Andy Cole names his ultimate United XI
Andy Cole enjoyed eight trophy-laden seasons at Manchester United, in which he netted 121 goals in 275 appearances between 1994 and 2002.
The arch-poacher was famed for his ruthlessness in front of goal – a quality which was also required when he was asked by the club’s official matchday programme, United Review, back in April 2009 to pick an ultimate XI of his Reds team-mates, as well as a wildcard.
It was a tough task but he produced this star-studded fantasy team...
"A frightening presence and people still underestimate his part in United’s success."
"Gaz loves United and was the best right-back I played with during my time at the club."
"When Jaap was on his game, he was awesome and another guy with a huge presence."
"Inspector Gadget! He'd always get to the ball – even if he did think football was hard work!"
"You could play Denis left or right – it made no difference because he was that good."
"Cristiano Ronaldo is awesome but Becks was just so good."
"One of the very best. He made football look far easier than it was supposed to be."
"I love Incey and Butty but I have to go for Roy, for his phenomenal leadership."
"He was an unbelievable talent and played his whole career at the highest level."
"He was an unbelievable footballer and a great guy, with such a massive presence about him."
"Ruud's goalscoring at United was ridiculous – his record was second to none."
"I initially had Yorkie down to start but Eric pipped him. I’ll probably get a dig off Nicky Butt too, so he’s on the bench. Ole has to be there and Paul Ince. Bruce and Johnsen are my defensive back-up and my wildcard is Ronaldo."
"I've gone for a 4-4-2 because I never played in a 4-3-3. Picking the team itself was so tough – at least Sir Alex had plenty of games to rotate his players, I only got one shot at this!"