OK so who are the united legends?

[Munkehboi]

I would consider Park Ji-Sung as a tier 3 just for all those goals against Arsenal!

Seriously though, 4 PL titles and 1 CL. A very different set of criteria than most. The guy would run himsellf into the ground and always put the team first - the consummate professional. Conducted himself and respresnted us amazingly well consdiering he is a superstar in Asia. For the loyalty and love he showed the club and SAF, he gets a vote from me.

Certainly not the most gifted of players but he did keep Pirlo in his pocket though.

 

[Jim Beam]

Edwards
Charlton
Best
Law
Robson
Cantona
Keane
Giggs
Scholes
Solskjaer
Gregg

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

The clear legends in my time are
Rooney
Giggs
Scholes
Ronaldo
Carrick
Evra
Vidic
Ferdinand
G Neville

Then I think you can consider
Valencia
Park
Fletcher
Oshea

 

[simplyared]

Nominating Fletcher and O’Shea yet omitting Law, who was not only club captain, extraordinary striker, best player Scotland ever produced and European Footballer of the Year, but The King. Charisma and a United legend before Eric was even born. Had the same effect on the club as Eric did 30 years later. Should never be out of anybody’s top 5.

this place.

Your name gives you away and indicates where your heart lies. But you're not wrong. Great description of the real king of Old Trafford. Legend!

 

[simplyared]

Why do these questions always have a set period, PL Era, Post Munich Era etc. United legend is a United legend regardless of the period.

Dennis Violett deserves to be on the list, 160 goals for the club is nothing to be sniffed at.

Understand your point but I thought including the Munich team would bring an emotional element into the equation. I myself are amongst the oldies on this forum. Nevertheless didn't have the priveledge to have seen them. Duncan Edwards = legend of course. What about Tommy Taylor, Eddie Coleman, David Pegg etc. Where would you stop? The whole team were legends. Dennis Violett I did see many times. I wouldn't have him on my list though.

 

[nutmegrush]

How come Cole & Yorke never get a shout in these threads

 

[Jeppers7]

I am not downplaying his contribution but just stating as it is. You say if he scored 1 goal in every game, but he didn’t. A player who scores 5 goals in 5 wins (1-0) has contributed way more than a player scoring 5 goals in 2 high scoring games.
Yes I didn’t mention some of Ronaldo’s important goals, but I didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma at OT either and I didn’t even mention Scholes’ very important goal which put us in the CL final. Because I am not here to mention all of our players’ successes otherwise the list for a few players (including our defence) would be as long in those successful years.

And just for you:
I mentioned Tevez’ goal against Lyon because we were behind 0-1 in our first knockout game away until very late and were struggling. Tevez put us out of our misery and in the return leg knowing that we had already scored the away goal at OT even without Ronaldo’s goal we would have gone through.
I sometimes wonder how people can just look at stats without putting them into context and without taking into consideration that some goals are much more important than the goals which put your team 3-0 up.

I also clearly wrote that Ronaldo did very well for us, but it is equally clear that he was part of a very good and well functioning team.

No you misread what I wrote. He did score at least 1 goal in 21 league games, in some of those 21 games he scored more than 1 goal. In 8 games he scored all our goals and 7 of those amounted to wins. He wasn’t scoring 3,4 goals as you’re insinuating. He, far more than any other player scored the decisive goals. You said a player who scored 5, well Ronaldos goals won us 7 games alone in the league.

You’re entire post seems to suggest that Ronaldo scored 3/4th goals and not decisive goals. Can you even read? My entire post was content. Not simply stats. It spelled out exactly how important Ronaldos contribution was in terms of first goals and winning goals.

You’re a mess of contradiction, playing down Ronaldos goal against Lyon as unimportant because we’d have gone through anyway then mentioning Tevezs goal against Roma when we were 2-0 from the first leg largely down to Ronaldo.

Your post is a mess.

 

[united_99]

No you misread what I wrote. He did score at least 1 goal in 21 league games, in some of those 21 games he scored more than 1 goal. In 8 games he scored all our goals and 7 of those amounted to wins. He wasn’t scoring 3,4 goals as you’re insinuating. He, far more than any other player scored the decisive goals. You said a player who scored 5, well Ronaldos goals won us 7 games alone in the league.

You’re entire post seems to suggest that Ronaldo scored 3/4th goals and not decisive goals. Can you even read? My entire post was content. Not simply stats. It spelled out exactly how important Ronaldos contribution was in terms of first goals and winning goals.

