Top 50 teams of all time

We're in 20th (99 team) and 11th (06-09 team) but we're not as good as the 77-84 verm side apparently.

Apologies if already posted.

http://footballpantheon.com/2011/05/...-club-sides/5/

Babes?

Best, Law, Charlton?

93-99?

What an absolute pile of shite. You can't have the most successful English club outside the top 10.

without exception...these lists are the biggest load of dangly %@#$&!s youre ever likely to read....absolutely meaningless

I presume Liverpool's Great Team of 2009 is 1st?

The Babes aren't even on the list?

Ah well, I only have to look at the use of the word 'pantheon' in the URL to see it's a load of pretentious £#%&! I'm not even going to bother reading. I'm sure Arsenal's UNDEFEATED TEAM that we defeated are in there.

Chelsea 2004-07 are above our 68 side

Celtic 1965-74

Lists like this (I haven’t actually read it) are pretty pointless, but fun none the less.

I was actually thinking about this recently and I think you’d struggle to put any United side in an all time Top 10 best European club sides, from 1955 onwards

The babes never came close to fulfilling their potential so I don’t think they can be included. It’s all ‘What If? with them sadly. The team of the 60’s was already passed its peak in 68. Should have really won it the European Cup 66 and they never managed to retain the League. Obviously, we were robbed in the ’69 semi final! Our best side of 1999 won the European Cup, but the club only managed to win one knock out game in Europe in the following seven seasons The 93/94 side is my favourite ever United side, but did £#%&! all in Europe and clearly wasn’t in the class of the best continental sides of the time. Blame the three foreigner rule if you want, but that applied to everybody else in Europe too.

I’d probably have these as the truly outstanding teams in European club football. In no particular order:

Real Madrid 55-60
‘Grande’ Inter 63-65
Ajax 69-73, 94-96
Bayern Munich 74-76
Nottingham Forrest 78-80
AC Milan 89-95
FC Barcelona 09-11?

I should probably include the vermin side(s) of 77-84. You can’t argue with four European Cups in eight seasons. But there’s something to be said for winning in a memorable fashion. I’ve never met a non-dipper that looks back at those tedious, back passing @#%&!s, with any nostalgia or awe. Lippi’s Juventus side of the late 90s is also out, purely based on their failure to win another big cup in either 97 or 98. Great side though. Celtics achievement of winning the European Cup in 67 (five trophies that season I believe?) is also very worthy. Had they managed to repeat the feat in 1970 against Feyenoord, they’d be in too.

I actually agree with this pretty much verbatim (although I'd argue that Forest's Euro Cup wins were more an astonishing achievement rather than a great side, extremely good as they were). We're one of the greatest, sorry, THE greatest club in football, but I wouldn't put any of our XIs in an all-time World top ten (though I'd happily argue that the 93/4 team was the greatest domestic side I've ever seen in England)

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Lists like this (I haven’t actually read it) are pretty pointless, but fun none the less.

I was actually thinking about this recently and I think you’d struggle to put any United side in an all time Top 10 best European club sides, from 1955 onwards

The babes never came close to fulfilling their potential so I don’t think they can be included. It’s all ‘What If? with them sadly. The team of the 60’s was already passed its peak in 68. Should have really won it the European Cup 66 and they never managed to retain the League. Obviously, we were robbed in the ’69 semi final! Our best side of 1999 won the European Cup, but the club only managed to win one knock out game in Europe in the following seven seasons The 93/94 side is my favourite ever United side, but did £#%&! all in Europe and clearly wasn’t in the class of the best continental sides of the time. Blame the three foreigner rule if you want, but that applied to everybody else in Europe too.

I’d probably have these as the truly outstanding teams in European club football. In no particular order:

Real Madrid 55-60
‘Grande’ Inter 63-65
Ajax 69-73, 94-96
Bayern Munich 74-76
Nottingham Forrest 78-80
AC Milan 89-95
FC Barcelona 09-11?

I should probably include the vermin side(s) of 77-84. You can’t argue with four European Cups in eight seasons. But there’s something to be said for winning in a memorable fashion. I’ve never met a non-dipper that looks back at those tedious, back passing @#%&!s, with any nostalgia or awe. Lippi’s Juventus side of the late 90s is also out, purely based on their failure to win another big cup in either 97 or 98. Great side though. Celtics achievement of winning the European Cup in 67 (five trophies that season I believe?) is also very worthy. Had they managed to repeat the feat in 1970 against Feyenoord, they’d be in too.

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Lists like this (I haven’t actually read it) are pretty pointless, but fun none the less.

I was actually thinking about this recently and I think you’d struggle to put any United side in an all time Top 10 best European club sides, from 1955 onwards

The babes never came close to fulfilling their potential so I don’t think they can be included. It’s all ‘What If? with them sadly. The team of the 60’s was already passed its peak in 68. Should have really won it the European Cup 66 and they never managed to retain the League. Obviously, we were robbed in the ’69 semi final! Our best side of 1999 won the European Cup, but the club only managed to win one knock out game in Europe in the following seven seasons The 93/94 side is my favourite ever United side, but did £#%&! all in Europe and clearly wasn’t in the class of the best continental sides of the time. Blame the three foreigner rule if you want, but that applied to everybody else in Europe too.

I’d probably have these as the truly outstanding teams in European club football. In no particular order:

Real Madrid 55-60
‘Grande’ Inter 63-65
Ajax 69-73, 94-96
Bayern Munich 74-76
Nottingham Forrest 78-80
AC Milan 89-95
FC Barcelona 09-11?

