How many players have you seen at Manchester United that you have left you awestruck?

[Fortitude]

Either in your own lifetime or via footage of them?

I'm not talking about good or even very good players - we've had loads of both - but those you would genuinely pay to watch play.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Watching Cristiano live was a fantastic experience. Edge of your seat everytime he touches the ball, don't know if I'll have that same feeling for another player.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Ronaldo is the obvious one, Giggs also had that ability to make you stand up in anticipation. More recently its Pogba for me, despite the criticism he faces, he regularly does things on the pitch which make me say wow, be that a subtle touch or an impossible pass. It's part of the reason I can't believe others don't enjoy watching him play, magic in those boots.

 

[Eckers99]

Watching Cristiano live was a fantastic experience. Edge of your seat everytime he touches the ball, don't know if I'll have that same feeling for another player.

Absolutely. You knew you were watching someone who could do anything in the game. Utterly exhilarating.

Also young Giggs and Cantona.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Plenty. Too much to count.

Just few quick names off my head

• Beckham,
• Ronaldo (2006 to 2008),
• Giggs (twice young wing wizard and old midfield wizard),
• Saha,
• Scholes (when he play regista),
• Carrick (after he fully became deep playmaker and defense screen specialist),
• Vidic,
• Robson,
• VDS,
• De Gea (up until 2018),
• Pogba (when he play well),
• Januzaj (first season),
• .....

I'm in awe often with these players.

 

[JPRouve]

For me it's Giggs and no one else. At every stages of his career he was genuine pleasure to watch when young his pace and dribbling ablities were mesmerizing while the older version was technically spotless and unpredictable.

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

8

 

[RedMilo]

There have been so many players down the years that had qualities that made them special players but the standout in my lifetime :-

a) Paul McGrath - made defending look so easy.
b) Bryan Robson - Box to box, shear will to win.
c) Peter Schmeichel - defined the art of goalkeeping. He set the benchmark for future generations.
c) Kanchelskis / Sharpe / Giggs - Pace/Penetration/Courage - ability to take people on and make things happen. For me thats main reason why 94 team was so pleasurable to watch, was our wingers.
d) Roy Keane - See b)
e) Mark Hughes - Powerful / Tremendous technique (Volleying)
f) Eric Cantona - Imagination was out of this world
g) Jaap Stam - Absolute beast
g) Wayne Rooney - Ultimate street footballer, so much talent but also passion for the game
h) Cristiano Ronaldo - From showpony to the worlds most complete footballer. Combination of his hardwork and dedication wanting to be the best, combined with having a good mentor in SAF, probably our greatest ever player

Special mention to all other wonderful players i.e. Neville/Irwin/Bruce/Vidic/Tevez/Berba etc but the above players would get me off my seat regularly.

 

[Nickelodeon]

I was too young to see Peter Schmeichel live for United. Saw almost every match of Van Der Sar's United career.

But the number of incredible performances I have seen for David De Gea is by far the best among any United/Non-United GK. Between 2014 and 2018, I consider DDG to be one of the best players, not just GKs, in the world. Even in many of those "routine" wins, there were so many times that De Gea made superhuman which was akin to an outfielder scoring screamers.

From the top of my head, his performances against Arsenal away in 2017-18 and Spurs away in 2018-19 left me astounded. Our general lack of achievement which has covered almost the entirety of De Gea's career is the single reason why he isn't unanimously considered the best GK of his generation. I fail to see how an informed, objective and unbiased viewer can actually consider the likes of Ederson and Allisson to be better than him. There aren't stats currently available which do justice to the certain goals he has saved on so many occasions.

So yeah. Long story short, De Gea is one of the players who have left me awestruck.

 

[Ali Dia]

Ronnie
Scholes as DLP
Young Giggs
Young to prime Rooney
Eric
Keane
Schmeichel

 

[Handré1990]

Giggs and Ronaldo of players I’ve watched live (no explanation needed). Cantona I’ve seen plenty of from old season reviews and a few full games, he had an undeniable aura. He was pretty big and strong, mix that with his technique and inspired vision and you’ve got something very special.