You’re a mess of contradiction, playing down Ronaldos goal against Lyon as unimportant because we’d have gone through anyway then mentioning Tevezs goal against Roma when we were 2-0 from the first leg largely down to Ronaldo.

Your post is a mess.

Great, you win. We won everything in 2007/08 because of Ronaldo.
Many 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws where other players scored our only goals didn’t happen.
Only games when Ronaldo scored decisive goals are relevant.
Ronaldo scoring 12 league goals when we would have won without those goals anyway didn’t happen (these 12 goals are when he scored the 2nd goal in a 2-0 win or the 4th goal in a 4-1 win).
Other players scoring the 1st goal in our wins didn’t happen.
Carrick and Scholes controlling the midfield didn’t happen either.
Our defence managing 21 clean sheets in the league and 8 in the CL (including 180 minutes against both Roma and Barca) didn’t happen either.

If you read my posts again you will realise that I have already claimed several times how much he contributed, but the same applies to some of his very good and reliable teammates.
And again, I didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma in my original post. But as you were outraged because I didn’t mention Ronaldo’s goal against Lyon, only then I told you that I didn’t mention it for the same reason I originally didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma. Both goals - while it was still good having scored them - weren’t as crucial as some other CL goals.

 

[Pablo76]

T1: Charlton, Giggs, Scholes, Law, Best, Robson, Cantona, Gregg, Keane, Edwards
T2: Foulkes, Rio, Irwin, Evra, Ole, Rooney, Beckham, Bruce, Schmeichel, G. Neville, Buchan
T3: Cristiano, Vidić, van der Sar, Hughes, Stiles, De Gea (yes), Ruud etc.

I find it very hard to disagree with any of this, especially tier1. Those are the only “legends” ie people who would deserve some kind of statue or naming rights by the club, and I probably would take a couple out of T1 personally!

 

[Jeppers7]

Great, you win. We won everything in 2007/08 because of Ronaldo.
Many 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws where other players scored our only goals didn’t happen.
Only games when Ronaldo scored decisive goals are relevant.
Ronaldo scoring 12 league goals when we would have won without those goals anyway didn’t happen (these 12 goals are when he scored the 2nd goal in a 2-0 win or the 4th goal in a 4-1 win).
Other players scoring the 1st goal in our wins didn’t happen.
Carrick and Scholes controlling the midfield didn’t happen either.
Our defence managing 21 clean sheets in the league and 8 in the CL (including 180 minutes against both Roma and Barca) didn’t happen either.

If you read my posts again you will realise that I have already claimed several times how much he contributed, but the same applies to some of his very good and reliable teammates.
And again, I didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma in my original post. But as you were outraged because I didn’t mention Ronaldo’s goal against Lyon, only then I told you that I didn’t mention it for the same reason I originally didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma. Both goals - while it was still good having scored them - weren’t as crucial as some other CL goals.

Football is a team sport, it’s not an individual sport. Without Vidic and Rio it would have been difficult to win what we won. The back four and front three plus squad depth made that team exceptional. However individually players will have degrees of importance some more so than others otherwise Wes Brown would be as important as anyone. Pedro would be as important as Messi and that’s not the case at all.

No other player scored in 21 league games, no other player even scored 21 league goals. Yet you tried to diminish that feat by saying he failed to scored in 17 league games? No other player was responsible for scoring goals that won 7 league games. No player in Europe scored more goals in the CL.

If you want to pretend all players are equal and John O’Shea was equally as important as Wayne Rooney, well good for you but that isn’t the case. Rio, Vidic, Evra, Scholes were superb that season. Rooney and Tevez a great foil for Ronaldo who was undoubtedly in SAF’s opinion our best player and took us to another level.

 

[Jeppers7]

Great, you win. We won everything in 2007/08 because of Ronaldo.
Many 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws where other players scored our only goals didn’t happen.
Only games when Ronaldo scored decisive goals are relevant.
Ronaldo scoring 12 league goals when we would have won without those goals anyway didn’t happen (these 12 goals are when he scored the 2nd goal in a 2-0 win or the 4th goal in a 4-1 win).
Other players scoring the 1st goal in our wins didn’t happen.
Carrick and Scholes controlling the midfield didn’t happen either.
Our defence managing 21 clean sheets in the league and 8 in the CL (including 180 minutes against both Roma and Barca) didn’t happen either.

If you read my posts again you will realise that I have already claimed several times how much he contributed, but the same applies to some of his very good and reliable teammates.
And again, I didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma in my original post. But as you were outraged because I didn’t mention Ronaldo’s goal against Lyon, only then I told you that I didn’t mention it for the same reason I originally didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma. Both goals - while it was still good having scored them - weren’t as crucial as some other CL goals.