I should probably include the vermin side(s) of 77-84. You can’t argue with four European Cups in eight seasons. But there’s something to be said for winning in a memorable fashion. I’ve never met a non-dipper that looks back at those tedious, back passing @#%&!s, with any nostalgia or awe. Lippi’s Juventus side of the late 90s is also out, purely based on their failure to win another big cup in either 97 or 98. Great side though. Celtics achievement of winning the European Cup in 67 (five trophies that season I believe?) is also very worthy. Had they managed to repeat the feat in 1970 against Feyenoord, they’d be in too.

wasn't that the era when Real were playing themselves in the final?

Originally Posted by reem

wasn't that the era when Real were playing themselves in the final?

No. They were playing the champion teams from neighbouring European nations and couldn’t be defeated for five seasons.

Course, if it was such a mickey mouse competition, you probably think the results our team had in the 50’s( smashing Anderlecht, coming from behind to beat Bilbao, salvaging a draw with Real Madrid) are totally unworthy of praise?

Originally Posted by The Watcher

The 93/94 side is my favourite ever United side, but did £#%&! all in Europe and clearly wasn’t in the class of the best continental sides of the time. Blame the three foreigner rule if you want, but that applied to everybody else in Europe too.

Slightly in defence of that side, the first 11 of Schmeichel, Parker, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Ince, Keane, Hughes, Cantona, Giggs, Kanchelskis only played together 12 times and won every single time. Jordi Cruyff said that before the 4-0 defeat by Barca in 1994 his dad had talked about how the foreigner rule affected English teams more because of their Welsh players and so on, so they knew Schmeichel would probably be out, for example.

So I think there's a case of 'what if' for that team too - I'd have liked to have seen that first 11 have a run of a few games in Europe, but it never happened. Although one big thing it lacked was strength in depth, with the likes of McClair, Sharpe and an ageing Robson as backup.

Originally Posted by The Watcher

No. They were playing the champion teams from neighbouring European nations and couldn’t be defeated for five seasons.

Course, if it was such a mickey mouse competition, you probably think the results our team had in the 50’s( smashing Anderlecht, coming from behind to beat Bilbao, salvaging a draw with Real Madrid) are totally unworthy of praise?

Europe was bigger then, it was a tougher competition just because travelling was harder work. As we know only too well

As for Nottingham Forrest, I wasn’t really sure whether they should be on the list either. But when you think it through, it’s very difficult to leave them off. The won the League in 78, arguably the toughest League in Europe at the time. Then, in their European Cup debut, they played the reigning champions in the first round. Knocked them out, won the cup and then retained it the following season. For a small club, from a small inconsequential City to become (for a brief period) the best team on the continent and perhaps the planet...it’s pretty bloody good imo.

Originally Posted by Zorg

Slightly in defence of that side, the first 11 of Schmeichel, Parker, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Ince, Keane, Hughes, Cantona, Giggs, Kanchelskis only played together 12 times and won every single time. Jordi Cruyff said that before the 4-0 defeat by Barca in 1994 his dad had talked about how the foreigner rule affected English teams more because of their Welsh players and so on, so they knew Schmeichel would probably be out, for example.

So I think there's a case of 'what if' for that team too - I'd have liked to have seen that first 11 have a run of a few games in Europe, but it never happened. Although one big thing it lacked was strength in depth, with the likes of McClair, Sharpe and an ageing Robson as backup.

Did Giggs even count as a foreign player though? I’m sure he didn’t because he came through our youth system and had lived in Manchester all his life? I remember Cantona missing the game at the Camp Nou because of the ban he had from the previous season?

I agree about the ‘What If’ surrounding that side too, but I don’t think there was anything particularly unfair about Irish and Scottish players being counted as foreigners. What hurt us most was post Heysel, English football had fallen badly behind the rest of Europe. Took us years to catch up.

Originally Posted by The Watcher

As for Nottingham Forrest, I wasn’t really sure whether they should be on the list either. But when you think it through, it’s very difficult to leave them off. The won the League in 78, arguably the toughest League in Europe at the time. Then, in their European Cup debut, they played the reigning champions in the first round. Knocked them out, won the cup and then retained it the following season. For a small club, from a small inconsequential City to become (for a brief period) the best team on the continent and perhaps the planet...it’s pretty bloody good imo.

Agreed, amazing when you think about it. Didn't English teams win five european cups on the spin or something?

Seven in eight years. Mental.

Then that happened. Verminous murdering @#%&!s.

Originally Posted by Zorg

Agreed, amazing when you think about it. Didn't English teams win five european cups on the spin or something?

Six in a row, seven in eight years. Even Aston Villa got in on the act

Been a very good run recently too. Six of the last seven finals have had at least one PL club.

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Did Giggs even count as a foreign player though? I’m sure he didn’t because he came through our youth system and had lived in Manchester all his life? I remember Cantona missing the game at the Camp Nou because of the ban he had from the previous season?

I agree about the ‘What If’ surrounding that side too, but I don’t think there was anything particularly unfair about Irish and Scottish players being counted as foreigners. What hurt us most was post Heysel, English football had fallen badly behind the rest of Europe. Took us years to catch up.

No, I don't think it was unfair either, those countries have their own Football Associations and national teams so they're foreigners, it was just tough shit really. But English teams simply had a higher number of 'foreigners' than most European teams because of the number of Scots, Welsh and Irish playing in England. I suppose it was just a cultural peculiarity of British football that gave us a problem most European nations didn't have.

It was a fantastic team, but a thin squad, and that's what did them. Having Gary Walsh in nets in the Nou Camp

Not sure about Giggs btw, I thought he was counted as a foreigner but I could be wrong.

I was just looking at the Bayern Munich side Villa beat in 82. It’s ridiculous. Paul Breitner, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Dremmler etc. West German internationals, World Cup finalists. Proper world class footballers. How did they beat them with Gary Shaw and Tony Marley ffs