YOUR n EXT FOURFOURTWO IS On SALE MaY 26
rarely gave the ball away. A few years earlier
[1993-94], I was part of a United squad that
faced Galatasaray and Alex Ferguson’s team
talk centred around Tugay, because he was
their playmaker. He was the man we had to
stop getting the ball, but it was easier said
than done... he was such a clever footballer!”ROY KEANE
“He’s one of the best box-to-box midfielders
there’s ever been. Bryan Robson was my hero
growing up, but Roy was in that mould - I’m
sure he learned a lot from Bryan. He gave 110
per cent whether it was a match or training.
He was all or nothing.”PAUL SCHOLES
“I came through the ranks with him. When
we won the FA Youth Cup in 1992, he didn’t
play in the final because he hadn’t grown.
Scholesy was small, but everybody knew the
touches he had, the awareness. For me, he’s
in the top three or four best players to grace
the Premier League.”ERIC CANTONA
“Some of the things Eric [below] did at United
were just ‘wow’! He had an arrogance about
him, but in a good way – he’d enter the room
and there was an aura. Ferguson says he was
the missing piece of the puzzle when United
bagged title after title. Eric was the catalyst.”ALAN SHEARER
“The most prolific scorer the Premier League
has seen, and he was so powerful. Alan
wasn’t the tallest centre-forward, but
he got loads of goals using his head
and scored different types of goals as
well. If you crossed the ball, you knew
he’d be on the end of it.”LES FERDINAND
“In the two years I spent with Les
at Newcastle, he hit 50 goals in
84 games – an incredible return.
In 1995-96, we came so close to
winning the title and it was just
a case of getting the ball into the
box, as Les’ leap was amazing. He
was named PFA Player of the Year.”
Dom SmithMY PERFECT XI
KEVIN KEEGAN
“People might think I’d go for Alex Ferguson, but
I was still a young lad on the periphery of things
at Manchester United. I joined Newcastle, played
regularly and Kevin was just sensational for me.”01
ROB
LEE 03PETER
02 BEARDSLEYKEITH GILLESPIE
THE SUBS
THE GAFFER
The former Northern Ireland flanker and Class of ’92 graduate picks a stellar side
of team-mates from fond spells at Manchester United, Newcastle and BlackburnPETER SCHMEICHEL
“Two goalkeepers instantly spring to mind –
Peter Schmeichel and Shay Given. I’ve gone
for Peter as, quite simply, he’s the greatest
Premier League keeper we’ve seen. I played
a handful of first-team matches with him at
Manchester United and he was outstanding –
as he was in training, too.”GARY NEVILLE
“I grew up with the Class of ’92 and played
a lot of games alongside Gary over the years.
He was ultra-consistent and never put a foot
wrong. His longevity at one club – and that
club being United - shows you what a player
he was. For the majority of his career, he was
probably the best full-back in England.”GARY PALLISTER
“Gary was a tremendous signing for United.
He struggled a bit when he first arrived from
Middlesbrough, but went on to build a terrific
partnership with Steve Bruce – they were key
to the club winning the first Premier League
title in 1992-93. Of the two, Gary was the one
with the pace.”PHILIPPE ALBERT
“We were team-mates at Newcastle. He was
a silky centre-back and very good on the ball.
Philippe was so unfortunate with injuries, but
fantastic whenever he played and a top lad
to have around the dressing room. He scored
some spectacular goals – he had a great left
foot, a real hammer of a shot, although he’s
best remembered for chipping Schmeichel.”DENIS IRWIN
“Mr Reliable. He started out at right-back- when United bought Paul Parker,
he moved to left-back and you’d
never have known he wasn’t
left-footed. He got on with
the role, no bother at all,
and scored some superb
goals. You could count
on one hand the number
of bad games Denis had.”
TUGAY
“Sensational when I played
with him at Blackburn - heRYAN
GIGGSCM
ROY
KEANEDM
TUGAYCM
PAUL
SCHOLESDENIS
IRWINL B
GARY
PALLISTERCB
PHILIPPE
ALBERTCB
GARY
NEVILLER B
PETER
SCHMEICHELGK
aM
ERIC
CANTONAALAN
SHEARERC F
LES
FERDINANDC F