Red Devils have had many great names as part of their club in the Barclays Premier League era.
Many players have been criticized as overrated as well, and many been judged as underrated. Manchester United have had a bunch of players who were given much more credit than they deserved.
So let’s take a look at United’s overrated XI.
Goalkeeper: Fabian Barthez
French World Cup winner Barthez was the highest profile goalkeeping addition since Peter Schmeichel and a clear attempt to replace him permanently at £7.8 million. He was mostly known for his better days rather than the bad ones which is unfair as he often had a poor display in important matches.
Defenders: Quinton Fortune, Phil Jones, Mikael Silvestre:
Fortune’s performances for Atlético B earned him the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for a fee of £1.5 million on 1 August 1999. He made 76 appearances for United and also scored 5 goals, but somehow his more than usual defensive errors were not blamed enough.
On 13 June 2011, United confirmed that they had reached an agreement to sign Jones on a five-year deal for an undisclosed transfer fee believed to be at least £16.5 million. Phil Jones has been a very hard working player, but just like his former defensive partner, Johnny Evans, the club just doesn’t suit him. It’s a big deal considering how he is still part of the squad till now.
Silvestre signed for Manchester United for £4 million on 10 September 1999. The French player made over 240 appearances for Manchester United, and had an illustrious career in terms of silverware. He was often paired with either Rio Ferdinand or Wes Brown, and got more credit than he actually deserved. With competition rising in the defence line-up after the signings of Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, Silvestre knew his time had come to leave the club.
Midfielders: Nani, Alan Smith, Roy Keane, Anderson:
Nani was sold to Manchester United for €25.5 million from Sporting CP. He was often known for his skills and speed. The Portuguese winger went on making 147 appearances for Manchester United and won numerous trophies during his time there. But being among a star-filled squad then, his performance was appreciated much more than it should’ve been, and in result, more was expected from him. His display slowly went downhill after Sir Alex’s departure, as he didn’t have the team performing at the top-level anymore.
Alan Smith joined Manchester United on 8th August 2004. Even though the English footballer didn’t play enough during the three years he was at the Old Trafford club, he got over recognised by many as Sir Alex was reportedly grooming him as a successor to Roy Keane. He was a flop signing by Sir Alex Ferguson. His move to United might be the best thing that happened in his career.
Roy Keane is claimed to be one of the best midfielders United ever had. And that is true. But the dirty tactics and angry rants by the Irishman went too far in his career, and were ignored by the fans just because the team was in their winning ways back then. His contribution to the club has been massive but the amount of respect he got and probably still gets is more than he actually deserves.
Anderson was signed by Manchester United on 30th May 2007. The Brazilian midfielder made 105 appearances during his time at the Old Trafford club. He went on winning a lot of silverware which he didn’t really deserve, given his average performance.
Forwards: Robin Van Persie, Carlos Tevez, Teddy Sheringham:
Robin Van Persie joined Manchester United on 17th August 2012. He played an important part in winning the 20th title for the club but became a failure in his remaining time at Old Trafford. The Dutch striker went totally out-of-form and couldn’t play according to the standards of the club. The recognition he gets still just because of that one single season is way more than he is supposed to get.
Carlos Tevez was a part of the deadly trio- Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez. He scored 19 goals during the two seasons he was at Manchester United. The Argentine was a regular starter in the team but was given too much credit as he was one of those players who took 10 good chances to convert 1.
Teddy Sheringham joined Manchester United in June 1997 and was part of the treble winning squad, also assisting the famous Solsjkaer goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. He is known to be a very important player of that late 90’s era. Scoring 31 goals in his time at United, Sheringham was a deadly striker but a bad finisher. He often used to fluff goalscoring chances which mostly went unnoticed, given the form and heights the team was then.
