I know people will say Barcelona are the best team ever, i would agree with that but the treble winning team would give them a match if they were to play today, we won the champions league woth 6 players coming from through the system, that's an incredible achievement, it hardly happens these days, we were playing some excellent football during that season, Cole and Yorke should've been nominated for the best player in the world, at the time, they were excellent. We didn't spend alot of money that summer neither.
You say you won the treble with 6 players coming through.... Valdes Pique Puyol Busquets Xavi Iniesta Messi Pedro All from their own academies nobody takes anything away from the 99 United side, but Barca's treble winning side are better than any club side.
What United achieved was better than any English Side in club football IMO but as you say Barca are miles better. We're talking about a side that beat Mourinho's Real (probably 2nd best in the world) 5-0 and broken record after record. They've done it consistently on European and domestic stage. I have never understood why some people think the Invincibles were better than the 99 United team, for me winning the treble far outweighs going unbeaten in a season of about 11 draws and getting owned in all cup competitions.
I agree on your last point, in those days, you had to use all your players to have a chanced of making history, going unbeaten is an achievement itself but i would rather win 3 trophies.
As a United fan I do think the Barca side edges it but miles better? For a start our whole defence was better, probably only Puyol being better than Johnsen. Otherwise to a man our other four were better. Keane and Scholes take some beating as a cm pair and only if you consider messi a left winger is Giggs bettered. Up front we had Yorke and Cole, they only have Villa, who admittedly is a better striker but they only had him. Two different sides playing different football but Barca were not miles better.
Agree to an extent, Barca's football last season was unstoppable as you lot found out, Football has also drastically improved since '99. Look at any video from back then and compare it to Barca today. No contest imo. That being said, I do agree that what United's treble side achieved was greater. Also District, Arsenal fans would say the invincibles were better because they're ****ing idiots. Only a Goon would prefer to go 38 games unbeaten than win the treble as you saw yesterday with that tool who sai he'd rather be in their position than ours!
what people forget when doing these comparisons is that 2 of our best playes were NOT in the final scholes and Keane now take out 2 of xavi, iniesta and messi out of barca and see what you get I would argue our triple winning team in the CL final was NOT our best
True, but we won the final without them in the team, would Barcelona if they missed their 2 most influential players in their team win the final ? i doubt it.
personally thought they were drogs Its a bit like (and I dont mean this as a wum) the terry sending off this year. IF you guys had lost then I think the media attention would have been a lot more scathing If rooney hadnt scored the goals he has, a lot more people would have noticed how poor he has been this season compared to usual UTD winning meant people lost sight of some stuff Look at LFC since 2005. The win covered up cracks that since have come back in a major way IMO
The result is the final arbiter. We could argue that Bayern was the better side in the 1999 final, we could argue that Barcelona in 2012 was the better Cl team and better than Chelsea, Arsenal in 1999 a pen away from a double and all that. The reality is that if you beat the other team i.e score more goals you won and you ARE better on the day. United beat Bayern, Chelsea beat Barcelona, United beat Arsenal. No argument. (Otherwise we'll have the ultra-moronic scousers claiming they are the best team in the premiership because they dominated most teams, had most shots on goal, and had hit the bar/posts most times...
Im a United fan and couldnt give a monkeys about Barcelona. Ours was better because it was ours, I was able to enjoy it, I didnt enjoy Barcelonas, or Inters.
That is why football is all about emotion and guts not intellect and calculation. Did the fact that Bayern dominated the play, had more chances, that we won in the last few minutes make it less enjoyable for me as a United fan? The heck it did. In fact it made it even more enjoyable. It was about triumphing in the face of adversity, seeing the devastated Bayern players showed how close it was. For the fan dominating a match and losing it is sheer hell. Especially in a final or semifinal.
