The current Manchester United is far away from being remembered as one of the better sides in club history, let alone, football history, but that wasn’t the case earlier.
Sir Alex Ferguson oversaw multiple iterations of title-winning teams during his 26 years at Manchester United and that undoubtedly came with world-class players.
Gary Neville had the privilege of playing with many of the best ones, as he was an ever-present figure in arguably the most dominant era at Old Trafford.
To hear him say he had ‘never seen anything like that’ in relation to three players at the club is quite a statement, and it’s something he said in 2024.
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Gary Neville in awe of Man Utd trio
United’s past with littered with a who’s who of legends and star players who would have walked into every team in world football at the time and even now.
Therefore, for Neville to claim that he had never seen anything like a certain Man Utd trio in action is high praise indeed.
Speaking on The Overlap with Wayne Rooney in 2024, Neville made that claim regarding the United trio of Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney.
The three rose together to prominence and hit their peaks at the same time, culminating in a brilliant 2007/08 season where they almost won the treble.
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Neville said: “It was probably the best front three, I’ve never seen anything like that. You were at your peak, Cristiano was at his peak almost and Tevez was at his peak.”
Wayne Rooney on trio with Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo
Rooney hasn’t been someone to tout his own horn in his post-playing career so his response to Neville’s claim spoke volumes as well.
In the 2007/08 season, the three combined for a ridiculous 78 goals and assists in the league alone, adding more in the cups and Europe.
Rooney said in response to Neville that at the time, they went into games knowing they’d win, the sort of mentality that the current team can learn a thing or two from.
He said: “I think for that few years, you felt unstoppable, I felt as a team. You going into games knowing you’re winning.”
Tevez would ultimately break that iconic front three in anti-climactic circumstances, burning all bridges while moving to Manchester City, while Cristiano Ronaldo got his much-wanted move to Real Madrid.
That was a dynasty-in-waiting because Sir Alex Ferguson deserved much more than two Champions League titles at Man Utd.