Red: My Autobiography (26 page)

I couldn’t have given more, but now my time is up. I went out with the lads to celebrate our historic nineteenth title. I felt total joy to have finally moved ahead of Liverpool. It’s a phenomenal achievement. I was thrilled for the whole club and for the lads as they sang their songs and drank their pints. But as the party moved on into the night, I was also a little bit detached from it, if I’m honest.

I’d had my time. I was already retired, starting out on my new life, and the club had moved on too, winning trophies without me. What an amazing time I’d had, but as the players continued to celebrate their championship, I slipped away into the night. I wouldn’t be missed, which is just how it should be.

Best United XI

I’ve been lucky to play with some of the true greats of the game – so many fantastic players that I’ve always been reluctant to choose the very best. But I’ve been asked so many times to select my Manchester United XI that I’ve had to give in.

It was an agonising process, and I’ve changed my mind about twenty times. There are world-class players, United legends, who have been left out. No room for Eric? That’s how hard it is to get in this team.

Goalkeeper

How do you separate two of the greatest ever goalkeepers? Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar would grace any team. Edwin was the first goalkeeper since Peter left who mastered the position. He is a sweeper-keeper with great shot-saving ability and fantastic distribution. But, best of all, he exuded calm confidence. It’s a very hard job being a United goalkeeper but Edwin was never flustered, however big the occasion.

Edwin is a class act, but in the end I had to go with the longevity of Peter who was not just a great goalkeeper but a massive presence when I was coming into the side. He was one of those ferociously driven players who made all the young lads realise what it took to reach the top. He would slaughter me in training. He could be brutal. But that was just his raging desire to win. Peter was unarguably the best in the world for quite a few years and has to go down as one of the manager’s greatest signings.

Defence

Denis Irwin was so good you could put him at left-or right-back and he would be brilliant in either position. It’s hard to remember a mistake he made, and, on top of his reliability, he could attack and take penalties and free-kicks.

He played more as a left-back for United but he’ll have to go on the right in this team because I’m going for Patrice Evra at left-back. Patrice was not an instant hit at United, taking a little time to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League, but he proved a very quick learner and has been throwing himself into challenges ever since. And attacking-wise, there are few better full-backs in the world.

Centre-half was a massive dilemma. Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Jaap Stam, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand – you could take any two of them and have a top-quality pairing. I knew I’d never get into the team at centre-half when I saw Brucey and Pallister. They were great players and fantastic people to be around when we were coming into the team.

But I’m going for the modern-day pairing of Vidic and Rio as my choice, though how I am leaving out Jaap I’ll never know. Jaap was brilliant, colossal. In his first season we won the Treble and he should have been at United for longer, as the manager has admitted.

But Vidic has to be in the team. That’s non-negotiable. How he didn’t win Player of the Year in 2010/11 is beyond me. He was easily the most consistent, influential player in the league. There’s an argument that Rio and Vidic need each other to be at their best, and that’s why, in the end, I am going for the two of them together. They are a fantastic combination, a great blend, with Rio’s wonderful all-round ability to see the game, to make interceptions and to play the ball in the tightest of spaces alongside Vidic getting in the way of everything. The bottom line is they have played in three Champions League finals together during the club’s golden period.

Midfield

The Treble-winning midfield quartet of David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs walk into the team. They are inseparable. That four had everything.

There was Giggsy’s dribbling on one side and Becks’ delivery on the other, allied to Keano’s incredible drive and tenacity and Scholesy’s laser-passing and goalscoring ability. Tenacity, passing, penetration, energy, technical quality, tackling – all of it in spades. What more could you want from a midfield?

It has become harder to play a flat four in modern football. The game has moved on. Teams work on outnumbering you in that area of the field. But I’ve not seen a four that has complemented one another so well, and I wouldn’t put it past them to have flourished today even with the tactical changes in the game.

They were all very intelligent players, had bags of skill, and they all worked like dogs. They had it all. It was a privilege to be in the same team.

Attack

Cristiano Ronaldo is a cert up front. The goals he scored for United, added to the fact that he had so much ability to frighten players, mean he is a must. For three years from around 2006 to 2009 Cristiano was the best player in the world, and that is why he has to be in.

Rooney or Cantona as his partner? This one took a lot of consideration, and I was tempted to go for Eric. He is a Messiah at this club, an all-time icon. I think back to that 1995/96 season and I know we couldn’t have won the league without him. It’s sad that he didn’t stay around to win the Champions League.

But Wayne has helped us to reach three European finals in four years and that’s why he just gets the nod. These should be his peak years now and everything’s set up for him to become an Old Trafford legend. The stage is set for him.

That leaves out Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was the greatest goalscorer I ever played with; Dwight Yorke, who set us alight in that Treble season; Mark Hughes, who was just an incredible warrior for United as well as a great striker; and Andy Cole, who overcame a difficult start at Old Trafford to become a goalscoring machine.

But if the team is weighted more to the present day, that’s because it’s hard to ignore the phenomenal success that’s been enjoyed in reaching all those Champions League finals. This has been a special time in United’s history.

So there you have it: Schmeichel – Irwin, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra – Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs – Rooney, Ronaldo.

As for me, I’ll be lucky if I make it on to the bench.

The Chantlers School Under-11 team with me (front row, second from right) and Phil (back row, far left).

On Saturdays we played for the ICE junior team, under the watchful eye of my dad.

I’m the captain in this team photo, with Phil standing (back row, far right).

We both loved cricket, and Phil certainly could have played at the very highest level.

Here we are (front row, centre and second from right) representing Lancashire.

The North of England schoolboys team featured a future England captain in Michael Vaughan (front row, third from left), but as you can just see from the sling (back row, second from left), I broke my finger slip-fielding at what was effectively the national trials.

With Phil at my dad’s last game. He scored a six to win the match.