OTF’s Manchester United’s greatest XI of all time

Manchester United Football Club has played host to some of the best players our beautiful game has ever seen. During the Red Devils 140+-year history, Old Trafford has seen an embarrassment of riches.

With everything that’s going on in the world right now, you start thinking. We’ve taken inspiration from others doing various best XIsm though choosing United’s isn’t easy.

Before we get into this one, I’d like to reiterate that this is purely opinion-based. Leaving out stellar names like Roy Keane, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, David de Gea and countless others wasn’t easy – though this is what we’ve come up with…

Manchester United’s greatest XI of all time:

There were three strong candidates for the goalkeeper position, but, despite his Manchester City links, I couldn’t look past Peter Schmeichel. When you factor in his trophy cabinet plus his all-round ability, he was the most well-rounded despite both David de Gea and Edwin van der Sar pushing him hard…

Defensively, I’ve gone for Patrice Evra at left-back. Dennis Irwin was in close contention, but the Frenchman was a vital cog in that defence which kept so many clean-sheets and won so many trophies, including the Champions League win in 2008.

Next to Evra is his pal Rio Ferdinand. Never have I seen a defender so composed, so controlled, so talented. Ferdinand had it all, though leaving out Nemanja Vidic pained me…

Steve Bruce was special. Again, it was a toss-up between him and Pally and I’ve gone for Brucey, but only just. One of my favourite United memories was that late-double against Sheffield Wednesday. The Sir Alex Ferguson celebration will forever live-long in the memory.

At right-back, Gary Neville gets the nod. Perhaps the least-talented of United’s famed Class of 92, but undoubtedly the player with the biggest heart and desire.

Ignore the positions, Paul Scholes was never really a defensive-midfielder but I couldn’t leave him out. For me, his influence was quietly underrated, but without him, this United team wouldn’t have won what they did.

Again, Wayne Rooney wasn’t a midfielder, but leaving out United’s top-scorer just didn’t sit right with me. The numbers speak for themselves.

Then I have Sir Bobby Charlton in the side. He was amongst the players who started it all and the impact he had on Manchester United goes beyond what happened on the field.

George Best is the most talented footballer I’ve ever watched. Now I wasn’t alive during those times, but watching back old games, I don’t think anyone has ever done it better than ol’ Georgie.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s inclusion is similar to Rooney’s. It didn’t sit right with me leaving out one of the best two players in footballing history. Sure, we’d have all liked to have seen him stay around for longer, but that 42-goal term in 2007/08 was just ridiculous.

Finally, rounding off the team with United’s greatest ever; Ryan Giggs. Nobody will ever come close to breaking his appearance record, nor his trophy haul. For me, this was the easiest pick of the bunch.

Again, fitting everyone in was nigh-on impossible. Choosing a bench only complicates matters so I’ve decided against doing that… Leave us your best United XIs in the comment box below…