Of course many of us believe there will never be another Man United team as dominant , exciting , successful and inspiring as those treble winning Fergie boys. Not in this lifetime anyways.
That team had the heart of a champion and a winning mentality unlike anything we'd ever seen in english football.
Replacing those boys was always going to be difficult but Fergie worked his magic and rebuilt another dominant team that went on to win more league titles and another Champions League.
But looking back on that 1999 team , I think it's fair to say we still haven't replaced some of those individual talents all these years later.
First of all , as far as scoring goals , Rooney , Ronaldo and Van Ilsteroy picked up where Cole , Yorke , Solskjaer and Sheringham left off
And we can argue that De Gea and Van Der Sar ( to an extent ) have carried the torch for the great Schmeichel.
Vidic and Ferdinand were fantastic as CBs , following in the footsteps of
the likes of Jaapp Stam.
But in terms of the players we still haven't replaced from that 1999 team there's quite a few.
We still haven't had a strong midfield general and leader like captain fantastic himself Roy Keane.
Paul Scholes was one of a kind. We haven't seen an attacking , goal scoring midfielder and a shooter in a United shirt like him since he retired.
The right fullback position has been a bit of mess since Gary Neville left but on the left it's fair to say Evra was outstanding in the "Dennis Irwin spot".
In terms of pure old fashioned wing play , we haven't even come close to replacing Beckham and Giggs. These two lads hugged the touchline and provided so many assists with their wonderful crosses into the box.
I know Ronaldo played on the wings for us but I put him in the category of goal scorers rather than wing players.
With all this in mind , the question then becomes who in the current United team would even get anywhere close to that 1999 first eleven team?
Bruno Fernandes maybe? But who would Fergie have dropped for him? Nah ... I can't see it.
We know Pogba wouldn't be anywhere near that team. As frustrating as he is on the pitch with his play and some of his antics , I can imagine Roy Keane literally dragging him off the pitch himself every match!
1999 United side
posted on 28/11/20
comment by StringerBell (U11749)
posted 1 hour, 34 minutes ago
2008-2013 era was a better team.
As iconic as the ‘99 team is/was, they ultimately underachieved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Teams didn’t dominate the way teams do back then. Winning back to back titles was a big deal, an English club winning in the CL wasn’t even in people’s dreams.
Nobody has won a treble since, which shows how incredible an achievement it was. Even as good as our 08 team was, we didn’t manage the FA Cup (partly thanks to crap officiating).
posted on 28/11/20
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 59 seconds ago
comment by StringerBell (U11749)
posted 1 hour, 34 minutes ago
2008-2013 era was a better team.
As iconic as the ‘99 team is/was, they ultimately underachieved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Teams didn’t dominate the way teams do back then. Winning back to back titles was a big deal, an English club winning in the CL wasn’t even in people’s dreams.
Nobody has won a treble since, which shows how incredible an achievement it was. Even as good as our 08 team was, we didn’t manage the FA Cup (partly thanks to crap officiating).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ll disagree there, SAF knew. And I remember being so gutted, to miss out on going back to the C.L final. Utd were the best team in the world and won the next 2 seasons with ease.
The Treble is the greatest single season achievement.
But the fact that a decade later SAF would have a team that would again win 3 titles in a row a go to 3 C.L finals in 4 seasons, edges the ‘99 - ‘01 era.
We just unfortunately came up against a prime Barca, but that UTD team for me, fulfilled their potential.
posted on 28/11/20
True. A lot of things have to align for you to win a treble, we had some luck in 99 and some bad luck vs Pompy in 08.
posted on 28/11/20
Bruno might get on the bench and that's a compliment.
Nobody else comes remotely close.
The cavalier swash buckling football I grew up watching
The brain melting, annoying, lucky Fergie Time winning moments and bottle job refs
World class players
The fortress of Old Trafford
All the things I associated with Man Utd
Are long long gone.
posted on 28/11/20
I genuinely don’t think any player from the current side gets in tbh.
Maguire has been mentioned earlier in the thread but Ronny Johnson, while not being one of the glamour names from the treble, was good on the ball, had enough pace that he could get back and cover.
I don’t remember him making any mistakes when he was fit and playing regularly, I think Johnson keeps his place imo.
I still love that we went unbeaten in the CL in ‘99 (and ‘08) and played Bayern three times, Juve twice, Inter twice and Barca twice, I think we effectively knocked Barca out of the groups stages too with that 3-3 at the Nou Camp, if memory serves?
posted on 28/11/20
comment by Robb Pochettino - 🧢 Make United Great Again (U22311)
posted 5 hours, 1 minute ago
I reckon Bruno would be a good shout to get in that side. I’m not saying he’s better than Scholes but if you put Bruno in for Scholes I don’t think we’d have done badly at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scholes played in a two man midfield with Keano. Bruno could not, in a million years, play that role. He gives the ball away too much.
posted on 28/11/20
The leadership level in that 99 squad was unreal. Apart from Yorke who was a bid relax, all positions are the captain themselves. Even the subs were filled with Phil Neville, Butt who went on to cap their new clubs later on.
posted on 28/11/20
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 5 hours, 30 minutes ago
comment by Robb Pochettino - 🧢 Make United Great Again (U22311)
posted 5 hours, 1 minute ago
I reckon Bruno would be a good shout to get in that side. I’m not saying he’s better than Scholes but if you put Bruno in for Scholes I don’t think we’d have done badly at all
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scholes played in a two man midfield with Keano. Bruno could not, in a million years, play that role. He gives the ball away too much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is correct.
posted on 28/11/20
comment by StringerBell (U11749)
posted 11 hours, 13 minutes ago
2008-2013 era was a better team.
As iconic as the ‘99 team is/was, they ultimately underachieved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agree. Not winning the League Cup that year has tainted the Treble team's legacy forever.
posted on 29/11/20
Oh come on, i'm not slating the team, just saying, the '08 team did better, but ok the '99 season until now is still the greatest season. fair enough?