Our worst Prem player(s) who would a) start for us and b) be our star player

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Based a bit on this thread - https://www.redcafe.net/threads/i-miss-scholes-keane-and-carrick.468260/ - In an attempt to give some praise to some of our non-superstars of the past (and to cash in on the current air of negativity!)

The question is,

a) Who is our very worst Premiership player that would get into our starting XI

and then also

b) Who is our worst Prem player that would be our best player/star man (so better then whoever you think our current best player is (Bruno? Ronaldo? Eriksen?)


For me the answer to a) is Anderson (which might be a bit unfair on the buffet loving scamp, as he did have one season where he genuinely looked great) as yeah, he would waltz into our midfield. O'Shea was another shout but I think he was a better player then Anderson... Gibson another, but I'm not sure he's any better then McT (though he's definitely got a better cannon on him at least)

B) is a bit tricker, as it has to be someone who was definitely decent to warrant being our best player now... my pick would maybe be Teddy Sheringham (though I'm still not sure) - a very good, never great, striker that would probably be our shining light up top if he was here now. My other thoughts were Nani or Park, but I think they're better players then Sheringham was.
 

Leftback99

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Nani would be our best player by a mile and he was hated by large sections of our fanbase.
 

SilentWitness

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a) Maybe Cleverley/Anderson/Gibson...

b) Antonio Valencia? :nervous:
 

Hammondo

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Nani would be our best player by a mile and he was hated by large sections of our fanbase.
He was just frustrating. So much talent but he just turned into doing tricks and trying to solo everything instead of sticking to the team football.
 

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Nani would be our best player by a mile and he was hated by large sections of our fanbase.
He'd easily be our best player - but I think we've had worse players then him that would also be our best player currently
 

Siorac

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a) Obertan or David Bellion
I think you're forgetting how bad those two were amid all the misery that is the present day Manchester United. Martial, Rashford, or Sancho are all quite significantly better than those two ever were. In fact, selling Gabriel Obertan for actual, real world money was one of the truly great achievements of the club's history.
 

united_99

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I keep shaking my head for several minutes every time Nani gets mentioned in these types of conversations. Sure he was no Ronaldo or Rooney when they were all here but he was a really good player and miles better than the likes of O‘Shea, Ando or Cleverley. Let alone bloody Gibson, he was barely a footballer.
 

SportingCP96

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Nani would be our best player by a mile and he was hated by large sections of our fanbase.
Oh come on

Between 09-10 and 11-12 he was one of the best right wingers in the world and brilliant

In 10-11 he was absolutely unplayable and would skin any full back in the world and provided so much end product.
 

GloryHunter07

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I think you're forgetting how bad those two were amid all the misery that is the present day Manchester United. Martial, Rashford, or Sancho are all quite significantly better than those two ever were. In fact, selling Gabriel Obertan for actual, real world money was one of the truly great achievements of the club's history.
To be fair i was thinking about our starting 11 on Sunday, push Rashford upfront. But yeah they were a bit shit.
 

SportingCP96

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I keep shaking my head for several minutes every time Nani gets mentioned in these types of conversations. Sure he was no Ronaldo or Rooney when they were all here but he was a really good player and miles better than the likes of O‘Shea, Ando or Cleverley. Let alone bloody Gibson, he was barely a footballer.
It’s absurd to even mention him.

Maybe a hot take or maybe not but Nani at his absolute peak 2010/2011 season was better then the best version of Bernardo silva and I don’t think it’s close.
 

Lay

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Oh come on

Between 09-10 and 11-12 he was one of the best right wingers in the world and brilliant

In 10-11 he was absolutely unplayable and would skin any full back in the world and provided so much end product.
The post wasn’t criticising Nani. Nani was hated though at one point, unfairly I might add
 

Beachryan

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Really not fair to include Nani in these discussions. Peak Nani was one of the best wingers in world football.

RWF version of Valencia is a good shout. Seemed like a huge downgrade at the time (and was) but would be an excellent, consistent option for us now if we had a forward.

We've not signed a decent central midfielder in 2 decades, so sadly that hole would remain.

Maybe peak Jonny Evans? People forget how good he was (though, that 4-0 match when he 'lost' LVG was as bad as anything I've ever seen)
 

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Oh come on

Between 09-10 and 11-12 he was one of the best right wingers in the world and brilliant

In 10-11 he was absolutely unplayable and would skin any full back in the world and provided so much end product.
He wasn’t consistently brilliant for as long as you say. In fact his very best form was of a similar duration to Bruno’s. And you can already see how unpopular he is right now. So I don’t know why you’re surprised that Nani ended up in a similar place.
 

SportingCP96

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The post wasn’t criticising Nani. Nani was hated though at one point, unfairly I might add
Ya I agree, but as some others have stated English fans don’t enjoy flair players.

I feel Like they enjoy a slide tackle more then a player who can beat a man.
 

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I keep shaking my head for several minutes every time Nani gets mentioned in these types of conversations. Sure he was no Ronaldo or Rooney when they were all here but he was a really good player and miles better than the likes of O‘Shea, Ando or Cleverley. Let alone bloody Gibson, he was barely a footballer.
Well thats the point isn't it? You'd still have to be a bloody good player to be our best player right now.... It's two different questions in the OP.
 

El Jefe

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Fabio, Anderson, O'Shea, Cleverley will walk into our first 11.

It's so bad I think O'Shea would walk in at both RB and CM as would Phil Neville.
 

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Really not fair to include Nani in these discussions. Peak Nani was one of the best wingers in world football.

RWF version of Valencia is a good shout. Seemed like a huge downgrade at the time (and was) but would be an excellent, consistent option for us now if we had a forward.

