Manchester United have been blessed with some incredible players in the Premier League era – and former captain Roy Keane has tried to name their best overall XI.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Keane ultimately named his ultimate Xl of: Peter Schmeichel; Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin; David Beckham, Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Ryan Giggs; Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
This got us thinking of the best XI of players he excluded and we present them to you in a 4-3-1-2 formation. Note: it can only include players from the Premier League era.
GK: Edwin van der Sar
After Keane picked Schmeichel, we were only really left with two options. And we’re not talking about Massimo Taibi and Roy Carroll.
David de Gea has been United’s standout performer in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, but we couldn’t ignore the merits of Edwin van der Sar.
The former Netherlands international kept 135 clean sheets in 266 United appearances and holds the record for most consecutive minutes without conceding a Premier League goal.
He also won four league titles and played an integral role in United’s Champions League success in 2008, saving Nicolas Anelka’s penalty in the final.
It’s been 29 years since Edwin van der Sar made his professional football debut 🧤
Throwback to when he saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to win the Champions League for Manchester United 🤩pic.twitter.com/fJrlnscRTQ
— GOAL (@goal) April 23, 2020
RB: Rafael
Right-back was a difficult position to fill here – Antonio Valencia was good, but something held us back from putting him in this best XI.
We ultimately decided on Rafael, who managed to usurp Gary Neville as their first-choice right-back and helped United win three Premier League titles.
The Brazil international also scored a stunning goal in a win at Anfield and there aren’t many United right-backs that can say that. Not even Neville.
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