3 players from the past you were indifferent to that you'd have back in a heartbeat now?

[Fortitude]

Reading the United section of the caf these days is pretty much a mix of ire and reminiscence. Within that reminiscence, some names get drawn out of the hat and remembered far more fondly than they were during their actual playing career at the club. Nothing wrong with that, but it is an interesting phenomenon and perhaps a sign of how a once genuinely world class side have fallen off post-Fergie.

Players such as Nani and Carrick have had their profiles boosted a lot retrospectively, for example. Again, nowt wrong with it, but interesting, nevertheless.

Anyway, as the title says, which three players whom you didn't particularly rate 'then' would you welcome into the current squad like long lost prodigal sons?

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

I was too harsh on Evans, Berbatov and Fletcher. I'd take all of them back in a heart beat now because we used to have sky high standards back then, back then I always thought they could have been improved on and critiqued them harshly i.e. Berbatov for lack of intensity but then I watch Martial play as 9. Evans for a lack of physical presence compared to Vidic/Rio but then I watch Lindelof or other players try to win headers from setpieces. Fletcher was a complete misjudgement.

Can't say much on Nani, I always liked him and felt he'd have a stronger career if he played on the right. Carrick's passing was going from strength to strength every season, as was his influence. We were winning titles with him being a main part of the lineup - maybe he wasn't a sexy option back then but he was underappreciated and we were winning a lot with him in the side.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Not sure about 3 but I’d have a peak John O’Shea right now, who can slot in multiple positions and does an acceptable job, such is the lack of depth we are having.

Also Valencia before he turned into turn-back Tony, but then I’d say he’s if anything slightly overrated here, especially his stint as a full back.

 

[meamth]

Weirdly, I never hated player in the fergie era.

The players I hated after Fergie was Depay, but that was until he released a new single after playing for Lyon.

In conclusion, no, I never hated a United player.

 

[Judas]

Weirdly, I never hated player in the fergie era.

The players I hated after Fergie was Depay, but that was until he released a new single after playing for Lyon.

In conclusion, no, I never hated a United player.

Indifferent isn't hated though, no one is talking about hate, its players who didn't feel one way or the other about. Inbetween love and hate.

 

[Class of 63]

Buttner, Prunier and Bebe, they'd all walk into the current squad.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

Buttner, Prunier and Bebe, they'd all walk into the current squad.

Too much bubbly.

 

[Class of 63]

Too much bubbly.

Thought some of us wanted Champagne football

 

[Invictus]

Weirdly, I never hated player in the fergie era.

Indifference/apathy is not hatred, though. There were a lot of players during the Fergie years that weren't appreciated enough by some of us or taken for granted as the the lion's share of the acclaim//adulation was reserved for genuine difference-makers like Keane and Cantona and Ferdinand and Cristiano and Rooney and Scholes and Giggs, or cult favorites like Brown and O'Shea. It's like some Madrid supporters being indifferent to Makelélé back in the day — surmising that he could be easily replaced because he was a run-of-the-mill water carrier benefiting from the system, until they entered the cycle of Gravesen, Gago etc. (who mostly flattered to deceive and were a far cry from the level of Makelélé). Or Helguera, Conceição, Morientes depending on who you ask...

I'll admit that I took the success and some of the players for granted — mostly because fans of my generation were conditioned to unparalleled triumphs, an attacking style (which made us wary of players that disrupted the rhythm or weren't up to scratch from a technical standpoint) and judged some players (especially those that were squaddies with bit-part roles) quite harshly as the standards of footballing ability and performance and commitment were sky high. As things stand I'd definitely take the likes of Evans (would probably be our best centerback), Heinze (showed much more bite than Shaw), Forlán (bit of a failure but tended to give his all) in the current team — even though I wasn't particularly fond of them back in the day.

P.S. This would resonate with Arsenal/Milan supporters, too, given the diminished state of their personnel vis-à-vis the glory years!

 

[tenpoless]

Park, Zaha, Drinkwater

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

Late career Giggs was feckin class.

 

[Flanders Devil]

Late career Giggs was feckin class.

Don’t think that’s the nature of the OP...

I would say, in terms of making a difference to this squad:

Zaha
Tevez/Berba
Kagawa/Veron

 

[thepolice123]

Kagawa would be excellent in our #10 position. He would be everything we wanted.

Nani on the right side.

Pre injury Saha would be awesome too.

 

[roonster09]

Zaha
Evans
Kagawa

 

[Beans]

Darron Gibson would be extremely useful in this squad, as slow as he was, he could pick a pass.

Park Ji Sung would be a star in the current squad, instead of a squad player.

Having Rafael to play against defensive sides would be nice.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Past Players you didn't rate before to join current team...?
None.

 

[CM]

Berbatov, Park and Fletcher. You could make an argument for so many though, Saha is another good shout.

 

[Kopral Jono]

Saha, Kagawa and Fletcher probably. I was never indifferent to Saha, though. I've always felt he's class.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Rooney
Rafael
Zaha

 

[anant]

Park
Fletcher
Evans

 

[rollingstoned1]

Chicharito, Welbeck, Rafael, Kagawa and evans are all players we could easily still use. They got sold too early.

 

[Isotope]

Zaha, Berbatov, Butt.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

Brown, heinze, Oshea, phil neville maybe kagawa. Somehow he didn't compliment our midfield at all. Maybe if we build around him now.. He could be great.

 

[48 hours]

Wouldn’t say I was indifferent to these players, but if I go for players who were maybe under appreciated who would improve this team I’d go for Park, Butt and Sheringham.

 

[Irrational.]

Nani. He would be the best attacking player in the team without breaking a sweat.

I'd also take Rafael over all of our RBs.

