The Sir Alex factor?

It's become quite clear that the great Sir Alex Ferguson really did make average players look good, good ones look great etc. Essentially he brought out an extra level that players just wouldn't have achieved under another manager.

He IMO was the greatest manager of all time and I'm sure plenty of you would agree with that. Before we go any further, this article isn't just about Fergie, and don't worry it's not about Moyes either!

I want to talk about players like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona. These players are often sighted as World greats, even mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Xavi, Zidane, Pirlo or an equivalent in their position. On the face of it some of these comparisons appear justified, certainly team meddles wise they're up there.

Now here comes the point... were these United greats really that great? Or was it playing under Sir Alex that gave a false impression of greatness?
I believe it's the latter.

Lets start off with Paul Scholes - great at United but for England he was stuck out wide to accommodate two other centre mids. If he was that good he would have nailed down the centre-mid spot for his national side rather than just retire at the first sign of competition.

Giggs - Has never done it at international level, when was the last time he dragged his side into a major tournament? He's not just flattered to deceive internationally, under Moyes (his first season at club level without Sir Alex) he's been very poor with most United fans calling for him to be booted out the team.

Cantona - A "Godlike" Frenchman to United fans but what did he do for France? Got left out for not being good enough.

There you have it. When you take the Sir Alex factor away from these players careers, they, along with many supposedly great United players prove to be way below the levels of the top players they are compared to. They are good players, decent professionals in most cases but they aren't greats and certainly were not world class as many fans claim.

Thanks for reading.

Serious comments only, WUMs will be deleted