every one has gone for the obvious. Here are mine

Richardson
Galbraith
Chong
Prunier
Djemba Djember
Kleberson
Jordi
Taibi
Macheda
Bellion
Spector
Bosnich
Forlan
Eagles
Duxbury
Higginbottom
Wallwork
Curtis
Nevland
McNair
Cleverley
Wilson
Gibson
Rojo
Fosu Mensah
 
Mart1974 said:
Every one has gone for the obvious. Here are mine

Richardson
Galbraith
Chong
Prunier
Djemba Djember
Kleberson
Jordi
Taibi
Macheda
Bellion
Spector
Bosnich
Forlan
Eagles
Duxbury
Higginbottom
Wallwork
Curtis
Nevland
McNair
Cleverley
Wilson
Gibson
Rojo
Fosu Mensah
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Duxbury shouldn’t be on that list, he was half decent. Duxbury and Albiston, pretty decent when fit.
 
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