These two players would improve us massively

 

[Jacob]

I didn't rate them back then so why would I have them back now? None of them have improved and I'm not keen on lowering the bar even further. Every signing should be top three in the squad based on quality.

My top 3:
Pogba
Martial
AWB

I.e. Any signing we make should be better than those players in their respective positions.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

Nani, Berbatov and Wes Brown.

All 3 have their fans and did their bit, but for various reasons all 3 also had critics. As of today, at their best all 3 would improve this side in an instant and probably turn half of our dropped points into wins.

 

[VorZakone]

Why would anyone be indifferent to Saha? He was absolute quality, shame about his injury record.

 

[Josh 76]

Most of the Players mentioned in this post would struggle in this Utd team. The only reason they looked looked was because they were part of a great team.

 

[Fortitude]

For me, it'd be:

Berbatov
Brown
Carrick

Berbatov: always suffered from being the fall guy who broke up our genuine golden era, for me. We went from the best team on the planet playing electric football to one, which became disjointed - relative to that - when he took to the pitch with his languid style and lack of application it was a stark contrast to our 3 rabid attackers consisting of: Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez who gave the opposition no rest bite whatsoever.

Always appreciated his technique and the sublime goals he scored, but at that time, only the most elite forwards on the planet could have come in and made me think anything other than what we had was optimal. Berbatov would be at least 20 a season and undroppable in the current team with all our erratic pace players orbiting him.

Brown: cult hero that he was, he only had the one season where he looked the part of a genuine 1st team mainstay. Had absolutely no ill will towards him, but being coldly objective, I wouldn't have had much objection to him being upgraded upon. If he could remain injury free, he'd be our CB staple in the current side.

Carrick: always appreciated and acknowledged his role, but covetous eyes wanted the absolute best midfielder on the planet to succeed a Keane and become the helmsman of our midfield with not just fire and brimstone, but also the quality seen in the likes of Mascherano, De Rossi for their all-time potential and Senna for being a class act.

He probably doesn't belong as a third because he had a lot more merit over a number of seasons than the other two, but I certainly didn't appreciate him in terms of the world game and our aspirations of being a dynasty where I thought we were close to perfect in every other position and legitimately hard-pressed to find better than what we had in all but RB and his position.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Wayne Rooney

 

[Cascarino]

I didn't rate them back then so why would I have them back now? None of them have improved and I'm not keen on lowering the bar even further. Every signing should be top three in the squad based on quality.

My top 3:
Pogba
Martial
AWB

I.e. Any signing we make should be better than those players in their respective positions.

Because your current side is nowhere near as good as previous incarnations, so players who didn’t stand out previously would now be much closer to the top of the squad in terms of ability. Edit: Not meaning that as a dig, just as an example the European winning side is still fresh in people's memory and it makes sense that someone who didn't stand out in that team, could be of higher importance or stature in the current squad.

And that signing strategy wouldn’t work. Not just logistically, but also in terms of building a team with a coherent playing approach. That’s before we go into the difficulty of actually judging players and positions in that manner.

 

[FrankDrebin]

RVN.
Great player but could never warm to him.

Nani.
Blew hot and cold but we're in desperate need for a winger capable of performing on both sides.

Parker.
Abit of a bellend but arguably our best offensive right fullback.

 

[Rolaholic]

Zaha: Was indifferent to him given how little we saw of him regularly but in hindsight, there was a good reason why Fergie made him his final signing...

Been better in the Prem than just about every forward signing under LvG who let him go.

Nani: He was real hot and cold from what I remember at the time but he might be the most talented player we've had since Ronaldo. His kind of creative spark and energy in attack has been lacking severely in the post Fergie era

Chicharito: I was a fan but I wasn't all that bothered when he got sold after wrongly thinking that the potential strike force of RVP, Falcao and Rooney with ADM in the whole would be a fruitful one. Was regretting not having him on the bench at the least halfway through that season when he was scoring goals in a similar role for the European champions and especially the season after when there was a dire lack of productive attacking options

 

[Hoboman]

Hargreaves, Heinze, Forlan

 

[The Urban Goose]

Any three that were considered squad players between 1996 and 2009. Take your pick.

 

[spiriticon]

Wilfried Zaha, Memphis Depay, and Rafael.

Big mistakes letting the first 2 go, and if Rafa had stuck around we'd still have a proper attacking fullback option.

 

[spiriticon]

Berbatov: always suffered from being the fall guy who broke up our genuine golden era, for me. We went from the best team on the planet playing electric football to one, which became disjointed - relative to that - when he took to the pitch with his languid style and lack of application it was a stark contrast to our 3 rabid attackers consisting of: Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez who gave the opposition no rest bite whatsoever.

Always appreciated his technique and the sublime goals he scored, but at that time, only the most elite forwards on the planet could have come in and made me think anything other than what we had was optimal. Berbatov would be at least 20 a season and undroppable in the current team with all our erratic pace players orbiting him.

Berba would be so ideal for us right now as a No.10. Great target man, great link up player and scores a decent amount of goals. We were so stacked in attack in 2009.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Zaha should never have been allowed to go for £2m. LVG sold some of our players so cheap it was a joke. At the very least we should of had buy back clause in there.

I still think Rafael was a good RB. At least he provided an attacking threat.

Evans has been a solid CB since he left us. At the time I thought he needed to go because he wasn’t good enough but we haven’t been able to find much better we our buying.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Here’s mine:

Henning Berg - solid CB, never rated him - but a better option than Lindelof.

Berbatov - never rated him, and he slowed the team down when he played. But think he was the wrong player for that team, he would be better in this team surrounded by less quality. I know that sounds a little counterintuitive.

Kagowa - I think the traditional no.10 if not dead in the modern game is on life support, but if played in the right area he might provide the creativity we need. Didn’t rate his time at Utd. Underwhelming.