Silvestre: United is never far away, wherever I am

The club culture is huge, and even though I was a player here for nine seasons and I do represent the club commercially at sponsor activations, I’m primarily a fan these days.

 

I travel a lot; I live in the Middle East and spend a lot of time in Europe and Asia, but everywhere I go, I’m constantly having discussions about United, just like any fan does. The results, the form of the team, the players, the last game, the next game, my time, banter with the other fans... it’s all great and I love exchanging opinions with all generations and it’s quite cool to have that after all these years.

It doesn’t fade away. 

I’m often involved in the games that the Foundation put on, I still see the other players – I bumped into Ole at the European Championship when he was working for UEFA – so Manchester is never far away, wherever I am on the planet.

 

Back in 1999 when I first joined United, the press was full of stories that I was about to sign for Liverpool, but trust me, I wasn’t that close! 

 

It’s true that Liverpool came first with a formal offer from Gerard Houllier, but it wasn’t an attractive offer at the time. I was at Inter, playing with Ronaldo, Roberto Baggio, World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff, Diego Simeone, young Andrea Pirlo, so it was quite a special club to be at, even if we had four managers in one season. So, when Liverpool came, I wasn’t jumping around on the roof.

But, a few days later, when I received a call from Sir Alex there was no hesitation. Sir Alex was a different matter for me. I’d also had the experience of coming to Old Trafford with Inter the previous season for the Champions League quarter-final, and that night I remember thinking to myself: wow, this is something else. The atmosphere was electric.

 

I played in the return at the San Siro and after that I followed United through to that crazy final against Bayern Munich. It helps when you lose against the team that wins the competition; it makes it easier to swallow, somehow. So, when Sir Alex gave me the chance to join that amazing team, I had no hesitation at all.

 

Things then moved really quickly. I arrived Thursday afternoon, had dinner with the manager, next morning I had the medical, signed my contract, went to training and then travelled on Friday afternoon with the team for an 11.30am kick-off on the Saturday. And, by a crazy twist of fate, the fixture list meant that my first game was against Liverpool at Anfield!

At the time, I wasn’t aware of how big this rivalry was, in terms of the feeling between the supporters.

That game I played left-back, so I’m sure there were some names being thrown at me whenever I took a throw-in, but I was so focused that I didn’t pay attention to what was being said to me! Looking back, I’m glad that at that time there was no social media because I would have received a lot of abuse for choosing to join United. 

 

It was an almost perfect afternoon in the end because we won 3-2, but the gaffer was angry – trust me, really angry – that we conceded two goals. He was not happy with those goals at all, so it quickly spelled out to me that expectations were always going to be high at United.

I had mixed results against Liverpool over my time at United, with an even spread of outcomes, but one that I naturally remember well is when we beat them at Old Trafford in 2004 and I scored both goals. It felt unreal.

 

We worked on set-pieces beforehand, but scoring two in one game like this, at home, was just something that I never thought I would do. It was an unbelievable feeling. I slept little that night, for sure!

 

It’s a great feeling because it’s one of those fixtures that has so much resonance for the fans, and that’s what matters. Let’s say I scored those two headers during Covid time in an empty stadium – it’s not pointless, but it’s definitely not the same!

 

The noise when the winner goes in... it gives you goosebumps even now. It’s hard to focus after that because the emotion, the adrenaline is so high but you have to come down and focus on the gameplan and the task at hand.

It’s quite challenging, especially if you’re not a striker and you score twice, you have all the emotions, the players all jumping on you. It’s a great feeling, but you have to get straight back to business.

 

The funny thing is I didn’t perform well that night, but I scored those two goals, so everybody remembers them and that’s fine with me!

 

For me, it’s great to always have this association with such a massive club. We have such great history at United, whether you speak about the Busby Babes, being the number one Treble winners in England or the dream team that I joined, being part of the club is a privilege. 

 

That’s why, all these years later, I continue to cultivate my relationship with the club and the fans: it just feels great to be part of the culture.