How GOOD Was PRIME Manchester United ?

[Music] when Manchester United ruled the world they were Unstoppable at their Peak Manchester United was the most complete team the world had ever seen until the disaster that ruined everything but the question is just how good was Prime Manchester United now this one goes back to the turn of the 21st century in the 1998 99 season United had emerged to become one of the best teams in the world before them Liverpool used to be the kings of English football but after the Premier League was renamed in 1992 it was clear who the new Kings were

United didn't get there by mistake though they've grinded their way to the top to understand this better I've got to rewind a bit it's difficult to think about it like this but in the 19899 season United's greatest manager Sir Alex Ferguson was on the verge of getting s act at the time they were performing so poorly in the league that they were just above the relegation Zone Sir Alex and United managed to turn it around and won the FA Cup That season and that was the start of something special in the 19991 campaign the attention

shifted from domestic to International Football still under Sir Alex United found themselves in the European Cup winners Cup who they were up against Barcelona in the final the a team back then was pretty decent the legendary Dutchmen Johan C was the coach too so it was clear they would take some beating to lose the final they won a 2-1 the first European trophy of the Sir Alex era fast forward to two years now and at the start of the 1992 93 season United was building something at the time that was simply going to be defined

as special you can never win anything with kids the guy who made the statement here was Allan Hansen and he said this after United had let key players leave and replaced them with Academy graduates players like David Beckham Ryan Giggs Paul skols Gary and Phil Neville and Nikki but all these Academy players got promoted to the first team and at the base United had added two new players that would define a generation Eric Cantona to Manchester United was a last minute decision Sir Alex asked about him if he was available on the market paid a

fee of $1.2 million to sign him and in return Cantona delivered in his first season with the Red Devils he backed 15 goals and 15 assists in 35 matches as they stormed to a first league title in 26 years but the truth is Cantona in the class of '92 didn't do the job alone also at the heartbeat of Midfield there was a new guy in Midfield that became the club's hard man Roy Keane Keane signed from Nottingham Forest for 3.75 million and by the time he'd gotten added to the squad United looked like Monsters players

like Peter schmeichel Cantona gigs Beckham all these guys took United to a level they'd never experienced before between 1992 to 1997 United won three League titles two fa cups and three Community shields for a club that was battling relegation only 7 years back the turnaround was massive and the best was still yet to come that 1998 1999 season was an iconic one in football and Manchester United's history United had finished second to Arsenal in the league the previous season and looking to bounce back they added players like Yap stam to the team a Colossus at

Center back Dwight York had come in from Aston Villa joining a team that already had players like Teddy sheringham aunar Soler and Andy Cole in attack and in case you're wondering where Eric anona was in all of this he'd shocked the World by announcing his retirement months back United entered the 1998 1999 season looking to bounce back and put in a decent charge to regain their league title but they did more than that they stunned the world on the final day of The League season this win over Spurs secured the league title in the most

dramatic way possible a one-point win over Arsenal the FA Cup Final against Newcastle United was next and this one just seemed to emphasize that popular saying that sometimes it's not really about the destination it's the journey now Ryan Giggs taking off his shirt was the highlight United had gotten down to 10 men after Keane was sent off in the semi-final versus Arsenal should have lost the game in normal time especially after Arsenal got a penalty to win it but Casper said no yeah that saved kept them in the game and gig scored to make it

2-1 with that solo stunner and send United to the final the match against Newcastle in the final was a bit more straightforward a 2-n win to ensure they landed the double but it was more than that for United because against the odds they were on the verge of making history the team traveled to Barcelona knowing what was at stake a win against bayn Munich here and they'd win the champions league and become the first team in the top European leagues to win the treble it didn't mean Bayern Munich were going to be easy pushovers though

in fact for large Parts they dominated the game and looked like they won it when that clock was seconds away from hitting 90 minutes but there's a concept United and Sir Alex Ferguson became increasingly familiar with as the years passed that iconic look at his watch could only mean one thing it was Fergie time goals from Teddy sheringham and Ule gunar sealed the win for United they'd come from behind to win a 2-1 and complete a historic treble the winning team of 1998 99 seemed to be United's people at the time because after that the

