da roleta： As Manchester United prepare to face Manchester City in the derby this weekend, it’s clear that we’re entering into a new era of football in the Premier League.
da bet7： The top six are here to stay, the Manchester clubs will presumably be settling in for a few seasons of dominance and shootouts, and for United specifically, they appear to have come back from plumbing the depths for a few years since the end of the Alex Ferguson era. Things are very different now.
This week, former United striker Dion Dublin was looking back on those old times at Old Trafford and it’s fair to say that although Red Devils’ fans can be optimistic that their club is reviving itself and returning to the European elite, there will still be plenty of nostalgia for a time long past.
The successes of the Class of 92 will probably never be repeated again, but ahead of a thoroughly modern Manchester derby, he looked back at a group of players who defined the last 25 years of English football.
“They all had their tick-box list and they all did exactly as they were supposed to do,” said Dion Dublin, speaking exclusively to 888Sport. “They didn’t complicate things which is one of the clever things about the Class of ’92. Gary Neville defended very, very well. He was vocal and confident. David Beckham…I’ve never known anyone to strike a ball like he did. He put it where you said. As for Giggsy he was one of the quickest I’ve ever seen whilst running with the ball and keeping it under control then having an end product. And Paul Scholes, well, say no more.”
This weekend, United will have the in-form Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford to call upon, and whilst United don’t have the sheer quantity of homegrown talent they’d often had at their disposal over the last 20 years, they do still have some quality. Although the likes of Rashford have a long way to go before they’re spoken about in the same breath as the Class of 92, sometimes you just know when quality is staring you in the face.
“Ryan Giggs would possibly be in the top three of players I’ve ever played with because of his achievements, and his longevity, and his craft and professionalism,” said Dublin. “I always knew Giggs would do well. Always, always. And Scholesy, well his nickname is Satnav because he knows where everybody is. At any given time in a game Scholesy would be able to find you with a pass. Left, right foot, he wouldn’t talk about, he’d just do it: he was that good.”
This weekend, we’ll see if United have the squad capable of being the first team to beat Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Premier League this season. And if they do, they’ll be much closer to hunting down their neighbours and bringing a first title back to Old Trafford since the final days of Giggs and Scholes.
Read the full 888sport interview with Dublin, including his thoughts on the class of ’92.