- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Manchester United Memories: Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo
- Updated: October 4, 2016
Manchester United’s No. 7 shirt has taken a bit of a hammering in recent seasons. Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to award it to Michael Owen after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure resulted in some kind of curse, or perhaps for more prosaic reasons neither Owen, Antonio Valencia, Angel Di Maria nor Memphis Depay have been able to live up to their illustrious predecessors’ billing.
For a little over 20 years, though, that number was infused with a sense of mystique and cool by three different but equally iconic players. Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Ronaldo each stand as a symbol of different periods of the club’s most dominant era.
Each serve as a symbol of their time in a broader sense, too.
Cantona was the transitional spearhead—helping United move from the incredible physical toughness of the 1994 side to the more modern, European team that would go on to Champions League success. The Class of ’92 grew around him, with the shirt’s next incumbent watching and learning.
Beckham was, in some ways, the defining British cultural icon of his age—fashionable and part of Cool Britannia’s most mainstream power couple. He might just be the most famous footballer since Pele.
Ronaldo picked up the Beckham baton and ran with it—replacing him in terms of fame and global status and changing the profile of United’s football.
Having him on the right wing with his searing speed, ever-developing strength and remarkable directness changed the team from one wherein Beckham swung in crosses for Ruud van Nistelrooy to one wherein Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney cut through teams with counter-attacking speed and incision the likes of which had rarely been seen anywhere in the game.
The three former United No. 7s can probably lay a claim to giving many fans their love of United, too. And between them they served up countless good footballing memories. Let’s take a look at some of their best moments, as chosen by you.
@UtdRantcast Spending summer hols at the Cliff watching Cantona after hours training with his son then still signing autographs
— GGMONG (@CornedBoeuf) October 3, 2016
This tells a story of a bygone age at United. The Cliff was the club’s pre-Carrington training ground, and it was accessible by fans. Cantona at the Cliff is the stuff of legend—his practice routine having inspired the young players developing at the club at the time. Beckham’s set-piece excellence might not have ever become what it was without seeing the Frenchman’s willingness to work on skills after training was officially done.
And as this memory reminds us, autograph hunters had much better access than they do now. The club needed to modernise, of course, but some of the connection between United and the community it serves was lost when training moved from the Cliff to Carrington.
@UtdRantcast Cantona, boxing day v S Weds. 3-3. 85th min equaliser, being 3-0 down. My turkey butties flying through the air!
— Nicky (@2605Nicky) October 3, 2016
Cantona’s importance to United’s first league title under the not-yet-knighted Ferguson cannot be overstated. Here was yet another example of the kind of telling impact that made him a club legend.
Here is also yet another example of the spirit the club had built under Ferguson. On Boxing Day 1992, in the running for the title again having thrown their best chance in years away the season before, United were 3-0 down to Sheffield Wednesday after 62 minutes.
After 90 minutes, the score was 3-3. Brian McClair had fired United back into the game with a brace, and Cantona equalised. On 1 January, 1993, Ferguson said, per the Guardian:
More than at any time since I was playing, the club is alive. The 3-3 draw at Sheffield Wednesday was magnificent. It’s as if the good old days were back and the major factor, as far as I’m concerned, is the Frenchman. Eric Cantona is so clever it’s untrue and …
