“I got a few text messages from friends saying, ‘What about you?’,” Van der Sar said. “I’m quite happy at the moment. There’s no doubt in my mind. I was at Carrington and he was watching a training session and I said, ‘So, how do you like it?’. He said, ‘Not really. I miss it’. He was still there doing his work as an assistant coach with the reserve team so it was probably a little bit easier to get back in.”

In Edwin Van der Sar’s testimonial last night his Dream Team beat Ajax 2-1, with Louis Saha and Dennis Bergkamp scoring.

Dream Team: Edwin Van Der Sar, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Gary Neville, Andre Ooijer, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Phillip Cocu, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Boudewij Zenden, Dirk Kuyt, Dennis Bergkamp, Alessandro Del Piero, Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha.

“Edwin decided he wants to go out at the top, though he did have a wobble last week,” said Ferguson. “He came to see me and told me he was thinking about changing his mind. I had to tell him to be quick about it because we are in the middle of concluding a deal for a new keeper. He came back a couple of days later to say he would be sticking with his original decision to go, which I think at his age is the right thing for him to do.”

“United have made their decision,” he said. “It’s not Neuer, but I can’t say any more than that.”

Peter Schmeichel has claimed that Bayern Munich-bound Neuer is the best keeper in the world though.

“He is probably the best goalkeeper in the world,” he said. “He is 25 years of age but he’s very mature in the way he plays. He doesn’t make mistakes – I haven’t seen him make a single mistake – and the way he played yesterday, he wasn’t lucky in the way that he saved the shots and one-on-ones, it was very calculated. I just thought his overall game was fantastic and absolutely well-suited for Manchester United.”

Gareth Bale was named PFA Player of the Year, after assisting 1 goal and scoring 7. Nani, who wasn’t even shortlisted, has assisted 18 goals and scored 9. Jack Wilshere won the Young Player of the Year and Chicharito came 3rd.

The players from London clubs can pick up the Player awards… whilst our players will pick up actual medals. I wonder what they’d prefer?

“I’m not going back to Amsterdam, though it would be very comfortable there with Frank de Boer, Danny Blind and Dennis Bergkamp,” said Van der Sar of his former Ajax team-mates. “When I left 12 years ago, I said I would return, but I did not know then what great years I would have with Manchester United. I might occasionally visit training with them, but I will not be going regularly. It may be that I’m going to give Manchester United clinics in Asia, where the club is very popular, or something in commerce. I think this is interesting. I have already held some talks.”

After the game, Wayne Rooney spoke to Van der Sar about the fans’ chants but doesn’t think we’ll get our way.

“The players are trying to persuade Edwin to stay on too,” Rooney said. “I was speaking to him in the shower afterwards but it is his decision and we have to respect it. He is such a great goalkeeper. Despite his age he is still the best keeper in the world.”

Sir Alex Ferguson hinted at the possibility of Edwin staying on at the club as a coach but is sure that the keeper won’t carry on playing.

“There is no chance of Edwin changing his mind, definitely not,” he said. “He’s marvellous, absolutely brilliant and a fantastic man. But I haven’t spoken to him about changing his mind. He has got his plans for next year. He is taking a break and going back to Holland, where he has a new house and he is going to do a bit of work there. Then he is going to return here for September when his son starts school in Wilmslow. I think that is his plan. He is going to take a break from football, then come back in. There are possibilities there for us, but first he is taking a break. He hasn’t made his mind up about what to do after that. He has had a long period in the game and is coming up to 41. He wants to spend some time with his wife because she has had a tough couple of years.”

Castrol Rankings is the world’s first rankings based on the actual performance of every football player across Europe’s top five leagues.

With a few weeks remaining, Van der Sar currently has a higher average performance than all the top keepers in Europe.

Remind me, why is he retiring again?

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How Castrol Rankings work

“That save in Moscow is a nice moment to look back on,” said Edwin. “It is easier for strikers to be the hero. A goalkeeper might make an excellent save but if a forward scores in the last minute, the headlines are all for him. That is fair. They are there to score the goals. But Moscow was a very special moment, which will stay with me for a long time.”