The night Cantona played as a box-to-box midfielder

FujiVice

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What a performance. That Porto side hadnt lost in Europe that year either and barely lost in their own league all year. And we dicked them 4-0. Cantona (about 2 months from hanging up his boots) was sensational. Surprised nobody talks about this much. He ran the show.
 

harms

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To be fair, it was not really a box-to-box role — Beckham and Johnsen played in the middle and Cantona had a free role on the right. He was majestic that night though! I'd also like to highlight Beckham and Solskjaer, who had sacrificed a lot of their natural game to allow The King the freedom he needed to run the show — Beckham had covered the right wing from a central midfield position and Solskjaer filled whatever gap Cantona had left behind.
 

Snuffkin

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Cantona (about 2 months from hanging up his boots)
Thanks I enjoyed that.
That was a funny season, I was in student digs and didn't have a TV. I wonder if we'd have won the champions league sooner if Eric had continued.
 

Bobski

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To be fair, it was not really a box-to-box role — Beckham and Johnsen played in the middle and Cantona had a free role on the right. He was majestic that night though! I'd also like to highlight Beckham and Solskjaer, who had sacrificed a lot of their natural game to allow The King the freedom he needed to run the show — Beckham had covered the right wing from a central midfield position and Solskjaer filled whatever gap Cantona had left behind.

From what I remember of that night, Cole played as a wide left Forward, Ole wide right with Giggs and Beckham flanking Johnsen and Cantona in what would be referred to as a false 9 position these days.

Giggs was the best player on the pitch that night as well in those memories as he usually was on those European nights in the 90's(and continued to be for many years beyond)
 

harms

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From what I remember of that night, Cole played as a wide left Forward, Ole wide right with Giggs and Beckham flanking Johnsen and Cantona in what would be referred to as a false 9 position these days.

Giggs was the best player on the pitch that night as well in those memories as he usually was on those European nights in the 90's(and continued to be for many years beyond)
Well, I did the compilation from the OP and when you do such things you watch every move of a player, including those off the ball that didn't get into video, and I've watched the game very thoroughly. Cantona started out wide on the right, and for in the first half mostly stayed there — in the second one he decided (or Fergie did) to roam around more, especially since Porto had hardly created anything on that wing. It was his freedom that set up the chain reaction with Ole & Becks (mainly) changing their roles to accommodate him.

On paper it was a straight-forward 4-4-2:
Cole - Ole
Giggs - Johnsen - Beckham - Cantona

But because we had Cantona on the right (while usually we had Becks, who was a genuine wide player and also a huge grafter), it naturally transformed into some kind of a loop-sided 4-3-3, although Giggs also often found himself up top. As for your last statement — yes, Giggs was unstoppable that night, as he often was. I think Fergie even said something about him in the flash-interview, but I cut it out as it wasn't related to Cantona.
 

VorZakone

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There's something aesthetically beautiful about late 90's football. Granted, the pace may have been slower but the basic level of technique seemed higher. Cole was flicking back headers with ease. Not to mention Cantona himself.
 

Inigo Montoya

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There's something aesthetically beautiful about late 90's football. Granted, the pace may have been slower but the basic level of technique seemed higher. Cole was flicking back headers with ease. Not to mention Cantona himself.
I was at that game and looking back at the highlights it strikes me how much closing down our forwards did. It’s spoke about these days as some sort of modern concept but the fitness levels of Cantona,Becks, Giggs etc was exceptional
 

James Peril

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There's something aesthetically beautiful about late 90's football. Granted, the pace may have been slower but the basic level of technique seemed higher. Cole was flicking back headers with ease. Not to mention Cantona himself.
No chance, more space and time makes technical aspects look easier. Basically why a wizard in Sunday league looks shit if he goes up a few levels. Put Mbappe or prime Robben on that pitch and it looks out of this world
 

Adam-Utd

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More or a traditional Italian 4-3-1-2 which is similar to the diamond.

Solskjaer/Cole with as split strikers and Giggs/Beckham pulling wide once we had possession.

Wonder if we tried that more often?
 
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More or a traditional Italian 4-3-1-2 which is similar to the diamond.

Solskjaer/Cole with as split strikers and Giggs/Beckham pulling wide once we had possession.

Wonder if we tried that more often?
From memory, we tried something similar in the home leg in the semis as well.
 

Amir

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That was a funny season, I was in student digs and didn't have a TV. I wonder if we'd have won the champions league sooner if Eric had continued.
Well, he retired two months after this game and we won it just two years later. Would he had made the difference in 1997/98? Probably not, as we lost that season to injuries.
 

RooneyLegend

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No chance, more space and time makes technical aspects look easier. Basically why a wizard in Sunday league looks shit if he goes up a few levels. Put Mbappe or prime Robben on that pitch and it looks out of this world
Oh please, Eric was a technical masterpiece. Probably the most technically gifted player this club has had after Best.
 

Amir

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The thing about that night is that it was so unexpected. Porto were great in the group stage while we barely made it through. They were considered favourites. Lucky for us, our form picked up in the second part of the season while they started to struggle a little.
 

Hansa

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The thing about that night is that it was so unexpected. Porto were great in the group stage while we barely made it through. They were considered favourites. Lucky for us, our form picked up in the second part of the season while they started to struggle a little.
Yeah, it was a coming-of-age performance, after not really doing that well in Europe since our return. Galatasaray, IFK Gothenburg, Barcelona, Juventus, Fenerbahce were all too much for us, and we hadn't really cracked the code yet, so this was really the first of many wonderful European nights under Fergie.
 

Hoof the ball

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There's something aesthetically beautiful about late 90's football. Granted, the pace may have been slower but the basic level of technique seemed higher. Cole was flicking back headers with ease. Not to mention Cantona himself.
English football in the 90's was known for being played at breakneck speed. More direct, more box-to-box, longer passes, etc. It's hard to argue that the game is faster now than it was in the 90s. What's changed is the defensive systems allow for less space and time on the ball and gives the impression that things are moving a lot faster.