FourFourTwo’s 50 greatest United players of all-time.

[TMDaines]

Keane at 13 instinctively feels ludicrous, but then you look at each of the players above him in turn and there's fair arguments for each of them. Edwards strikes me as bit too high; he was deprived of much of his career. Schmeichel too maybe shouldn't be quite that high, but is probably top 10 worthy. Cantona as well was important, but he only ultimately gave us five seasons. Robson was before my time, but he was really highly regarded in quite indifferent United sides. If he played five years later or twenty years earlier, he'd have had the opportunity to be our greatest ever.

My top 10 would probably be something like the following: the top 5 is quite set, but 6th-15th is much harder. Longevity is important for me and I only factor in a player's time at United.

1. Charlton
2. Giggs
3. Best
4. Law
5. Scholes
6. Robson
7. Keane
8. Rooney
9. Schmeichel
10. Cantona

Beckham, Byrne, Edwards, Ferdinand, Foulkes, Neville, Ronaldo and Taylor feel like the best of the rest.

Obviously if you are ranking the best players to wear a United shirt or players with the highest peak at United, the list would look very different.

 

[Tarrou]

You shouldn't be punishing individuals for the collective failures of an organisation. It's a poor way to look at it.

You're basically saying, as great as he was he wasted his time here and should've instead gone to become a Liverpool legend instead.

Hardly. I'm simply stating that league titles and european cups count towards greatness. Keane contributed a lot to the trophies he won and deserves lots of credit for them.

Robbos in my top ten as well, above plenty of good players from the better eras.

 

[Judge Red]

I will never put anyone above Cantona.

 

[villain]

The disrespect of Andy Cole continues.
He's top 20, at least.

 

[POF]

Gary Neville just 2 spots below Keane and 3 above Irwin. I don't think Neville would even rank himself there!

 

[Grande]

David De Gea is tarred by too many for the last years. For about five years he was the best or one of the best two/three keepers in the world, in my opinion. He was like Bryan Robson in the eighties, head and shoulders our best player season after season in a period were our general level was below the best. Van der Sar never had that kind of status, even if he was protected by our best defence probably ever. I would have De Gea in the top 20 personally.

 

[Skills]

Hardly. I'm simply stating that league titles and european cups count towards greatness. Keane contributed a lot to the trophies he won and deserves lots of credit for them.

Robbos in my top ten as well, above plenty of good players from the better eras.

But it's a team sport at the end of the today. Much of the clubs success is outside of your own individual hands. You need great team mates, a good manager and even up to the clubs board contributes to that success.

You might say that not having the team success robs him of a top 3 spot. But excluding the clubs most iconic footballer for an entire generation of fans from the top 5/10 seems a bit insulting to not only Robson but also the fans who watched and followed us through that time (and seemingly loved him for it).

 

[MrSingh2002]

Stam, Cole, Van Der Sar and Van Nistelrooy should be higher.

Neville and Giggs should be lower.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Swap Keane with Schmeichel and VDS with Neville and I'd agree with it.

 

[Pughnichi]

No kanchelskis!! How dare they

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

But excluding the clubs most iconic footballer for an entire generation of fans from the top 5/10 seems a bit insulting to not only Robson but also the fans who watched and followed us through that time (and seemingly loved him for it).

The nearest I’ve got to a man crush in my life.

 

[Stack]

Sadly, the reasoning is behind the paywall for me.

Giggs, as great of a servant to the club he was (I'm purposefully ignoring all the stuff that came up in the later years even though it really damaged his legendary status in my eyes to say the least), is too high. Charlton's longevity is comparable while their individual contribution, well, isn't — Sir Bobby's path, from breaking in to the Busby Babes team, surviving the crash, getting back the same season to assume a position of leadership (aged only 20) and playing a key role in club's resurgence to the very top while also being one of the best players in the world at the time... He's always going to be the number 1 for me.

Obviously George Best embodies the most exciting part of United's image — flair and flamboyance at the brink of arrogance, same as Eric Cantona in the 90's (but, unlike Cantona, he's not just one of the best players in United's history, you can certainly make the case of George Best being one of the most talented footballers to ever grace the football pitch), so he has to be at the very top, #3 seems like a good spot for him.

