Sir Alex Ferguson has named a cluster of
players who he believes would demand a place in his Manchester
United dream team.
The Scot has had the privilege of managing some of the world's
top stars during his 22-year stint in the Old Trafford
hot-seat.
The 67-year-old currently has one of the strongest squads during
his reign at the club and it is no surprise that a number of them
make the list.
After building what many call his 'third great team' after the
side which won the Premier League in 1993, thus ending a 26-year
wait for a league title, and the team who claimed n the Treble in
1999, Ferguson has a whole host of talent to choose from.
"There are so many great players," he told the New
Stateman.
"(Peter) Scmeichel and (Edwin) Van der Sar. Both top keepers.
Full-backs Denis Irwin, Gary Neville, (Patrice) Evra and these Da
Silva boys (Rafael and Fabio) are something else.
"Centre-backs you'd have to say (Jaap) Stam, (Steve) Bruce,
(Gary) Pallister, (Rio) Ferdinand and (Nemanja) Vidic. Ronny
Johnsen was top drawer as well. Jonny Evans will be up there.
"For midfield I ask myself who were the players you could not
leave out of your best team?
"Bryan Robson for sure. Roy Keane. (Paul)
Scholes, (Ryan) Giggs, I'd never ever leave him out if I was
playing my best.
"(Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Eric) Cantona are both 'never leave
out' players. You'd have (David) Beckham knocking on the door.
"Out-and-out strikers, where do I start, (Ruud) Van Nistelrooy,
(Andy) Cole, (Dwight) Yorke, (Ole Gunnar) Solskjaer, (Teddy)
Sheringham. As for (Wayne) Rooney if I left him out I'd have to do
it by email or I'd never hear the end of it.
"When you go through it like that, I have been blessed with
terrific players. I've got some great players now.
"But nobody can do it on their own. It's about the team. I can
give the leadership and the direction the team has to gel."
The United boss also revealed that not signing Paul Gascoigne
was his biggest regret since he had been at the club declaring that
he "would have done brilliantly" at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile he added that there was "no question" his biggest
mistake was selling Dutch defender Stam to Lazio in 2001.
