12
CRISTIANO
RONALDO
2003–2009 & 2021–
The best player to have played for United,
the sole reason he doesn’t feature higher
up is that most of his best years were
played elsewhere. One of the fastest men
in football, Ronaldo can dribble and11
RIO FERDINAND
2002–2014We perhaps underrated Rio when he was at the club;
everyone acknowledged his speed and skill, his
positional sense was superb, his timing immaculate
and his discipline impeccable, b ut still there was a
sense that he was just doing what good defenders do,
mopping up at the back and giving the defence an air
of solidity, possibly because he seemed more
European in style than English, being comfortable in
possession and calm about playing out from the back,
either through distribution or his own running. But he very rarely made a mistake
in his prime years, and when he did he had the speed to make a recovery tackle.
Ferdinand went to the West Ham youth academy then into the first team there
before moving to Leeds United in November 2000. Two seasons later he joined
United for a fee of £30 million. He’s now recognised as one of the all-time great
defenders for club (over 300 appearances) and country (81 caps).perform a huge array of tricks at speed, in particular a
bewildering number of step overs. He’s also strong in
the air, boasting a hang time that appears to defy
gravity. CR7 has always been a showman, leading to
accusations of arrogance, but he’s won the league and
cup in England, Spain and Italy. Records include most
appearances (182) and most goals (140) in the
Champions League, most goals in the European
Championship (14) and most international goals (115)
and international appearances for a major nation (184).“ROnALDO CAn DRIBBLE AnD
PERFORM A HUGE ARRAY OF
TRICKS AT SPEED”
10
PAUL SCHOLES
1991 –2013Another who played his whole career at
United, and what a career it was! Scholes
has won everything in the game, including
an almost-inconceivable ten Premier
League titles. Scholes first started training
with United at 14, although he wasn’t part
of the 1992 FA Youth Cup-winning side as
there were still concerns about his small
stature. His technical and ball-striking
ability soon came to the fore, though, and
his range of passing, clever movement on
and off the ball and vision for the game
made him the complete midfielder. Fellow
midfield greats sung his praises, while
Thierry Henry once described him as the
greatest player in Premier League history.
Scholes played over 700 times for United,
scoring 155 goals. He had no interest in a
celebrity lifestyle and has always lived out
of the limelight away from football, but on
the pitch he’s one of the all-time stars.09
WAYNE ROONEY
2004–2017There’s sometimes a sense that Rooney was
a supreme talent not wholly fulfilled, but in
truth those reservations really belong to
England. In the red of United he was a
phenomenon, blasting onto the stage as an
18 year old to score a hat-trick in a
Champions League match with Fenerbahçe
and going on to win every major club
honour. Rooney was born in Croxteth in
Liverpool and grew up as an Everton fan. He
was associated with the club from the age of
nine, but Everton’s precarious financial
position forced them into a sale, and in
August 2004 he moved to United. On his
signing, Denis Law declared that Rooney
would “have all the United records”, and in
terms of goalscoring, at least, he was proven
right. His 253 goals make him United’s
leading goalscorer, and he is behind only
Alan Shearer as the Premier League’s top
goalscorer. He also has 103 assists, placing
him third in the all-time list. Quite possibly
the last ‘street’ footballer. ImagesGetty ImagesFourFourTwo.com The Story of Man Utd 5550 GREATEST
RED DEVILS