Duncan Edwards is probably a little overrated and I'm not talking about his ability (I've been going through some 1950's footage lately and he always stands out when he's on the pitch), but he can't be higher than Roy Keane when we take a look at what they actually gave to this club. Yes, Edwards' name will always be linked to Busby Babes & Munich and he's the greatest "what if" not only in United's, but also in England's history, but he has to be a bit lower.

Underrated:
van der Sar (at least 10 places too low)
Gregg (more than just a player for United)
McGrath (mid 20's at the least)
Carrick (~30-ish)
Cole (I'd place him a good 5-7 places higher)
Stam (his stay here was way too short but I'd certainly say that he's a "greater" United player than, say, Pallister)

Overrated:
Stiles (such a lovely guy & a proper character but he shouldn't be ahead of the likes of Vidić, De Gea, van der Sar etc.)
Schmeichel (a little bit; for me, he's our greatest ever keeper but it's really close)
van Nistelrooy (maybe a little bit — too little team success even though individually he had been simply outstanding)

100% all of this

 

[Shakesy]

as much as I love Robbo I'd have to put Keano above him

@BeforeKeanetherewasRobson

 

[UnofficialDevil]

1. Giggs
2. Charlton
3. Best
4. Robson
5. Cantona
6. Law
7. Edwards
8. Schmeichel
9. Rooney
10. Scholes
11. Ferdinand
12. Ronaldo
13. Keane ( )
14. Beckham
15. G. Neville
16. Byrne
17. Taylor
18. Irwin
19. Foulkes
20. Van Nistlerooy
21. Stiles
22. De Gea
23. Violett
24. Vidic
25. M. Hughes
26. Buchan
27. Bruce
28. Evra
29. Whiteside
30. Pallister
31. Van der Sar
32. Solskjaer
33. McClair
34. McGrath
35. Coppell
36. Crerand
37. Carrick
38. ‘Billy’ Whelan
39. McIlroy
40. Ince
41. Albiston
42. Cole
43. Yorke
44. Kidd
45. Dunne
46. Stam
47. Carey
48. Pearson
49. Gregg
50. Sheringham

Link and their reasoning

Keane’s position is an absolute joke; others are questionable, too, but what do you think?

Can you be arsed doing a list of 50 or even re-jigging this one?

Why are you laughing about Keane?

 

[captaincantona]

Why are you laughing about Keane?

Because he should be 1st

 

[Red Star One]

He's the most successful player to have ever played for us. He was ever present in our most successful era and he's probably the biggest success story from our storied academy. Giggs the footballer is the perfect representation of Manchester United.

Shame he's a scumbag off the pitch.

Agreed. I'm quite shocked so many in this thread question Giggs' presence in top3. For me he's deserved top 1. Entire career with United. 963 fecking appearances for the club. 13 bloody PL titles, 4 FA cups, 2 CL. Most assists in the league in history. He won Premier League more time than any English club bar United and Liverpool. Best wide player of his generation.

Scumbag off the pitch indeed he turned out to be, but as a United player he's truly one and only and I don't think we will every see a player win as much for any single club, never mind for United.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

The article lost all credibility when it ranked Schmeichel higher than Keane and Beckham. In my opinion, Schmeichel wasn't as good as Van Der Sar (31st is laughable), but even if you disagree with that: ranking him higher than Ballon Do'r runner up (Beckham) and United's greatest ever captain (Keane) is nonsensical.

Am I the only one who remembers how often he would get lobbed by strikers because he was too far off his line? No I'm not bitter about him joining City and cartwheeling in front of our fans at Maine Road! Promise

 

[Shakesy]

Van Nistlerooy > Rooney

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Because he should be 1st

As long as he is laughing about him being too low in the list, that's fine.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Van Nistlerooy > Rooney

Bollocks he is.

 

[Shakesy]

Bollocks he is.

Ruud
Rooney

 

[sullydnl]

Given the combination of his actual success as a player and the context of his career around Munich, I would always expect Charlton to be #1 on these short of lists. I don't really see the justification for placing Giggs ahead of him. He was neither as good a footballer nor as important a figure in the club's history as Charlton.

 

[Jev]

Where would people have Keane seeing as 13 is considered criminally low? Surely three or four positions is the most you could promote him? I think 13th seems about right.

 

[Blood Mage]

Best is the greatest footballer ever to play for the club with Ronaldo a close second.