Of players in the team today I’d say Pogba in moments, and Bruno. Bruno’s game vs City was world class for me, unlike most of Pogba’s games against intense pressing, he seemed to come prepared, several times they tried to double up on him and he’d just flick it to a team mate or take smart deft touches to find some space.

 

[Verbalkint]

Some great names thrown out there. I have one - RvP. After having watched him at Arsenal, we all he was a damn good player but only after he joined us did we know how great he actually was.

 

[SATA]

Pogba when he was in my country for pre-season last year. Head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch even for a friendly game. It was against Inter Milan

 

[Robertd0803]

Ronaldo.

Rooney.

Van der Sar and De Gea have both made saves that dont seem possible.

 

[alexthelion]

Best
Charlton
Law
Buchan
Robson
Hill
Schmeichel
Beckham
Giggs
Sharpe
Giggs
Kanchelskis
Van Nistlerooy
Stam
Rooney
Ronaldo

Bruno

Somehow forgot Cantona

 

[Invictus]

Aside from the obvious ones, Crerand (via footage of course). Most of us admire Charlton, Best, Law from that era by default, but Paddy was a noteworthy player in his own right and delightful surprise in midfield while watching games from the '60s — boasting a potent blend of technique, precise passing ability, collective ethic, spatial awareness to always be available to passing opportunities, and so forth. Wouldn't look out of place in the modern game as a neat-and-tidy metronome — reckon his intelligence, knack for engineering line-breaking moves, tenacity and ability to think ahead would make up for the lack of remarkable athletic skills. Didn't score a whole lot of goals, but for whatever reason this one vs. Benfica always sticks out in my memory...

 

[Full bodied red]

Van Nistlerooy - Was perhaps the most complete CF that I've seen at OT. Not the overall best or most exciting player I've ever seen, but the one who left me awestruck at just how good he was in his position.

Keane - Headcase ?? Weirdo ?? Of course, but have we ever had a better captain on the pitch ?? Led by example. And I don't remember a bad game from him.

Cantona - Yes...On another planet and finally let me forget 30-odd years of false hopes and dreams every August.

Christiano - Perhaps the last time we will have a player that the whole world knows, not just football fans, and for the best of reasons.

Law - Simply the best of the best.

 

[BootsyCollins]

Cantona. Favorite player to watch ever.

Scholes. Took myself many times in shaking my head in disbelief and just smiling over how easy he made everything look. Some of the lists in this thread lack Scholes, find that strange.

 

[AshRK]

Cr7 is an obvious answer but for me Scholes always had that magic touch. Rooney in his young age was equally amazing to watch. Carrick would be an underrated shout. Amazing passer of the ball.

In recent times I would say from what we have seen so far Bruno looks amazing.

 

[JJ12]

Scholes goal vs Barca - I didn't celebrate for a few seconds due to shock/awe

 

[ravelston]

Best and Beckham. Sometimes Cantona, Rooney and Ronaldo. (Started going to games in 1957.)

 

[adexkola]

Bruno: the impact he's had on our team is night and day

Scholes: even in preseason he was a step above everyone on the field

 

[Scarecrow]

Rashford, Martial, Pogba, De Gea from the current team.

Rooney, RVP, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Scholes, Giggs, Beckham.

 

[jojojo]

Best and Ronaldo. Then Giggs. Then lots of players in the next tier. I've been very lucky to see them.

 

[Volumiza]

Ronaldo and RVN are my standouts.

Roy Keane was amazing to watch too and early Rooney.

Edit: not going to leave Beckham out.

 

[Thepinhead]

I remember being pretty awestruck when watching this goal.

