Rank Fergies squad players.

tentan

Poor man's poster.
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Rank these Ferguson squad players. Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Ji Sung Park, Wes Brown, John O'shea and Darren Fletcher.
The six most well known ones and ones who stayed the longest at Old Trafford. They were all similar in many ways, where they could all play in different positions.

Where would you rank them in terms of skill, importance and consistency etc.

For me

1. P. Neville
2. Park
3. Butt
4. O'Shea
5. Fletcher
6. Brown
 
Brown deserves a lot more credit for the job he did at right back during the 07/08 season. Lovely assist in the CL final too.
 
I think I’m one of the few people who didn’t rate Park, I was annoyed whenever he was prefered to Nani. He had stamina but it seemed to me like every attack died with him. Very likeble guy though, what is he doing these days?
 
Fletcher was a the first name on the team sheet before his illness.
 
Sky1981 said:
Before his ilness Fletcher was more than squad players. Albeit that comes much later in his career (was it 24 yo?) He was either comes very good or very frustrating. I don't think he was ever a solid squad player
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There were a couple seasons he was definitely more than a solid squad player and actually one of our best midfielders around 2008/09 onwards til his illness.
 
Fletcher
Park
Brown
P. Neville
Butt
O'Shea

Fletcher, Park, and Brown were key players for us at certain points.
 
O'Shea on top for me because of his versatility. Could literally play anywhere and has deputized as a GK and striker as well on occasions. Park, Brown, Fletcher etc were more of first team players in their prime - so not sure if they qualify as squad players. I'd go with:
1. O'Shea
2. Phil Neville
3. Ole
4. Butt
 
1. Butt
2. Brown
3. Fletcher
4. O'Shea
5. Park
6. Neville

Ole would be the obvious No.1, but he was not in the original list.
 
Fletcher was a first teamer was he not? From that list Nicky Butt was easily the best footballer, he would have started for most other European midfields that didn't have Keane and Scholes in them.
 
Think Butt was the best of those mentioned, but had the misfortune to play in the same position of one of our best players ever.
 
I can't rank them, but this thread made me realise how fortunate we were for 10-15 years in terms of great squad players. The starting lineup should always be the first priority of course, but disciplined players on the bench is so valuable.
 
Ole is a glaring omission. He scored a lot of goals, but surely he counts as a squad player?
 
1. Fletcher
2. Brown
3. O'Shea
4. Park
5. Neville
6. Butt

What was good about all of them (maybe bar Butt) was their versatility to play in multiple positions over the time they were here. Fletcher earlier in his career was a quality drop-off vs some of the starting XI, but later became one of our best players for 1-2 seasons.

Scandi Red said:
I can't rank them, but this thread made me realise how fortunate we were for 10-15 years in terms of great squad players. The starting lineup should always be the first priority of course, but disciplined players on the bench is so valuable.
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That was a key element of Ferguson's long-term success in his time, in my opinion. He got league-winning level of performance out of players that the rest of the league might have rated as mid-table players. In one of our most dominant sequence of years from 2007-2011 he had no specialist RB for long stretches. Neville was still in the squad but rarely available. We made it to 5 (or 4?) UCL semi-finals or better with Brown, O'Shea and Fabio playing RB in key matches.
 
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Bit strange to only focus on those six...what about players like Soskjaer, Blomqvist, Hernandez, Berg, Quinton Fortune, Teddy Sheringham, Nani, Antonio Valencia, David May, Anderson, Louis Saha....I could list loads!

From those six, I would go....

1. Fletcher
2. Park
3. Brown
4. O'Shea
5. Butt
6. P. Neville
 
Demon Barber said:
1. Butt
2. Brown
3. Fletcher
4. O'Shea
5. Park
6. Neville

Ole would be the obvious No.1, but he was not in the original list.
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All correct. Butt was a good and talented player but was unlucky to have Keane and Scholes ahead of him.
Same with Brown who was extremely unlucky with so many long term injuries.
Still both played an important role at different times and were very reliable whenever the team needed them.
Fletcher, O’Shea, Park and P.Neville were rather average and I don’t think they would have impressed nearly as much at the highest level without Fergie. Good squad players to have but limited as 1st team players (yes including pre-illness Fletcher).
 
1. Fletcher
2. Park
3. Brown
4. O'Shea
5. Butt
6. P. Neville

Fletch had loads of talent and broke into being an important player, but especially in big games. Park was a big game staple and routinely started vs Arsenal. Brown and O'Shea were similar in that they had periods of being starters but mostly rotated around, but I thought Brown was more talented. Was only a kid when Butt and Neville were playing here so they were just boring defensive players in my memory who I didn't care for too much while I focused on the star guys like keano, Scholes, Becks, Ruud, Giggs etc. And Fergie sold them so it says enough about where he valued them relative to the others.
 
I wonder how much those putting Butt near bottom actually watched him live / when he was playing. He was a really good midfielder.
 
Donut said:
I think I’m one of the few people who didn’t rate Park, I was annoyed whenever he was prefered to Nani. He had stamina but it seemed to me like every attack died with him. Very likeble guy though, what is he doing these days?
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This was a common complaint at the time, but I think most people realised Fergie was right in the end. By playing Park instead of Nani we could get away with Ronaldo doing absolutely no defending whatsoever, which was a large part of how he was able to score so many goals that season.
 