We've not signed a decent central midfielder in 2 decades, so sadly that hole would remain.

Maybe peak Jonny Evans? People forget how good he was (though, that 4-0 match when he 'lost' LVG was as bad as anything I've ever seen)
Not sure peak Valencia is better then what Bruno can be for us right now. That's why I think Nani is a fair shout, peak Nani is definitely our best player right now... but there are worse players then Nani that would also fit the bill I think.
 

NotoriousISSY

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A) Cleverley. When he was at United, he was definitely better than what we have in midfield as of right now.

B) Saha. If not for injuries, he would obviously have been rated higher by fans. He would bully some of the defenders in this league, and certainly give Martinez more insight into PL attackers in training!
 

JPRouve

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B. It would be Saha, Park Ji Sung, Yorke or Nani.
 

V.O.

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Fecking Ronnie Wallwork would probably get into our midfield at the minute.

Veron would be a star under a manager wanting to play a possession based system in the modern PL.
 

united_99

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Ya I agree, but as some others have stated English fans don’t enjoy flair players.

I feel Like they enjoy a slide tackle more then a player who can beat a man.
United fans / Old Trafford fans mostly love flair players. Nani got some in my opinion over the top criticism because he could be frustrating at times and maybe people expected him to step up 1-2 levels, but it has nothing to do with not liking flair players. Maybe they like consistency more. That’s why even Giggs (despite being loved by fans when he was playing) also got criticism from time to time because although brilliant he was not as consistent as Scholes, Beckham and Keane.
 

GloryHunter07

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Fecking Ronnie Wallwork would probably get into our midfield at the minute.

Veron would be a star under a manager wanting to play a possession based system in the modern PL.
Veron not a bad shout
 

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There’s no place or any point bringing up players like fecking Anderson (who I liked a lot by the way) or Cleverley or Fabio who played in Fergie teams and comparing them with the current squad.
Fergie’s biggest strength was making bang average players look very good, still to this day I will never know how we walked the league in 2013 with Carrick and Cleverley in midfield, and without a functional winger.

You put some of these players in the current team and they wouldn’t look any better than what we have now, they might look worse.

Of course players like peak Nani, or Sheringham or the good version of Valencia would improve us (heck, I think Valencia the right back was underrated, better than AWB or Dalot for me).

Fabian Barthez :nervous:
We would get relegated with him in goal.
 
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JPRouve

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Nah, Yorkie is way too good... we've had worse strikers then him who would be our best player currently (Berba, Tevez, Saha, Sheringham, Ole etc)
I loved Yorke but I don't think that he is better than the player I mention when you consider their best level.
 

GlasgowCeltic

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Greening would have a shout in CM, Healy would probably fancy his chances up front
 

Siorac

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United fans / Old Trafford fans mostly love flair players. Nani got some in my opinion over the top criticism because he could be frustrating at times and maybe people expected him to step up 1-2 levels, but it has nothing to do with not liking flair players. Maybe they like consistency more. That’s why even Giggs (despite being loved by fans when he was playing) also got criticism from time to time because although brilliant he was not as consistent as Scholes, Beckham and Keane.
Flair players, attackers expected to take on defenders and make something happen will always be less consistent than a midfield general such as Roy Keane, simply because the nature of the job is entirely different.

I'll admit that Nani was a particularly frustrating case though, mostly because his bottom level was basically the ocean floor. When he was off his game for whatever reason, he wasn't just 'quiet' or 'ineffective', he looked absolutely dreadful and frankly, braindead at times. He just dribbled straight into defenders as if he didn't realise they were there. It was bizarre because his top level was just magic.

I still loved him though, he was much more fun than Valencia to whom he was constantly compared.
 

Trequarista10

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Starter: Phil Neville, Fabio, Kleberson, Fortune,

Best player: Veron, Forlan, Nani, Rafael, Zaha, Welbeck, Januzaj, 40 year old Giggs, 38 year old Scholes, 29 year old Rooney

Take your pick.
 

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Starter: Phil Neville, Fabio, Kleberson, Fortune,

Best player: Veron, Forlan, Nani, Rafael, Zaha, Welbeck, Januzaj, 40 year old Giggs, 38 year old Scholes, 29 year old Rooney

Take your pick.
Thats a really good shout - yeah, Quinton Fortune might be my new answer to that question!
 

united_99

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Flair players, attackers expected to take on defenders and make something happen will always be less consistent than a midfield general such as Roy Keane, simply because the nature of the job is entirely different.

I'll admit that Nani was a particularly frustrating case though, mostly because his bottom level was basically the ocean floor. When he was off his game for whatever reason, he wasn't just 'quiet' or 'ineffective', he looked absolutely dreadful and frankly, braindead at times. He just dribbled straight into defenders as if he didn't realise they were there. It was bizarre because his top level was just magic.

I still loved him though, he was much more fun than Valencia to whom he was constantly compared.
I liked both Nani and Valencia and found the constant comparisons a bit boring.
Nani unfortunately was a confidence player so if things weren’t working for him or he got criticism from fans things mostly got even worse for him.
 

m1tch

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We don't even look capable of signing players of the quality of Phil Neville, John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Anderson, Welbeck, etc
They'd all be massive improvements on what we have, walking straight into the starting 11.
 

justboy68

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Saha is a very good shout for b.

There's almost too many to name for a, it's hard to say who's the absolute worst that would still make it. I mean Danny Simpson from the Leicester title winning season would probably make it as our right back with how things currently are.
 

CarbonStoolBites

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DDG

Shaw
Martinez
Maguire
Brown

Fabio
O’Shea
Gibson
Rafael

Bruno

Ronaldo

Managed by SAF: We finish 2nd or third max

Managed by anyone else: We get relegated