Sir Alex Ferguson Believes Just 4 of His Manchester United Players Were Truly World

 

 Sir Alex Ferguson has made the rather surprising admission that there are only four players he managed at Manchester United that he considered to be truly world class, despite all the superstars who passed through Old Trafford under his guidance between 1986 and 2013.

Ferguson told BBC's Football Focus that Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo "made the difference and the evidence is there".

Many might be shocked that the legendary Scot only considered individuals like Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez to be mere "great players".

However, in a world where many Liverpool fans firmly believe Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge to be 'world class' it's actually refreshing to hear a man who worked with so many extremely talented players in more than 26 years at Old Trafford reserve the often overused label for just a select few.

Describing Cantona as a "catalyst", Ferguson said of the mercurial Frenchman, "When we brought him in (in November 1992) we won the league that season - it was his mere presence and his ability to make and score goals."

Cantona was revered not only for what he could do on the pitch, with his influence and legacy a huge part of the club's future successes in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s. It flowed perfectly into the Class of '92 generation, with Giggs and Scholes the ones that stood out.

"The younger breed like Ryan and Scholes were just fantastic players and the thing about those two was longevity," Ferguson said. "Are there players who have played right through the whole of the Premier League and performed at the level they have? There are none, absolutely none."

Ronaldo, who recently became all-time top scorer for Real Madrid as well as in the history of the European Cup/Champions League, was described as "just a complete genius of a player". A lack of suitable superlatives is perhaps fitting for what the Portuguese superstar has achieved in his remarkable career.