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Back in January 2011, Manchester United were flying under Sir Alex Ferguson, and went on to lift yet another Premier League trophy at the end of the campaign.
You can, in that respect, forgive those associated with the Red Devils for feeling confident in their work, but Ryan Giggs made a remark that is looking particularly foolish in the modern day.
Who would win out of Man Utd’s treble winners and Man City today? Fans discuss in the video below…
What did he say?
Before an FA Cup fixture with Liverpool, Giggs said: “Our manager is not always looking just for this season. He buys players with a view to the future, which he’s done more and more over the last few years.
“Now we’ve got the next batch, the likes of Javier Hernandez, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, Gabriel Obertan and Chris Smalling, all young players who will hopefully get better over the next few years.
“The manager is experienced enough to know that we’ll be challenging for the league this season and long after that because of the nucleus of the squad we have, as well as adding fresh blood, which gives everyone a lift.”
Hardly lived up to expectations
Giggs didn’t exactly hit the nail on the head with his words, especially the part in which he says the likes of Javier Hernandez, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, Gabriel Obertan and Chris Smalling will be the future of the club.
Only one of those players remains at the club eight years on from Giggs’ comments – Smalling – and even he is hardly playing like a man worthy of being in a title-contending team.
Fabio spent time with Cardiff and Middlesbrough before joining French club Nantes, whilst his twin brother Rafael joined another Ligue 1 side in Lyon.
Hernandez was frozen out by Louis van Gaal and left Old Trafford to join Bayer Leverkusen, before winding up back in England again with West Ham.
Perhaps the most embarrassing name out of all the players Giggs tipped to maintain United’s success was Obertan. The Frenchman was a laughing stock during his time in Manchester, and failed to do anything of note during spells at Newcastle and Wigan.
The 30-year-old now plays for Erzurumspor in the Turkish Super Lig – it is extremely safe to say that he hasn’t lived up to Giggs’ expectations.
Almost immediately after Ferguson left the club, everything seemed to collapse at Old Trafford.
David Moyes led the reigning champions to seventh place in his first season at the club, and the likes of Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have also struggled to restore United back to their ways of old.
Perhaps Giggs’ confidence in the structure of the club was slightly misplaced…