Full disclosure alert – one that will upset all ye Reds of Manchester United: I’m no fan. I respect the way they attack and pressure. And I respect that teams from Old Trafford always have “it.” That is, they always maintain a full tank of belief, the steadfast confidence that they can always find a way.
A new name for an old debate: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs
Three months ago I looked at the English Premier League race and told friends, “Man U has that something extra; Arsenal doesn’t, City doesn't and Chelsea just doesn’t have the horses this year. This thing is over. Already.”
Unfortunately, looks like I had it right.
The thing is, I'm so worn out on Sir Alex Ferguson’s tiresome politicking and complaining. He carps like a spoiled brat when calls don’t fall their way but conveniently loses the bigger balance, failing to acknowledge that decisions frequently do go their way, too.
Besides, there's the "Yankee effect." Some know it as the "Notre Dame effect," or the "Duke effect." I think we all know what that means; it's a beating to see the same teams win, to watch the rich get richer.
All that said, there stands one figure at Old Trafford for whom my respect swells every time he takes the field. I’m speaking, of course, of the ageless Ryan Giggs. George Vecsey’s piece in the New York Times this morning nails the important points. And it’s funny, because just yesterday I was thinking about something that Vecsey brings up, one of those perennial bar stool debates.
So, as we wait to see Manchester United meet Schalke in today’s Champions League semifinal opening leg, we can wonder where Giggs slots into the humble list of global stars who never took the World Cup stage? Read on ...
If you’ve never heard a busy signal or picked up a pay phone, then you may not know about George Best. He was a brilliant (but troubled) showman and even more brilliant player. He spent 10 turbulent years with Manchester United, a schemer and wizard of a dribbler. He was among the world’s best, but he happened to be from the slums of Belfast. Northern Ireland later found its way into a World Cup, but couldn’t do so in Best’s prime.
I remember busy signals (as well as the clunky old answering machines … ) but even I never knew much about Alfredo Di Stefano. He was such a prolific attacker, peerless in ball control and shooting, that he won six European Championships. But Argentina (place of his birth) refused to participate in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups. Later, he became a naturalized citizen of Spain and was capped 31 times. Alas, his adopted country never qualified for a World Cup during that time.
George Weah is a little more modern-day. He was a World Player of the Year, European Player of the Year and three-time African Footballer of the Year. His best period came at the San Siro, were he wore the AC Milan colors from 1995-2000. But he was from Liberia, so he never had a bit chance to play on the world’s grandest stage.
Here’s one that some people forget about in this debate: France’s Eric Cantona. The flamboyant Frenchman certainly had enough gift for the game. But France flopped in qualifying for World Cups in 1990 and 1994. Besides, he was a rebel with authority issues, deemed too disruptive for the side during those troubled years. By 1998 his creative services were no longer needed. Some guy named Zidane, as good or better and far less of a rabble-rouser, had rendered Cantona irrelevant and helped nudge him into retirement.
There were a few others, including Jari Litmanen, who represented Finland 137 times, although never in a World Cup.
Given Giggs’ accomplishments, he surely stands right up there with all of them. Even alongside George Best, who also wore the Manchester United glory. Perhaps Giggs isn’t as individually brilliant as Best. But his overall contributions, in skill, professionalism and longevity, are surely equal.
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