Goalkeeper: Alex Stepney -
Peter Schmeichel
It was Schmeichel, recklessly,
who said last season that United's present team would beat the 1968 side 10-0. Who knows? Schmeichel, huge, brave, sometimes erratic, can give away goals and then save the
impossible. Tall, lean, agile Stepney was described by Matt Busby as a better keeper than the
spectacular Harry Gregg
Right-back: Shay Brennan - Gary Neville
Brennan was a mobile, lightweight defender of the kind which had replaced the old dreadnought full-back. Gary Neville can play as any one of the back three, but has been guilty of mistakes
Centre-back:
Bill Foulkes - Jaap Stam
Converted full-back, dominant in the air, Foulkes powerfully
influenced his whole team. Stam is equally adept in the air, but can sometimes be. Bayern's big strikers should suit him
Centre-back: Nobby Stiles - Ronnie Johnsen
Hard to compare as the Norwegian is essentially a centre-back, sometimes used as a midfield marker. Tough and talismanic, Stiles, really a wing-half, was also a notable man-marker, the more
alarming when he took out his false front teeth
Left-back: Tony Dunne - Denis Irwin
Two Irish internationals, Dunne was always solid but agile, while the mobile Irwin has to play on his
weaker left foot
Left-back: Paddy Crerand - Roy Keane
Never the quickest of movers but always quick in thought, Crerand's sweeping right-
footed passes were a feature of the 1968 team. Keane is faster, more dynamic, more versatile
Right flank: George Best - David Beckham
Best, left, is incomparable.
One of the great British
players of all time, the man who turned the 1968 final with his
marvellous solo goal. He didn't have the formidable right foot
possessed by Beckham, but Beckham can't rival the range of Best
Midfield: David Sadler - Nicky Butt
Butt is a solid worker in United's
midfield, sacrificing himself for the team. Sadler was an intelligent,
competent inside-left
who matured into in
an accomplished, ball-playing
centre-back
Midfield attackers: Denis Law - Paul Scholes.
Injured Law, to United's grief, missed the 1968 final. An attacker of tremendous range, deadly with foot or head, fiercely competitive. Scholes hasn't quite the dynamism but does have some of the same versatility
Centre-forward: Bobby Charlton - Dwight Yorke
Each was once a gifted winger. Charlton, right, has become an almost mythical figure, a tremendous striker of the ball with either foot,
actually back-heading a goal in the 1968 final. As a centre-forward, he preferred to lie deep, hit long passes, sometimes beat his man. Yorke is more orthodox, quick on the ground, stronger in the air
Centre-forward: Brian Kidd - Andy Cole
Once again, two very
different kinds of striker. Cole, is a natural
centre-forward and spearhead, fast, deft, a taker up of good positions. Kidd, who
celebrated his 18th
birthday in that 1968 final, was strong, good with
his head
Outside-left-John Aston - Ryan Giggs-Jesper Blomqvist
The kinder comparison would
be between Aston and Blomqvist. Both natural left-wingers. Aston
had an excellent left foot, with
which he crossed the ball well. Blomqvist is quick and elusive but Giggs is the outstanding player in United's team
The Managers - Matt Busby - Alex Ferguson
Ferguson, like United, is essentially the heir to Busby, who, just after the war, took over a club which could not afford its own ground, devised the bold policy of giving youth, the Busby Babes, its fling. Ferguson, who won the Cup Winners' Cup for United, as he so
remarkably did with Aberdeen, was for long error-prone in Europe. But he seems now to have got the message, has continued the tradition of finding young stars
Which team was better?
We can talk about them
only in terms of their own eras. But I believe the
1968 side, with three world class players in Charlton, Law and Best, as opposed to just one in Giggs, could scale heights which have so far eluded the present team
