After 26 years in charge of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has finally decided to call it a day. The Scot won 13 League titles with the club with the help of some of the Premier League greats. Names such as Cantona, Giggs, Keane, Ferdinand, Beckham and Ronaldo come to mind when reminiscing about Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford, and the 71-year-old was widely praised for his ability in the transfer market and skill in spotting a bargain.
However in his 26-year tender there were always going to be players who didn’t live up to their peers, and have all but been forgotten. In this game of I-Spy your Man U knowledge will be put through its paces.
1. Luke Chadwick- 5 points for remembering.
It may shock you to learn that Chadwick spent five seasons at Old Trafford, between 1999 and 2004, making a grand total of 25 appearances for the club during that time. Chadwick was loaned out four times in five seasons, and although he never had the ability to break into the Manchester United midfield, Ferguson kept faith in his academy graduate, before eventually selling Chadwick to West Ham in 2004. Here he is scoring for Stoke in 2006.
2. David Bellion- 10 points
A striker who had great pace, but not a lot else, goes down as one of Ferguson’s greatest flops. The Frenchman, currently at Bordeaux, signed for the Red Devils in 2003 after an impressive one goal in twenty appearances for Sunderland. A very surprising signing, Bellion struggled to break into a team consisting of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan, and left for Nice after scoring a staggering four goals.
3. Kleberson- 20 points
Kleberson was a star of the 2002 World Cup, and was a key fixture in his Brazil side who were eventual winners. So who better to sign as a replacement for the departing Juan Veron in 2003? Kleberson turned out to be even worse than the notorious flop Veron, and made only 20 appearances in two seasons before jumping ship to Turkey.
4. Eric Djemba Djemba- 10 points
The big transfer news of 2003 was David Beckham’s move to Real Madrid, which brought in a fair bit of cash for Manchester United, but left a Beckham shaped hole in the middle of the park. After being linked to the whole world, Ferguson decided to put his faith in the young Cameroonian, “he’s so good they named him twice” it was said. Known as a tough tackler and driving midfield force, Djemba squared was even compared to Roy Keane when he moved from Nantes for £3.5 million. Known for his crunching tackles, and going missing in big matches, Djemba Djemba was restricted to 20 appearances for Manchester United, before leaving for Aston Villa in 2005. This goal against Leeds was the highlight of his spell at Old Trafford.
5. Bebe- 5 points
Ok, you may well remember Bebe as he is still on the books of Manchester United, currently playing his football on loan in native Portugal. It is possible he could come back to Old Trafford a changed man and his two appearances for the Red Devils may not be enough to judge him by. It is rare a player can be completely judged one appearance, but then again his 2010 game against Wolves was so poor questions were being asked of the legitimacy of Bebe’s transfer, with various conspiracies surrounding the Portugese. As this (regrettably low quality) video shows cross after cross was over hit, and although it would be a tough ask to live up to previous Portugese wingers Cristano Ronaldo and Nani- Bebe’s career does seem set to climax in being a pub quiz question rather than a statue
So how did you do?
0-5 points- A Quentin Fortune standard performance
10-20- League 1 at best
25-45- Not bad, maybe a Dwight Yorke
50- Pretty special, your Man U career would eclipse all the above put together.
Will Mata