Ryan Giggs, United’s greatest

After the recent revelation that Ryan Giggs has been voted the greatest player to ever put on a United shirt, I’ve had many conversations with football fans, mainly Man United fans, as to whether this is really true.

First of all, there’s no doubt Ryan Giggs is one of the greats, a true legend of the club, a great servant and overall a model pro, when do you ever see Giggs publicised in the back papers because he’s had an affair with teammates wives or escorts? Never is the answer to that question. He is United’s and the premierships most decorated player, that’s not an achievement that just falls someone’s way.

Giggs has produced moments that will go down in United folklore, who can forget the goal against Arsenal, which lead to the infamous hairy chest, and has been tearing teams apart with his dribbling skills and pace since he came onto the scene back in 1992. Even in the last couple of seasons now his pace has started to leave him, he has adapted his game to accommodate this, coming inside and playing killer passes and still scoring important goals.

However, despite all his attributes and his years of service, I can’t help but feel that the fans which vote for the greatest United player are of a younger generation, it wasn’t so long ago that Eric Cantona was voted the best ever. With these younger fans voting, I fear that everyone just seems to be jumping on the ‘Ryan Giggs bandwagon’.

These younger fans voting, haven’t seen George Best at the peak of his powers, or even clips of video footage, and haven’t seen midfield masters such as Bryan Robson, and the legendary Bobby Charlton. It was those players that bought about United’s first success in Europe, then against the mighty Benfica.

I can understand that some people might consider Giggs a truer legend than Best, purely as  Best didn’t exactly give his all for United, the fact he retired just aged 27 says it all. But if we’re going on service to the club, surely Bobby Charlton has to be up there, he still has a role at the club now.

I know I sound as if I have some sort of vendetta out against Giggs, this is not the case at all. I would definitely say that Giggs is an absolute legend at the club, and is one of the finest players the British shores has produced, his talent and the devastating affect his left foot can have is beyond any doubt for anyone, but the greatest ever I’m not so sure.

For me, the greatest ever isn’t about how many years a player is at a club, or how many trophies that players may have on his mantelpiece, it’s purely based on who is the most talented player to put on that clubs shirt, simple.

For me, the greatest United player, is without doubt, the one and only George Best. He may not have fulfilled his potential and achieved all he could, but that’s exactly the point, he was that good, and never did reach his full potential.

All I can hope is that Manchester United re-opens the poll, and this time, fans off all generations have a voice, because I think if they did, Georgie would come out on top every day of the week.

Chris Plant