For the record their were 8 league games where Ronaldo was our only goal scorer and we won 7. In most he scored more than one. Of the other games there were also 8 where we had one goal scorer (that wasn’t Ronaldo) and those goals were spread between five different players.

So again whilst others played a part, it’s a team sport, no one came close to matching Ronaldos contribution in any tournament that season.

 

[Jeppers7]

See that’s what I mean about the rose tinted spectacles applied to Ronaldo’s time at the club. We were only between 4 and 7 points ahead of the team in third place in both those seasons. Not exactly total dominance. Nothing like Liverpool managed last season (or United managed in genuinely dominant seasons in the past)

In 2010/11 we were 9 points clear of second and third placed teams. I’m not seeing anything like the drop off you’d expect from losing such a hugely important player. Especially when you consider the players we signed to replace him.

Or you could say from 07-09 With Ronaldo we won :-

3 league titles, 1 CL, 1 Club World Cup, 1 league cup.

From 09-12 without Ronaldo we won :-

1 league title, 1 league cup

Yeah no drop off there ?

 

[redmanx]

Your name gives you away and indicates where your heart lies. But you're not wrong. Great description of the real king of Old Trafford. Legend!
[/QUOT Denis was the most exciting player I ever saw, nobody Ive seen, including Best, Di Stefano and Eusebio, was more electrifying.

 

[sammsky1]

I think one key criteria for being a club legend should be that there isn’t too much debate on if a player deserves such status.

It should be very obvious and accepted with enthusiasm from the vast vast majority of fans. Else why is that player worthy of having his story retold to other fans to make him ‘legendary’?

I’d you apply this criteria, it makes cases for want away players like Beckham and Ronaldo, very easy to conclude.

 

[sammsky1]

Not many mentions for Mark Hughes which is odd given that his team mates (including Robson) and many fans at the time nicknamed him ‘Triple Ledge’ in honour of his pivotal role in the team.

perhaps opinions got sullied because he left for Chelsea and managed City, but he was adored by fans both times he was at United.

 

[LARulz]

It's like having the hottest chick around, she married someone else and loved him...dumping us along the way, and we still hang her picture on the wall.

Yeah but i used to bang her before she got famous and left me for a richer dude, loved him even when he doesnt treat her very well.

It's a one sided love, he moved on and never even once looked back. I doubt he really loved us anyway, he respect the old man that taught him the way but i dont think he loves the club

He ways speaks highly of us and considers us one of 'his clubs'. I've never seen him refer to us any other way except with fondness

 

[Ace]

Ronaldo

Everyone else

 

[Jeppers7]

I think one key criteria for being a club legend should be that there isn’t too much debate on if a player deserves such status.

It should be very obvious and accepted with enthusiasm from the vast vast majority of fans. Else why is that player worthy of having his story retold to other fans to make him ‘legendary’?

I’d you apply this criteria, it makes cases for want away players like Beckham and Ronaldo, very easy to conclude.

Not many mentions for Mark Hughes which is odd given that his team mates (including Robson) and many fans at the time nicknamed him ‘Triple Ledge’ in honour of his pivotal role in the team.

perhaps opinions got sullied because he left for Chelsea and managed City, but he was adored by fans both times he was at United.

How can the same poster write these two posts?

Baffling.

 

[redmanx]

Not many mentions for Mark Hughes which is odd given that his team mates (including Robson) and many fans at the time nicknamed him ‘Triple Ledge’ in honour of his pivotal role in the team.

perhaps opinions got sullied because he left for Chelsea and managed City, but he was adored by fans both times he was at United.

Definitely a Legend.

 

[redmanx]

I think one key criteria for being a club legend should be that there isn’t too much debate on if a player deserves such status.

It should be very obvious and accepted with enthusiasm from the vast vast majority of fans. Else why is that player worthy of having his story retold to other fans to make him ‘legendary’?

I’d you apply this criteria, it makes cases for want away players like Beckham and Ronaldo, very easy to conclude.

How can the same poster write these two posts?

Baffling.

Understand your point but I thought including the Munich team would bring an emotional element into the equation. I myself are amongst the oldies on this forum. Nevertheless didn't have the priveledge to have seen them. Duncan Edwards = legend of course. What about Tommy Taylor, Eddie Coleman, David Pegg etc. Where would you stop? The whole team were legends. Dennis Violett I did see many times. I wouldn't have him on my list though.