 

[kunal18]

Scholes, Giggs won two champions league and 11 PL and 13 PL trophies respectively for the club as key players for almost all those seasons.
Football is about trophies, even Ballon D'or is given mostly to the trophy winners.
I'd have Carrick and Ronaldo higher up the list, De Gea lower on the list.

 

[King7Eric]

Some serious underrating of Giggs going on here. I think people are letting off field issues distract them from the fact that he was an absolute gem of a player. As a flying winger in the 90s he was world class, and then he completely reinvented himself and was an important member of our 06-09 team, winning Player of the year in 09. This is without even going into his longevity and trophy count. If I needed a goal in the last 5 mins, there's no where I'd rather the ball be than with Giggs's left foot as you know he'd be able to deliver quality into the box from any angle.

Whether he's the absolute greatest of all time for us is debatable, but he's definitely top 3.

 

[Shakesy]

Where would people have Keane seeing as 13 is considered criminally low? Surely three or four positions is the most you could promote him? I think 13th seems about right.

Without Keane, Giggs and Scholes wouldn't be so high. He was the fulcrum. The furious fulcrum.

 

[captaincantona]

It’s a balance for each fan subjectively…Keane wasn’t the most talented but he was the reason I loved being a Utd fan beyond just winning things - he represented fans on the pitch. - same with Robbo. Gave fans a real sense of being in the trenches with the team.

Keane 1, Cantona is my number two…Best and Chharlton 3 and 4 - Robbo 5.

 

[TheGame]

Surely Butt should have made the list.

 

[Jev]

Without Keane, Giggs and Scholes wouldn't be so high. He was the fulcrum. The furious fulcrum.

This is easy to say but actually we don't really now because he was there, and we did fine when he left, as did Giggs and Scholes. Individually he was, in my opinion, less impactful than Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Ronaldo, Rio, Rooney, Cantona and Schmeichel just to stick to the players I've seen.

 

[Shakesy]

It’s a balance for each fan subjectively…Keane wasn’t the most talented but he was the reason I loved being a Utd fan beyond just winning things - he represented fans on the pitch. - same with Robbo. Gave fans a real sense of being in the trenches with the team.

Keane 1, Cantona is my number two…Best and Chharlton 3 and 4 - Robbo 5.

Also, Keane was feckin talented

 

[Shakesy]

This is easy to say but actually we don't really now because he was there, and we did fine when he left, as did Giggs and Scholes. Individually he was, in my opinion, less impactful than Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Ronaldo, Rio, Rooney, Cantona and Schmeichel just to stick to the players I've seen.

I was young then, so the other players were more spectacular. I could never understand why Keane consistently got 9/10 in player ratings.

Now I know.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

How is the clubs all time leading scorer not at least in the top 5? Scored more than Charlton in far less games and won a crap load of silverware in the process. It's almost criminal how much people tend to under rate just how good Rooney was...

 

[Luke1995]

Beckham should be higher up. (Top 10) His long range passing had few equals. I personally rank that particular skillset very high.

 

[diarm]

David De Gea is tarred by too many for the last years. For about five years he was the best or one of the best two/three keepers in the world, in my opinion.

I disagree. This goal cost us the title in 2012:

He's had the same weaknesses forever.

 

[captaincantona]

Also, Keane was feckin talented

Absolutely…amazing talent. Just wasn’t his main attribute.

 

[Skills]

Without Keane, Giggs and Scholes wouldn't be so high. He was the fulcrum. The furious fulcrum.

Giggs and United had already won a league title before Keane even turned up. I believe it was the season he spent getting relegated with Forest - slap bang at the bottom of the table.

 

[sullydnl]

Where would people have Keane seeing as 13 is considered criminally low? Surely three or four positions is the most you could promote him? I think 13th seems about right.

He could go a few places higher. It's basically how you rate him compared to some of the players he played with (Ferdinand, Ronaldo, Rooney, Scholes and Schmeichel, mainly).

 

[Irwin99]

Schmeichal said this about Keane's knee injury in 1997: "if you look at the last two seasons or so he's probably been our best player"

...and this was before Keane even entered his best period at the club 98-2002. Had to be higher here. Easily a top 10 player.

Also Vidic is ahead of De Gea any day of the week, as much as I like De Gea and value his contribution, especially in the first few years of the Post SAF era.

 

[micmac]

I know he’s a top 4 player ever but am I the only one who thinks Ronaldo is always rated very high up in the “best of Manchester United” types of lists?