Ole: This Team Can Be Better Than 99
Five words which make any United fan beam. “…and Solskjaer has won it.” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the man who “put the ball in the German’s net” and who gave us the greatest memory we have as United fans. United were a goal down when the injury time board was held up, showing just three minutes, but when the final whistle went, we were ready to get our hands on the European Cup. That moment was absolutely priceless. Nothing will ever rival that moment for me, but Solskjaer believes that our current team certainly has the ability to rival and surpass all that was achieved by our 1999 squad.
He has today spoken out about his hope for United’s future, claiming he believes we now have the potential to go on not only to win this European Cup, but several more over the coming years. When looking at the players we had back then, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham all in their prime, as well as the likes of Jaap Stam, Peter Schmeichel, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, it was hard to imagine a better side.
However, as Ferguson has said several times this season, our current squad is the best we’ve ever had. The likes of Anderson, Nani, Carlos Tevez and Louis Saha are likely to take a place on the bench, which was held by Jonathan Greening, David May and Phil Neville back in ‘99. We have the strength in depth Fergie has craved throughout his years as United manager, and there is real belief that this is the team to win the third European Cup we have been longing for since our victory 9 years ago.
“This will hopefully be the start of something more than we achieved,” Solskajer said today. “The 1999 team achieved it once. It was a fantastic feeling. The memories of that night stick with you forever. I wanted to experience more of them and believed we could. Now nine years have passed before the club could get back to a final. This side can win it and hopefully start something bigger. You want the players to get the feeling that this is where we want to be every year. Hopefully it will inspire them and motivate them to believe what they really can achieve because I believe this team and these players can achieve a lot more. I think this team could go on to win more Champions Leagues than us in 1999 because of the talent and the age of the players.”
Do you think a victory in Europe next week could be the first of several Champions League titles for this squad?
3 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
Problem with comments? Please view our Comments Policy
RoM RSS Feed
I agree , unbelievable talent in this team .. we need to surpass there league and european cups of five , then what will they say?
NOW is the TIME
Tony
i’m one of those who will stick outt my head and say that this squad is better than 99. the bench next wednesday will defend the above assertion. also but for a combination of bad luck and poor refeering, we would be in the FA CUP FINAL. if this squad stays and gels together, then we shall start lifting European cups as often as we do on PLAYSTATION.
In my opinion, the point to make is that this squad HAS THE POTENTIAL to be better than the 99 team. It should be remembered that the 99 squad was an ideal mix of experience (Schmeichel, Teddy, Henning Berg), Youth (the class of 92 - Becks, the Nevs, Scholes, Butt), and players at their peak (Keano, Yorke, Cole)… but I reckon this squad can eclipse that team in the next three years, as there is more ability, more flexibility and this team plays with more fluidity. For example, it had been argued that teams in Europe had sussed out how to stop United - stop the supply from the wings, and they didn’t really have another way of playing. The amount of goals that were scored in the 99 season in Europe that was supplied from wide crosses was significant. Nowadays, Ronaldo can either cross, go past players, or even score himself, as he’s done a few times already this season I believe. Alternatively, you’ve got the partnership of Rooney and Tevez, who are more than just goalscorers, there’s the passing ability of Carrick, the dribbling ability of Anderson and Nani, the list goes on…