Football Special Report: Premier League- Greatest Team of All Time - as voted by the fans
After a global scale vote, in which the countless fans of the Premier League voted to pick their favourite players in the numerous positions on the pitch, a dream team was born. Here is a look at that dream team.
Forwards
Before the polling got underway, it was assumed that the forwards that the fans would have picked, to lead the dream team up front, would have to have at least one English player in it. However, once the voting was closed, those assumptions were thrown to
bed as the fans picked a complete French attacking line up. The two strikers that were chosen to lead the line up front were Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry.
Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona made his first appearance for Manchester United in the 1992-1993 season in a match against Benfica, while he made his competitive debut in a derby game against Manchester City, which United went on to win. Cantona didn’t have a very major impact
in that debut game; however, there were a few signs of what was going to come in the future.
When United signed Cantona, the team was going through a rough patch, falling being teams like Aston Villa and Blackburn in a race to win the first ever Premier League title.
However, with some of the start players at United getting injured or displaying some poor form, Cantona was called up to be a part of the starting eleven, in the second half of the Premier League season. This inclusion of the French forward to the team saw
United go on and lift the first ever Premier League title and they did in some style, winning the league by ten points. Most people strongly believe that the only reason United managed to do so was thanks to the contributions that Cantona had to the side.
The following season belonged to United and Cantona once again. This time around however, Cantona converted two penalties in the FA Cup final, which helped United beat Chelsea to lift that trophy as well. Cantona was also voted as the PFA player of the year
in the 1993-1994 season for his contributions.
In the 1993-1994 season, Cantona was awarded the number 7 jersey by the team, it was a number he went on to make his own at the team and he also decided to stick to the number 7 for his remaining years at the club.
Cantona continued to be the dominating force in the Premier League along with United for the remainder of his career as well. The player managed to win an astounding four Premier League titles in the five years he spent with the team. Those titles were coupled
with two League Cup doubles and two FA Cup doubles.
Cantona scored eighty two goals in the hundred and eighty five appearances that he made for the Red Devils, but his contributions to the side were more than just scoring goals. He was the heart and soul of the team, he was the player that cheered the team
on and edged it to go the extra mile, he was also the difference maker in all the years he spent at United and his personal records are proof of that fact.
Cantona, also had his fair share of controversies off the pitch, but was still one of the most decorated and loved footballers in the Premier League. When Cantona finally pulled the curtain on his playing career, he was reported to have said, that he was
afraid that the United fan's would forget who he was sooner or later. However that is yet to happen, since there is almost no game played at Old Trafford where the crowd doesn't throw in a cheer or two, remembering one of the best strikers the team ever had.
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