Munich ensured legendary status for those who died, but Duncan Edwards, Eddie Coleman, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan and Roger Byrne especially would have achieved this status anyway, Edwards in fact already had done so. Like Bobby Charlton, Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes, Dennis Violet survived and went on to become one of our greatest ever strikers and a Legend in his own right, but the Munich tragedy ensured everybody associated with it, including those whose careers were ended by the injuries they received, became and are Legends.

 

[sammsky1]

How can the same poster write these two posts?

Baffling.

What’s so baffling?!

 

[sammsky1]

Munich ensured legendary status for those who died, but Duncan Edwards, Eddie Coleman, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan and Roger Byrne especially would have achieved this status anyway, Edwards in fact already had done so. Like Bobby Charlton, Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes, Dennis Violet survived and went on to become one of our greatest ever strikers and a Legend in his own right, but the Munich tragedy ensured everybody associated with it, including those whose careers were ended by the injuries they received, became and are Legends.

Their story is constantly retold, ... they’ve already become legendary! They are the very definitions of football legends.

 

[Jeppers7]

What’s so baffling?!

You said in one post that wantaway players Beckham and Ronaldo clearly aren’t legends and then in the next post said Hughes is.

All three are for me. No problem. But Hughes chose Barcelona in his prime and left us. He wanted away and left. To write those two posts is baffling.

 

[Hammondo]

So many lists thrown with no accepted definition of "legend".

Surely it's all subjective and doesn't matter.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Ronaldo isn't a United legend ? Hahaha

The problem is, he’s predominantly seen globally as a Real Madrid legend and that we were a very important stepping stone for that. I think that’s how he would view himself also.

 

[Steven-UK]

The clear legends in my time are
Then I think you can consider
Valencia
Park
Fletcher
Oshea

Just wow.......

 

[ElDiabloRojo]

Robson
Whiteside ( it was when I started supporting )
Hughes maybe, should have been!!!
Irwin
Keane
Giggs
Scholes
Ronaldo
Rooney
G Neville

I could add many more.

 

[sammsky1]

You said in one post that wantaway players Beckham and Ronaldo clearly aren’t legends and then in the next post said Hughes is.

All three are for me. No problem. But Hughes chose Barcelona in his prime and left us. He wanted away and left. To write those two posts is baffling.

Ah! That contradiction slipped in there without me realising
Though to be fair to me, I also said Hughes wasn’t a clear cut case as many hadn’t mentioned him.

I still think my criteria that legends should be very easy to define and have mass endorsement is a good one so sadly sparky triple ledge Hughes doesn’t make the grade.

 

[TsuWave]

Ronaldo

 

[Chesterlestreet]

If you can't reach a consensus on what a legend is and how to define one, then you'll never reach one on who the legends are.

True.

And about half the people contributing to these discussions aren't, in fact, listing "legends". They're just ranking players based on how good they were (in their opinion).

 

[Jeppers7]

Ah! That contradiction slipped in there without me realising
Though to be fair to me, I also said Hughes wasn’t a clear cut case as many hadn’t mentioned him.

I still think my criteria that legends should be very easy to define and have mass endorsement is a good one so sadly sparky triple ledge Hughes doesn’t make the grade.

He gets my vote !

 

[Son]

Evra is. Ronaldo isn't.

How is Ronnie not a United legend?

He did more for our club than Evra on the pitch and that’s just a fact.

Legend all day long and the best player I’ve ever seen in a United shirt. We were blessed to have him for 6 years and good luck to to guy after that. Champions league winner, ballon D’Or winner. True United legend.

Also how does Beckham make the United legend cut and not Ronaldo? Because he’s English? I really don’t get the logic with some of our fans.

“But, but he’s a legend at Madrid...“

Who cares seriously after what he did for us before? That was a legends career in itself. Ronaldo has nothing else to prove to our fans.

 

[lsd]

Thinking about a recent thread where the question popped up whether or not Ronaldo can be considered a united legend. My answer is a definate no.

Noticed the Caf was quite split on the subject. So thought it would be interesting to ask the question which players you would class as united legends.

This would be my list (post Munich) off the top of my head:

Charlton
Law
Best
Foulkes
Gregg
Stiles
Buchan
Robson
Keane
Cantona
Schmeichel
Evra
Scholes
Giggs
Beckham
Rooney

If Cantona and Evra are legends then Ronaldo certainly is. Same for Rooney . When the two played together and we needed to score it was Ronaldo you wanted the chance to fall to not Rooney

 

[Jaapster]

There are only 2 United legends. Edwards and Ronaldo.

no george best, no bobby charlton, no dennis law you seriously need your feckin head testing

 

[Denis' cuff]

Your name gives you away and indicates where your heart lies. But you're not wrong. Great description of the real king of Old Trafford. Legend!