1. Park
2. Fletcher
3. Butt
4. O'Shea
5. Brown
6. Neville

All very useful players who contributed so no bad option
 
Donut said:
I think I’m one of the few people who didn’t rate Park, I was annoyed whenever he was prefered to Nani. He had stamina but it seemed to me like every attack died with him. Very likeble guy though, what is he doing these days?
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Except against Arsenal and Chelsea. He loves scoring against them.
He's United global ambassador as far as I know
 
Donut said:
I think I’m one of the few people who didn’t rate Park, I was annoyed whenever he was prefered to Nani. He had stamina but it seemed to me like every attack died with him. Very likeble guy though, what is he doing these days?
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I always felt the same way. I felt he was a hindrance more often than not, particularly against the smaller teams, then I'd come on Redcafe after matches only to see him praised for 'creating space for others'.
 
Fletcher. Felt in that season before he had stomach issues he was finding the levels Fergie wanted from him.
Brown. Was our best centre back at one stage. Injury again hindered his growth for me.
Park. Every team needs that guy with energy and determination. Always gave his all.
O Shea. Nutmegs on Figo and versatility were his wins for me. With pace he would have been better.
P Neville. England performances created a negative perception but great squad player. Underrated.
Butt. Warrior but just not Keane or Scholes. Would maybe more valued as a specialist in modern football. DM.

We have definitely lacked this type of player in our squad in recent times. Guys who don’t play regularly but we can get a 6/7 out of 10 when called upon. No coincidence that most came through the academy. Hopefully with the young talent we have around the first team now we produce a few more of these players.
 
united_99 said:
I wonder how much those putting Butt near bottom actually watched him live / when he was playing. He was a really good midfielder.
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Peaked very early though, was dropping off after 25. But yes, very good in his prime, mobile, aggressive, and a much better and more positive passer than most people probably realize, was very good at the Carrick style side foot whipped pass through the lines. Kept Scholes out of the team on merit in many games.
 
Park and Fletcher never managed to solidify their starter position unlike the others that all held down a position for a while.
 
I decided to put mine into a team, sticking with a 442.

O'Shea
O'Shea O'Shea O'Shea O'Shea
O'Shea O'Shea O'Shea O'Shea
O'Shea O'Shea
 
united_99 said:
All correct. Butt was a good and talented player but was unlucky to have Keane and Scholes ahead of him.
Same with Brown who was extremely unlucky with so many long term injuries.
Still both played an important role at different times and were very reliable whenever the team needed them.
Fletcher, O’Shea, Park and P.Neville were rather average and I don’t think they would have impressed nearly as much at the highest level without Fergie. Good squad players to have but limited as 1st team players (yes including pre-illness Fletcher).
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To call Fletcher and Park average is really wrong. Fletcher was one of the best midfielders in the league for a few seasons before his illness - and Park was loved by Ferguson and everyone who played with him because he could basically do any job you asked him to. Of all the players Ferguson had - he picked Park as one of the 3 most underrated players he had. That says it all
 
Solskjær, Park, Fletcher, Oshea, Brown for me

Butt and P. Neville obviously good, but left
 
I genuinely believe that Fletcher was developing into a world class player.

1) Fletcher
2) Park
3) Brown
4) Butt
5) P. Neville
6) O'Shea
 
I'd hate to see the stick these kind of players would get in this generation of YouTube experts and social media dickheads.
 
lysglimt said:
To call Fletcher and Park average is really wrong. Fletcher was one of the best midfielders in the league for a few seasons before his illness - and Park was loved by Ferguson and everyone who played with him because he could basically do any job you asked him to. Of all the players Ferguson had - he picked Park as one of the 3 most underrated players he had. That says it all
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One of the best midfielders? Which year? Fletcher was a solid midfielder and, in top form, was good. That's about it
 
I'll always have a soft spot for O'Shea. One of my favourite players. O'Shea was a crucial cog of our title-winning teams, and much better than people gave him credit for. You DO NOT make 400 appearances over a decade of playing for Alex Ferguson without having quality.
 
Donut said:
I think I’m one of the few people who didn’t rate Park, I was annoyed whenever he was prefered to Nani. He had stamina but it seemed to me like every attack died with him. Very likeble guy though, what is he doing these days?
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Agreed. His redeeming quality was that he could stop other players playing. He wasn’t really good enough when we wanted to play.
 
In terms of how good they were :-

Brown
Butt
Fletcher
PNev
Park
O’Shea
 
lysglimt said:
To call Fletcher and Park average is really wrong. Fletcher was one of the best midfielders in the league for a few seasons before his illness - and Park was loved by Ferguson and everyone who played with him because he could basically do any job you asked him to. Of all the players Ferguson had - he picked Park as one of the 3 most underrated players he had. That says it all
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They can be average and underrated at the same time. If I call Fletcher or Park good instead of average then I will need to call someone like Carrick world class. But in reality Carrick was 1-2 levels below world class (but still good/very good) and Fletcher/Park were a couple of levels below Carrick. I am calling them (Fletcher/Park) average and not below-average or bad.
 
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