Greatest Ever Manchester United XI

Goal Keeper

Garry Bailey was a very good goal keeper as was Harry Gregg. Alex Stephney served the club admirably and Edwin Van Der Saar is also another very good goalkeeper but they all pale in comparison to the Great Dane, Peter Schmeichel.

He is, in my humble opinion, the greatest goal keeper that I ever saw just ahead of Dassaev of the USSR and Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus.

Right Back

Paul Parker was a very good right back as were John Gidman and Mike Duxbury, Gary Neville is a good and reliable 1 as well. While Jimmy Nicholl as well as Brian Greenhoff did a very fine job as right full backs. But I have gone with Bill Foulkes as my right back.

Left Back

Arthur Albiston was an excellent servant for Manchester United as were Ashley Grimes, Noel Cantwell served the club well. But I have gone for Mr Consistency Denis Irwin.

Centre Backs

Too many great defenders to choose from so I have to admit this was really very difficult as how do you choose 2 from this list:- Martin Buchan, Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce, Gordon McQueen, Kevin Moran, Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.

Well I have not done so as I have gone for Jaap Stam and Paul McGrath. They are both very quick and very solid defenders.

Central Midfield Pairings

Another headache as way too many fantastic central midfielders have played for Manchester United including Duncan Edwards, whom, I have not picked because I have never seen, even a minute's footage of him, Nobby Stiles, Paul Scholes, Paul Ince, Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins, Gordon Strachan, Pat Crerand and Sammy McCllroy.

But I have gone for Roy Keane and Bobby Charlton. Keane just edged out Robson for that role and Charlton had to be in there.

Right Winger

David Beckham just shouts out at you to be picked, as does Steve Coppell. Jesper Olsen and Andrei Kanchelskis were excellent wingers but I have gone for the most exciting natural talent to play for Manchester United, in my view, and that's current player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo.

Left-winger

Ryan Giggs is an obvious candidate and just got edged out. Gordon Hill on his day was exciting as was Mickey Thomas but the obvious choice is Manchester United's best ever player, George Best.

Strikers

Too many great candidates for just 2 slots! This was really really difficult as there is Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Wayne Rooney, Mark Hughes, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Norman Whiteside and Brian Kidd to name just a few but I have gone for Eric Cantona and Denis law.

My favourite Manchester United team however is the team that won the double in 93/94 with keane, Ince, Pallister, Bruce, Cantona, Hughes, Giggs/ Irwin, Robson and Schmeichel.

The treble winning team had arguably the best ever midfield quartet in Premiership history. Keane, Beckham, Scholes and Giggs.

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Premiership Greatest XI

This is a very difficult thing to do and it is all about opinions after all. Some of the choices will be universally approved while some would be mocked or even condemned.

Candidates for Goal keepers

1 Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United)

2 David Seaman (Arsenal)

3 Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)

4 Brad Friedel (Blackburn)

5 Nigel Martyn (Leeds United and Everton)

6 David James (Aston Villa, West Ham, Manchester City and Portsmouth)

7 Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers)

8 Shay Given (Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United)

9 Casey Keller (Tottenham Hotspurs)

10 Edwin Van Der Saar (Fulham and Manchester United)

11 Tim Flowers (Southampton and Blackburn Rovers)

My choice would be Peter Schmeichel over David Seaman.

I have gone for a 3-man defense for my first team because I could not leave out some players in the more advanced positions and had also because I do not think that there has been an outstanding right back who really stands out from the rest to warrant being in my first team.

Candidates for Defenders

1. Gary Pallister ( Manchester United)

2. Steve Bruce (Manchester United)

3. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)

4. Jaap Stam (Manchester United)

5. Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)

6. Sami Hyppia (Liverpool)

7. John Terry (Chelsea)

8. Marcel Desailly (Chelsea)

9. Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)

10. William Gallas (Chelsea)

11. Martin Keown ( Arsenal)

12. Tony Adams (Arsenal)

13. Steve Bould (Arsenal)

14. Sol Campbell (Arsenal)

15. Kolo Toure (Arsenal)

16. Jonathan Woodgate ( Leeds United)

17. Dave Watson (Everton)

18. Philip Albert (Newcastle)

19. Colin Hendry (Blackburn)

The 3 defenders I have chosen for my first team are Tony Adams who has been Arsenal's best defender and captain in the last 30 years.

He did not have the natural ability, athleticism or speed of many of the defenders on the list but he had leadership and organizational abilities which are just as crucial for a defense.

Marcel Desailly of Chelsea who had everything you want in a defender; strength, speed and leadership.

The final defender I have picked is Jaap Stam of Manchester United who like the other 2, had all the qualities you want in a defender.

Midfielders

I am not going to make a list here because I have cheated and put some players that are essentially forwards but I chosen to class them as defenders as there was no way I was going to leave any of them out for the other.

I have picked 2 genuine central midfielders who would have to be the ball winners because the other 3 are not likely to defend at all.

They are perhaps the best 2 in their respective positions and would be in most people's list as the very best player to have played in the premiership and they are Roy Keane of Manchester United and Patrick Vieira of Arsenal.

They were not just very competitive and combative but they were also very good players on the ball as well. They were totally inspirational to their teams and led their teams to many victories.

The 3 other "midfielders" are the best players to have played for their respective clubs, in terms of technical ability and they are Eric Cantona of Manchester United who was the inspiration for their winning the premiership for the first time in 25 years when they won it in 1992/93 season.

He has arguably being the main catalyst for their triumphs thereafter. Dennis Bergkamp was just technically perfect, and as far as I am concerned the best player to have won an Arsenal shirt. Gianfranco Zola was another genius with the football and was rightly voted Chelsea's best ever player.

Strikers

This is always going to be the most position to pick just 2 outstanding candidates out of 50 excellent choices but I have gone managed to pick 2 of the very best.

They are as different as chalk and cheese, but they had scoring goals as their common attribute. The first player I have picked is arguably the most exciting player to have played in the premiership and most would agree that it has been a privileged for the premiership to have had Thierry Henry grace it with absolute brilliance.

He is not just a goal scorer but he created lots and lots of chances for his teammates and scored so many contenders for best goal ever in the premiership. His partner is quite simply the best striker in premiership history as his goals will attest to.

Alan Shearer was just a goal scoring phenomenon who also had more to his game than scoring goals. He is still the leading scorer in the premiership history and it will take a great effort for his record to be broken. He is the only player to have scored a century of goals for 2 different clubs in the Premiership.

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