Cant believe the lack of recognition he gets.

Remember that song we used to sing to the tune of The Irish Ploughboy? The line “Denis Law dazzling in the sun” ? He fecking dazzled, physically, with that silvery blond head and his manic buzzing around like a bee on steroids. Remember that game England vs Rest of the World? He was playing alongside di Stefano, Eusebio, Puskas etc and looked perfectly at home and of course, scored their only goal.

Electric.

 

[kidbob]

Legend is a weird one because it's hard to define. What you'll normally see is people having a disposition towards talented attacking players and especially focusing on talent alone.

Go by position then (I will absolutely miss out on older players but will include the obvious ones):
GK:
Bailey
Schmeichal
VDS
De Gea (unfortunate to be our best player during turbulent times)

LB:
Evra
Irwin

CB:
Bruce
Pallister
Vidic
Ferdinand

RB:
G Neville

RM/RW:
Ronaldo (100% a legend)
Beckham
Best

CM:
Edwards (definition of a legend in many ways)
Charlton
Scholes
Keane
Carrick (debatable)
Robson

LM/LW:
Giggs

CAM:
Cantona
Rooney

ST:
Yorke (I think he is because of the results of the treble season)
Cole (100% is)
RVN
Law
Ole

I'll make the distinction between legend and cult hero with the cult heroes being (that I rememeber):
O'Shea
Park
Rafael
Fletcher
RVP
Ibra

To be honest the list goes on and on for cult heroes but they are the obvious ones.

Like I said I'm sure I've missed players from the olden days for either list, but in my mind only Yorke and Carrick are any way debatable for the legends and if so then they at the very least belong in the cult hero list instead.

 

[Steven-UK]

Ruud van Nistelrooy - the best striker United has ever had.

150 games, 95 goals, an absolute animal as a striker, especially compared to what we have now...

 

[ElDiabloRojo]

Ruud van Nistelrooy - the best striker United has ever had.

150 games, 95 goals, an absolute animal as a striker, especially compared to what we have now...

Ruud is a United Legend.

Imagine having that guy now in his prime.

 

[ElDiabloRojo]

Edwards
Charlton
Best
Law
Robson
Cantona
Keane
Giggs
Scholes
Solskjaer
Gregg

Bruce, even if just for that Sheff Wednesday game.

What a finish to that game, ah Fergie Time.

 

[MrEleson]

Great, you win. We won everything in 2007/08 because of Ronaldo.
Many 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws where other players scored our only goals didn’t happen.
Only games when Ronaldo scored decisive goals are relevant.
Ronaldo scoring 12 league goals when we would have won without those goals anyway didn’t happen (these 12 goals are when he scored the 2nd goal in a 2-0 win or the 4th goal in a 4-1 win).
Other players scoring the 1st goal in our wins didn’t happen.
Carrick and Scholes controlling the midfield didn’t happen either.
Our defence managing 21 clean sheets in the league and 8 in the CL (including 180 minutes against both Roma and Barca) didn’t happen either.

If you read my posts again you will realise that I have already claimed several times how much he contributed, but the same applies to some of his very good and reliable teammates.
And again, I didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma in my original post. But as you were outraged because I didn’t mention Ronaldo’s goal against Lyon, only then I told you that I didn’t mention it for the same reason I originally didn’t mention Tevez’ goal against Roma. Both goals - while it was still good having scored them - weren’t as crucial as some other CL goals.

“Hopefully he can work some of his magic and get us into the next round.” - That should tell you the level of influence Ronaldo had on the team back then.

Football is a team sport, it’s not an individual sport. Without Vidic and Rio it would have been difficult to win what we won. The back four and front three plus squad depth made that team exceptional. However individually players will have degrees of importance some more so than others otherwise Wes Brown would be as important as anyone. Pedro would be as important as Messi and that’s not the case at all.

No other player scored in 21 league games, no other player even scored 21 league goals. Yet you tried to diminish that feat by saying he failed to scored in 17 league games? No other player was responsible for scoring goals that won 7 league games. No player in Europe scored more goals in the CL.

If you want to pretend all players are equal and John O’Shea was equally as important as Wayne Rooney, well good for you but that isn’t the case. Rio, Vidic, Evra, Scholes were superb that season. Rooney and Tevez a great foil for Ronaldo who was undoubtedly in SAF’s opinion our best player and took us to another level.

Well said.

Ronaldo is a United legend undoubtedly. If his career fell off a cliff after leaving United or he retired, would he be looked back on more fondly by some in here?