Eric Cantona

[carheex]

On his day he was very good but lacked consistency. If I wanted a lazy, showman i'd go for Le Tissier any day of the week!

[Alpha]

Well, he did win numerous league titles with United !!

Don't let the fact that he was a manc, cloud your judgment. He was a great player. Ask any manure fan and they'd tell you he was probably the greatest for them. That's quite a statement.

Fredo, I'm not repeating myself.

Read my posts higher up the thread if you want a response. All your points have been covered already.

[Red Chilli]

Your eyes again ?

Well the mancs you know obviously are the same ones who think football started in 1992.

Those with more experience of football regard Best as a much better player than Cuntana.

[Guest]

Fredo, I'm not repeating myself.

Read my posts higher up the thread if you want a response. All your points have been covered already.

Mate, whatever ... I won't discuss rational sentiments such as disliking the mancs and Cantona being an ordinary footballer of whoever was better than him.

I just think he was a great player. I won't repeat myself either.

[Guest]

Well the mancs you know obviously are the same ones who think football started in 1992.

Those with more experience of football regard Best as a much better player than Cuntana.

See above.

[Alpha]

Mate, whatever ... I won't discuss rational sentiments such as disliking the mancs and Cantona being an ordinary footballer of whoever was better than him.

I just think he was a great player. I won't repeat myself either.

This thread was never about Manc-bashing.

And there was obviously nothing ordinary about Cantona, as a footballer or anything else.

But surely you have to admit that given his limited achievements in football, his "greatness" is very much open to debate.

[Guest]

This thread was never about Manc-bashing.

And there was obviously nothing ordinary about Cantona, as a footballer or anything else.

But surely you have to admit that given his limited achievements in football, his "greatness" is very much open to debate.

It's not related sorry. United had a great team at the time, a fantastic team it has to be said. Because he didn't win the European cup with them doesn't mean he was an average footballer. Your argument is flawed, in my opinion.

Jackie Charlton was a great player because he won the world cup ?

[Alpha]

It's not related sorry. United had a great team at the time, a fantastic team it has to be said. Because he didn't win the European cup with them doesn't mean he was an average footballer. Your argument is flawed, in my opinion.

Jackie Charlton was a great player because he won the world cup ?

No Fredo.

Don't put words in my mouth.

It isn't that the "fantastic team" Cantona inspired never won the European Cup, it is that they didn't even come close.

The platform upon which Cantona performed his "greatness" was an early Premiership bereft of any genuine great players, still recovering from five years in the European wilderness.

If Cantona was great, what does that make the talismanic players from the same era who won major domestic and European honours for clubs from the top European Leagues?

Eric Cantona was very good player. Nothing more.

[Guest]

No Fredo.

Don't put words in my mouth.

It isn't that the "fantastic team" Cantona inspired never won the European Cup, it is that they didn't even come close.

The platform upon which Cantona performed his "greatness" was an early Premiership bereft of any genuine great players, still recovering from five years in the European wilderness.

If Cantona was great, what does that make the talismanic players from the same era who won major domestic and European honours for clubs from the top European Leagues?

Eric Cantona was very good player. Nothing more.

Agree to disagree mate. I see your point.

[tomasjj]

Couldn't disagree with you more.

[carheex]

Talk to any Scum fan and they'll talk about him in glowing terms as if he was world-class, an all-time great and a legend.

Personally, I think he was the most over-rated primadonna of all.

I won't deny he was a good player, at one time the most influential player in England and arguably the best player in the Premiership. But he played in an era when the Premiership was still young and only the 5th strongest league in Europe at best, behind Italy, Spain, Germany and France.

So while Cantona was inspiring Manchester United to domestic glory and dominance, his team were being shown up by the likes of IFK Gothenburg and Galatasaray in the Champions League. It wasn't until the 96/97 season that the Scum carried any threat in Europe at all and even then then they defeated in the semi-final by Borussia Dortmund.

At the end of that season, Cantona retired and confirmed for me that his name is not worthy of being mentioned alongside the genuine heroes of his era such as Savicevic, Litmanen, Del Piero, Bergkamp and Moller.

I think that the Most Over-Rated Utd player has to be rooney. good yes, great...not a chance.

[Frank Leroux]

Eamon Dunphy used to call Cantona "the big man for the small occassion" referring to his inability to get Utd moving in Europe.

I'd agree that he was a very good footballer who just happened to be the missing piece of Utd's jigsaw at the time to win them more titles.

Inspired and daring piece of business by Ferguson. Rather than Cantona being the start of the Cantona Show it's really probably Ferguson.

[enema of the state]

I hated him when he played for United but he was a genius, no doubt. Didn't have pace but his reading of the game and his technical ability was of the highest order, probably better than Zidane. He never had Zidane's athleticism too, but he read the game much more quickly.

so far wrong you ought to be embarrassed to have written it

zidane had very moderate athleticism and the 2 played the same role and had the same strengths: technique and awareness

zidane came out light years ahead, maintaining a world class level for over a decade and proving himself in europe and international level

cantona was a very good premiership player who performed at a world class level for about 6 months of his career. he moved to the scum when the scum already had the best team in the country and was credited with them winning the league: in fact, schmeichel was their key player, closely followed by keane. his best half season coincided with media darlings manchester uniteds new crop of youngsters coming through and winning their 1st title. he gratefully took the exaggerated plaudits.

he was long before dumped from the french national side because he was a troublemaker. he was "dumped" from the scum side very soon afterwards in the sense that he retried - quite young - because everyone could see his game had gone way off the ball and he was ordinary.

i'll reiterate: the statement that cantona was technically better as a footballer than zinedine zidane is quite possibly the most stupid comment in the history of the internet.

[kopash]

Cantona quit the french team after falling out with the French Federation. Nothing to do with his talent. He was always up for a fight with them.

I hated him when he played for United but he was a genius, no doubt. Didn't have pace but his reading of the game and his technical ability was of the highest order, probably better than Zidane. He never had Zidane's athleticism too, but he read the game much more quickly.

laughable. Zidane had one of the greatest techniques of all time. When did you see him mis-control a football? he could use right foot, left foot and head. A true great of the game. Cantona vs Zidane? Ridiculous to have them both in the same sentence. Zizou by a county mile.

[kopash]

so far wrong you ought to be embarrassed to have written it

zidane had very moderate athleticism and the 2 played the same role and had the same strengths: technique and awareness

zidane came out light years ahead, maintaining a world class level for over a decade and proving himself in europe and international level

cantona was a very good premiership player who performed at a world class level for about 6 months of his career. he moved to the scum when the scum already had the best team in the country and was credited with them winning the league: in fact, schmeichel was their key player, closely followed by keane. his best half season coincided with media darlings manchester uniteds new crop of youngsters coming through and winning their 1st title. he gratefully took the exaggerated plaudits.

he was long before dumped from the french national side because he was a troublemaker. he was "dumped" from the scum side very soon afterwards in the sense that he retried - quite young - because everyone could see his game had gone way off the ball and he was ordinary.

i'll reiterate: the statement that cantona was technically better as a footballer than zinedine zidane is quite possibly the most stupid comment in the history of the internet.