 

[Vissy]

Pogba. I remember during a PL game this season he took the ball in the final third, powered through three players and fired a cannon of a shot that nearly went in the far post. That left my mouth hanging open, it was just amazing.

 

[Nickelodeon]

I remember being pretty awestruck when watching this goal.

This was beautiful. Shows how much of a confidence player Martial is. No pressure in a pre-season friendly and this is what he does. Hope he has that watershed season where he actually makes the jump to the elite level.

 

[Josh 76]

Some great names thrown out there. I have one - RvP. After having watched him at Arsenal, we all he was a damn good player but only after he joined us did we know how great he actually was.

Totally agree.
His hatrick at Southampton away, I was like, wtf. From then on, every time he had the ball in the opposition half, I was on the edge of my seat. Big game player too. He talk the talk and defo walked the walk. Think he scored at Anfield, Eithad, Emirates, Stamford bridge and white Hart lane that season.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Realistically just Giggs, Cantona and Ronaldo. With Giggs and Cantona I was lucky enough to be there in person to see their debuts and you could see straightaway that they were something special. With Ronaldo I think I saw his debut as a substitute on Match of the Day but again you could see he was going to be something else.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

I remember being pretty awestruck when watching this goal.

Yeah, wonderful finish.

 

[Champagne Football]

Giggs - Breathtaking in his prime

Beckham - Best free kick taker of all time

Keane - Twice as good as any other central mid in the league in his prime pre 99. Controlled games on his own.

Best - no words needed

Cristiano - GOAT

Cantona - Sadly retired just when Fergie was figuring out how to win in Europe


.......... Scholes was a genius at attacking, and won so many games for us, but often a complete liability in defending so he wasn't the complete package, so I don't hold him in the same regard as the other names on the list, despite being better in attacking than the others on that list.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Scholes - genius
Rooney - force of nature
Ronaldo - best in the world at the time and second best player I've seen
Vidic and Rio - Absolute rocks at the back

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Tempted to add DDG and Evra as well. De Gea was just freakishly good at his best. Evra was a machine.

 

[harms]

Cantona, Giggs, Schmeichel, Ruud, Scholes, Becks, Keane, Rio, Rooney, Cristiano, Nani, De Gea, van Persie.

I’ve tried to limit it to the maximum, I’d pay money to watch many more of those.

From those, who I saw in retrospect: Robson, Best, Charlton, Law, McGrath, Edwards.

 

[Thepinhead]

Yeah, wonderful finish.

Ye well tap ins seem to be difficult for us to do

 

[dalriada]

Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, just a whirlwind of sheer talent on the pitch, he created a true sense of excitement and admiration. Even the arrogance in celebration and awareness of his own ability raised a smile, as you knew it was absolutely justified.

The other one was Ryan Giggs - different experience to watching Cristiano, but his technical quality was clearly honed to such a fine level through practice and endeavour. His ability to turn on a sixpence was a delight to watch.

I think these two were in a class of their own of the players I watched. Sadly, never saw Eric Cantona at Old Trafford, or the generation before him, but from watching matches on TV (not the same experience), I could come up with a list of around a dozen, including Eric and a lot of the players already mentioned. Would love to be able to add at least a couple of our current players to the list in the future.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

The team of 1992-1995 was a joy from front to back. If for no other reason than it felt like ‘Your’ team. Every single player showed up 100% committed. No shirkers. Full of talent but to a man they had the best work ethic of any United side I’ve ever seen.

You’d pay cash to travel and watch because while you could still be disappointed with a loss, you knew it would almost always happen against an opponent that had to put in their best performance of the season to beat us.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Best and Beckham. Sometimes Cantona, Rooney and Ronaldo. (Started going to games in 1957.)

Shocking that you don’t have Giggs in there. 1990 to 1993 he was more exciting than Ronaldo was in his first 3 years.

The fact Giggs had a two decade career leaves people underrating just how exciting his first few seasons were.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Massimo Taibi
Bebe’s crossing