turn of the century that is what followed next was the dark days United's rise to the top didn't go unnoticed and now certain clubs had started copying their models of success in trying to catch up to them when Blackburn Rovers won the league in 1994 95 it seemed like they'd be the ones to rival United but they fell off and quickly gave rise to a team from the capital playing some serous football and just like that the start of the early 2000s became a war between Manchester United and Arsenal United won back-to-back Premier League titles

in 2000 and 2001 but it was clear to anyone watching that there were cracks in the team that had started the show most of the key members of the treble winning team had left Teddy sheringham was gone Peter schmeichel had followed suit yop Stam was gone and and while United did manage to make a couple of decent signings like a certain Dutch goal scoring machine yes him on the pitch and the bigger picture their arrivals had caught up to them without anyone really noticing I mean at the end of the 20023 season it all seemed

normal United had completed backto backto back Premier League wins but at the detriment of a squad that was age David Beckham left for Real Madrid that summer and to make it worse Sir Alex was considering leaving the team he changed his mind though and promised to stay but by the time all these internal issues were dealt with United had fallen behind Arsenal went Invincible in 20034 and Chelsea won back-to-back League titles in 20045 and 20056 there was no mistaking the fact that United was no longer as strong as they used to be but maybe that

was part of Sir Alex's plan because looking back at it now he understood more than anyone else that to grow United needed to evolve and that's when he made the signings for the future that would lead the club to a golden era Cristiano Ronaldo from sporting lisbin in 2003 Wayne Rooney from Everton one year later and Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United in 2001 yeah these three transfers were very important in United's history because they took United to the moment this entire video had been leading up to another Peak era of Manchester United between 2007 to

2009 United were arguably the best team on the planet now all the players under Fergie had seemed to grow Ronaldo had transitioned from a Winger with skills into a goal scoring machine but he was just one aspect of the team United was on a tear in the Premier League they won backto backto back League titles after watching Chelsea and Arsenal take them off the top The Comeback was complete in Europe they competed at the very top with the big teams too it peaked for Sir Alex in the 2008 champions league when on a rainy night

in Moscow United were once again crowned champions of Europe the second under Sir Alex at the club they went on to win the club World Cup that year and in 2009 they were once again in another Champions League final this time just losing out to Barcelona still the idea now was that United would always be the team at the latter stages of any competition The Fear Factor They carried as a team was on show from minute one teams doubled down just to play them and still United always found found a way at the start of

the 2010s it started to dwindle a bit part of that exciting attacking Trio at the top Ronaldo had gone to join Real Madrid in Spain but United still managed to hold their own they added another premier league title in 2011 by 2012 though the status quo had changed suddenly Manchester United wasn't the best team in Manchester anymore just like Arsenal and Chelsea from the mid2 thousands another team had come up to challenge United's dominance Manchester City and these guys were here to stay they did add a second league title in 2013 but at this point

with st Alex making the public announcement that this would be his last season at the club it was clear United was past the peak days and what followed next were moments of complete chaos 11 years after and post Fergie it's safe to say United has struggled to find an identity Ferguson was at the club for 26 years between the period he left to the present day they've gone through six different managers all indicating that they're still trying to replicate the success of the late 2000s they went from winning League titles on the spin to struggling

to qualify for the Champions League that says a lot but the team is rebuilding now the reality is that it's it's no longer the days of players like Ronaldo Rooney skulls vidage and ferdinan it's a new era now and the current crop of players in the team are all trying to make their Mark there's still been a bit of controversy surrounding the team especially after Ronaldo came back and revealed the shocking State of Affairs at the club but under the new owner Jim Radcliffe looks like they're bent on fixing things and if all goes well

on the pitch who knows United might just be back to that Peak era of the late 2000s football or even surpass it one thing's for certain though they've all got to subscribe to go Zone first