Manchester United Reds
Eric "The King" Cantona
Eric Cantona was
acknowledged to be a truly brilliant player. He became established in the French
national team, and won the French Championship with Olympique Marseille and the
French Cup with Montpellier before his deciding that he could not pursue his art
- for he is a true artist - in his homeland. He came to England (where as a French international he was initially
offended at Sheffield Wednesday's offer of a trial), and in a brief stay at
Leeds made a big impression as he helped them snatch the 1992 Championship. For
Manchester United supporters this was a blow - the Championship had looked
secure after a wait of 25 barren years. We knew Cantona had been the crucial
factor - signed by Leeds as the season reached its deciding stage - and we knew
he was a great player; but he was their player, he had destroyed our dreams, and
we wished he had remained in France. At the start of the following season, Cantona was again in brilliant form,
while Manchester United were performing erratically. But behind the scenes
things were not well at Leeds, and one morning in November 1992, we opened our
newspapers to read that Eric Cantona had, sensationally, been transferred to
Manchester United for the relatively modest fee of 1.2 million pounds. The over-riding
emotion was of shock and confusion, but this
was quickly replaced by anticipation and a willingness for him to succeed. We
needed to win the Championship, and we needed a hero to deliver it to us. From his first minutes in a United shirt, it was clear that Cantona had
brought a unique talent to Old Trafford. It was not simply the quality, and
sheer art, witnessed in his own performances, but the evidence that he had
infected the rest of the team to play in his image. He tried to please them, to
coax them; they responded, wanting to show him
that Manchester United played
football the Cantona way, with art and skill and passion. Cantona turned a
struggling team into Champions within a few short months. We had waited 26
years, but in 1993 the title was ours, and Cantona was the reason. He had turned
a collection of very good players into a great team. United retained the
Championship in 1994, and also won the FA Cup, as Eric scored two penalties in
the final. Those penalties, taken so calmly, so skilfully, and so decisively,
sum up the talent and temperament of the man. He knows he is a great player. It
is likely that United would have won another Championship and Cup double in 1995
but for the fact that the team was deprived of the services of its greatest
player for the last four months of the season. As the whole world knows, Eric
was banned for several months after he attacked an abusive spectator in a match
against Crystal Palace. Millions of words - including a couple of books - have
been devoted to that episode, and little more remains to be said. Eric probably
regrets his action, and most United supporters wish he hadn't done it.
At the end of the day, it was United, and Eric, who suffered the consequences.
The team finished second in the league (by just one point), and lost the Cup
final 0-1. Surely Eric would have made all the difference. But ultimately it all served to add to the legend. His return from
suspension in October 1995 saw him clinch a vital draw against Liverpool. After
that his form was the best witnessed at Old Trafford for 25 years. He was
outstanding as his goals won yet another League and Cup double for United in
1996. By the end of the season he had assumed the team
captaincy, and scored the
only goal of the Cup final before leading the team to receive the old trophy.
Inevitably he was named Footballer of the Year by the sports writers, many of
whom had argued for his exile only months before. More importantly, it was the
final proof that in Manchester United Eric Cantona had found the home that had
seemed so elusive in the troubled first half of his career. Remarkably, 1997 saw Eric Cantona achieve his fifth Championship in six
English seasons, four with United in the last five years. The campaign was lit
by examples of the genius of the Manchester United captain, who took pride in
the growing up of his young team. They no longer had to rely so heavily on him,
but he remained their idol, and the hero of the fans. Then Eric dropped the
bombshell. On the morning of Sunday 18th May 1997 when United announced there
would be a press conference later that day, no one suspected the outcome. He returned to Old Trafford
to appear in a benefit match for the survivors and dependants of victims of the 1958
Munich air disaster. Old Trafford was packed to the rafters as 56,000 people remembered
Munich, and paid tribute to Cantona's contribution to the United story. After
the game Eric addressed the crowd, and was given a hero's reception. The benefit
match for David Busst, the Coventry City defender whose career was ended by a
serious leg injury sustained against United, proved to be Eric Cantona's final
appearance for Manchester United. None of us knew this at the time, though
Cantona had already made the decision. It was a very gentle friendly encounter
in an atmosphere of goodwill. The game ended 2-2 after Coventry were awarded (to
the approval of all) a contrived penalty which David Busst came on to score.
Though the occasion was not competitive, Cantona's performance was effortlessly
perfect, and he scored the two United goals. The first goal typifies the Cantona
penalty style: precise, calm and inevitable in outcome; the second, a firm
downward header, was not a beautiful goal, but a striker's goal of the sort that
Eric often produced when it mattered.
On 18 August 1998 Eric Cantona returned to Old Trafford to pay tribute to the United
supporters, and to receive a hero's welcome. A crowd of 56,000 was present for a benefit
match for the survivors and dependants of the 1958 Munich air crash. Manchester United
played against an invitation team assembled by Eric Cantona, which included former United
legends Robson and Hughes, and French stars including Papin and Blanc. Eric Cantona played
the first half for the Invitation XI, then reappeared after half time in the red of United.
Wearing his accustomed number 7, it was as though he had never been away. For the record, United
won 8-4, and the highlight was United's seventh goal, scored by the Magnificent Seven himself.
Career Details
Eric Cantona born: 24th May 1966, in Paris.
Clubs: Auxerre (debut 1983), Martigues (on loan), Auxerre again, Marseille, Bordeaux
(on loan), Marseille again, Montpellier (on loan), Marseille yet again, Nimes,
Sheffield Wednesday (trial), Leeds, MANCHESTER UNITED.
International Debut: versus West Germany, 12th August 1987.
International Caps: 43 (20 goals).
English Debut: For Leeds versus Oldham, 8th February 1992.
Signed for Manchester United: 27th November 1992.
First Appearance for United: Versus Benfica in Lisbon, 1st December 1992,
a testimonial match for Eusebio.
League Debut for United: As substitute versus Manchester City, 6th December 1992;
United won 2-1.
Honours:
European Under-21 Championship for France: 1988.
French Cup for Montpellier: 1990.
French League for Marseille: 1991.
English Division One for Leeds: 1992.
Premier League for United: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997.
FA Cup for United: 1994, 1996.
PFA Player of the Year: 1994.
Footballer of the Year: 1996.
|
Premier League |
FA Cup |
League Cup |
European Cup |
TOTAL |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Games |
Goals |
Games |
Goals |
Games |
Goals |
Games |
Goals |
Games |
Goals |
|
| 1992/93 |
22 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
9 |
| 1993/94 |
34 |
18 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
48 |
25 |
| 1994/95 |
21 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
24 |
13 |
| 1995/96 |
30 |
14 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
19 |
| 1996/97 |
36 |
11 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
49 |
14 |
| Total |
143 |
64 |
17 |
10 |
6 |
1 |
16 |
5 |
182 |
80 |