Ranked: RedCafe's favourite Manchester United players of all time

Parma Dewol

Full Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2013
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2,130
Late last year we had a thread where users could list their top 5 favourite Manchester United players of all time.

Premise was that the word 'favourite' is only what you want to make it. As was stated back then: "a favourite can be a very personal thing. Perhaps a player who gave you a signature, or one that did something that will forever remain in your heart. Heck, they may only have made a few appearances in the famous shirt, but that doesn't diminish your admiration of the individual."

Well, fast forward to today and I've finally gotten round to tallying up the results. Each vote is unweighted, meaning it doesn't matter if a player was 1st or 5th on your list. Some of you can't count, so on longer lists only the first five are included, and honorable mentions have also fallen by the wayside. Players receiving one vote have been excluded because, well, the list was already long enough, and I don't have all day.

Without further ado...

David de Gea - 9
Norman Whiteside - 9
Lee Sharpe - 8
Steve Coppell - 8
Dennis Law - 7
Anderson - 6
Martin Buchan - 6
Juan Mata - 5
Dwight Yorke - 4
Steve Bruce - 4
Antonio Valencia - 3
Bruno Fernandes - 3
Gary Neville - 3
Jesper Olsen - 3
Nani - 3
Brian McClair - 2
Darren Fletcher - 2
Diego Forlan - 2
Gordon Hill - 2
Javier Hernández - 2
John O'Shea - 2
Marcus Rashford - 2
Paul Ince - 2
Rafael - 2
Stuart Pearson - 2
Teddy Sheringham - 2
Zlatan Ibrahimović - 2

Rio Ferdinand - 28
Andrew Cole - 26
Ole Gunnar Solskjær - 24
Patrice Evra - 23
Peter Schmeichel - 18
George Best - 17
Andrei Kanchelskis - 16
Robin van Persie - 15
Dennis Irwin - 14
Mark Hughes - 14
Bobby Charlton - 13
Michael Carrick - 13
Edwin van der Sar - 11
Jaap Stam - 11
Dimitar Berbatov - 10
Park Ji-sung - 10

And now the top 10...

Ruud van Nistelrooy

Cristiano Ronaldo

Bryan Robson

Nemanja Vidić

Ryan Giggs

David Beckham

Wayne Rooney

Roy Keane

Paul Scholes

Eric Cantona
 
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Pretty unsurprising top 10. Only thing I was surprised about -- no Ferdinand, at all?!

I voted him in my top 5 so I was at least one vote. Nobody else in the entire thread?!
 
DWelbz19 said:
Pretty unsurprising top 10. Only thing I was surprised about -- no Ferdinand, at all?!

I voted him in my top 5 so I was at least one vote. Nobody else in the entire thread?!
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My mistake, missed a row while copying and pasting from my spreadsheet. 28 votes, putting him just outside the top 10.
 
Solid top ten. Charlton and Best should be higher but not surprising consider the average age of the forum.
 
The top 3 are kind of no-brainers. Always gonna be fan favorites.

Most people in here didn't see Charlton, Law and Best so it's understandable that they didn't make the top 10.

I'm surprised that Ronaldo still is in the top 10. Then again he has a very dedicated fanbase...
 
Scandi Red said:
The top 3 are kind of no-brainers. Always gonna be fan favorites.

Most people in here didn't see Charlton, Law and Best so it's understandable that they didn't make the top 10.

I'm surprised that Ronaldo still is in the top 10. Then again he has a very dedicated fanbase...
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I mean if Giggs is in the top 10 then Ronaldo should be if we are going by that. But I assume people obviously thought mostly about the exploits of these players on the pitch, so it shouldn't be surprising at all that a Ballon D'or winning winger is in the Cafe's top 10 favorite players :lol:
 
Parma Dewol said:
My mistake, missed a row while copying and pasting from my spreadsheet. 28 votes, putting him just outside the top 10.
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Ah, makes much more sense. I was going to say: I know he's a bit of an ass on the television and social media these days, but still!
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I mean if Giggs is in the top 10 then Ronaldo should be if we are going by that. But I assume people obviously thought mostly about the exploits of these players on the pitch, so it shouldn't be surprising at all that a Ballon D'or winning winger is in the Cafe's top 10 favorite players :lol:
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Giggs almost making the top 5 is almost just as surprising to me.

Then again I can understand people wanting to separate the art from the artist, which would help Giggs in this vote. But Ronaldo was an unprofessional and whiny twat in his second stint at the club. That also affects his football legacy in my opinion.
 
Scandi Red said:
Giggs almost making the top 5 is almost just as surprising to me.

Then again I can understand people wanting to separate the art from the artist, which would help Giggs in this vote. But Ronaldo was an unprofessional and whiny twat in his second stint at the club. That also affects his football legacy in my opinion.
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That's fine. Personally I'd have Ronaldo in the top 10 and don't really think much of his second stint either way. We were terribly run as a club, he was on his last leg, the entire thing was a circus. And honestly that's not the "United Ronaldo" I think about when thinking about "Top favorite United players" in my lifetime.
 
Few in the top ten I'd disagree with but splitting hairs tbh.

Cantona, Scholes, Schmeichel, Keane, Ruud, Irwin and Ole were my faves growing up.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I mean if Giggs is in the top 10 then Ronaldo should be if we are going by that. But I assume people obviously thought mostly about the exploits of these players on the pitch, so it shouldn't be surprising at all that a Ballon D'or winning winger is in the Cafe's top 10 favorite players :lol:
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Whatever about what's happened in their spare time, Giggs and Ronaldo couldn't be further apart in how they treated the club - Giggs about as loyal and as big of a legend as you'd get at any football club, nearly 1,000 games all for the club and 13 league titles, whereas Ronaldo left twice, spent his peak elsewhere and left in ignominy.
 
This time next year Antony my man, after banging in an unprecedented 20 goals from cutting in, you'll get a vote.
 
Cantona was the catalyst for the Fergie era. Just wished my favourite of all time, Bryan Robson, couldnt have been 5 years younger to have won more trophies.
 
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