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Manchester United may be going through their fair share of struggles right now, but their status as one of the most prestigious clubs in British and football history is sealed. For that, they have two legendary managers to thank in the form of Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson.
The iconic Scotsmen shared 51 years of managerial experience as well as trophies between them. Their standards and achievements are still being used as a blueprint by Manchester United as they look to make the two greats proud.
Not to mention the generations upon generations of players, many of whom are now revered as legends, who have graced The Theatre of Dreams. They've played their part in helping Manchester United’s home live up to its famous nickname.
There are just too many important players to mention, so I’m not even going to attempt naming them for fear of missing out on someone. However, the incredible contributions of the Busby Babes and Fergie’s Fledglings must be noted.
Now, while success births many an icon, there have been more than a handful of players who have played no small part in getting Manchester United where they are today, but have received little or no plaudits for it.
Not that it mattered to these men, whose sole motivation for doing what they did was their love for the club. They knew what it meant to play for Manchester United and felt enormous pride in wearing that famous red shirt – qualities that are a rarity in modern football.
Manchester United and the Old Trafford faithful owe these players a huge debt of gratitude for their enormous but sadly overlooked contribution to the club’s rich history.
Who are these men? You’re about to find out on this list of the 5 most underrated players in Manchester United history.
#5 Antonio Valencia
Plenty of pundits and observers constantly overlook Antonio Valencia’s contribution to Manchester United, partly due to their unfair view of him being an inept Cristiano Ronaldo replacement. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A quiet individual, Valencia let his work on the field do the talking, and earned a well-deserved place in the PFA Team of the Year in his debut season. Valencia followed this up with a string of steady performances year after year, establishing himself as a firm fan favorite.
His successful transition from a winger to an ultra-reliable right back – who managers firmly placed their trust in – says a lot about his character.
The 35-year-old departed Old Trafford in 2019 after a decade of selfless service and an incredible trophy haul which includes 2 Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup, 2 Carabao Cups, 1 Europa League and 3 Community Shields.
Valencia never truly got the appreciation he deserved. But he was viewed highly by the club, who chose him as their Player of the Year in 2011; his teammates, who twice voted for him as their Player of the Year, and the fans – who hold him in extremely high regard.
#4 Michael Carrick
Let’s get one thing straight – Michael Carrick oozed nothing but class during his glittering Manchester United stint, but never got the adulation he richly deserved until later in his career.
This was largely because he was unfairly held in comparison to Roy Keane, despite being a completely different kind of player and partly due to him playing in one of the least glamorous positions on the pitch.
Carrick was a brilliantly astute player who was proficient in making things tick in a midfield crowded with flashier peers like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Carrick’s moment in the sun finally came during Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season, which was arguably Carrick’s best.
It was also the one that saw him earn a terrace chant that proclaimed him as the next Paul Scholes.
Carrick’s immense talent was also overlooked by England, for whom he made just 34 appearances due to various managers weirdly preferring the dysfunctional duo of Gerrard and Lampard.
Nevertheless, Carrick’s status as a legend is sealed, with the midfielder having played a major part in the club winning 5 Premier League titles, 1 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 FA Cup and 2 Carabao Cups among other trophies.
#3 John O’Shea
The original "Mr Versatile", John O’Shea holds the distinction of having played in EVERY position for Manchester United – yes, that includes as a goalkeeper and wait for it, a striker!
The Irishman was a faithful servant to the club, and did whatever was asked of him – making him a manager’s darling. However, O’Shea ended up being a victim of his own versatility and was never able to permanently nail down a position on the pitch despite his services being heavily called upon.
That's probably the reason why he’s so underrated by the football public. Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to let O’Shea leave for Sunderland after 12 years of dedicated service was a bit harsh, considering he still had a lot left in the tank.
Nevertheless, the Old Trafford faithful will never forget the part the Irishman played in helping Manchester United win 5 Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup, 1 Champions League and 2 League Cups among other trophies.
#2 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Those who remember Ole Gunnar Solskjaer just for his incredible stoppage-time winner for Manchester United against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final forget that the Norwegian was one of the deadliest finishers around.
One who has scored an incredible 126 goals in 366 appearances for Manchester United, while being a super sub in most of his games.
The Baby Faced Assassin was much more than an impact sub whose contributions were constantly overlooked due to him sharing the pitch with star strikers like Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Solskjaer was a Manchester United player through and through, and was ever-willing to put the clubs interests – whether that meant having him sit on the bench for prolonged periods or playing out of position – before his own.
The Norwegian’s incredible reading of the game – honed from spending hours upon hours observing it from the bench – is the also part of the reason why he was so deadly on the pitch.
Solskjaer is absolutely adored by the Old Trafford faithful, who know what a big part he played in securing 6 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups, 1 Champions League, 2 Community Shields and 1 Intercontinental Cup for Manchester United.
No one knows the fabric of Manchester United better than the Norwegian, who is currently managing the club he loves so much – and who has succeeded in partially restoring the club’s DNA in the traumatic post- Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Here’s hoping the trophies, which he knows all too well from his time as a player, come to him soon.
#1 Ji-sung Park
One can’t have a list of the 5 most underrated players in Manchester United history without mentioning Ji-sung Park.
The legendary Korean, whose brilliant volley helped his country knock Portugal out of the 2002 World Cup, was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson for a paltry £4 million back in 2005 and quickly proved to be a shrewd piece of business.
Park’s superhuman work rate, which earned him the nickname Three-Lungs Park, and utter devotion to duty made him a manager and fan favorite.
His big game abilities, which were on full display in both legs of Manchester United’s 2010 Champions League tie against AC Milan during which he completely pocketed a prime Andrea Pirlo, were second to none.
Pirlo, who made just 21 passes at Old Trafford during that encounter, said of Park in his autobiography: "The midfielder must have been the first nuclear-powered South Korean in history, in the sense that he rushed about the pitch at the speed of an electron."
No one needs to be reminded of the numerous problems he gave Arsenal and Chelsea whenever he faced them. Sir Alex Ferguson stated that one of his biggest regrets was leaving Park out of the 2008 Champions League final despite the midfielder’s phenomenal performances against Roma and Barcelona in the quarters and semis of the tournament.
Although Park sadly never got the adulation he deserved, he became a cult hero to the Old Trafford faithful who knew how integral he was in helping Manchester United lift 4 Premier League titles, 1 Champions League, 3 League Cups, 4 Community Shields and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.
Rooney summed up Park’s contributions best, when he said, “It’s crazy but if you mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo to a 12-year-old, they would immediately say, 'Yeah, he was a brilliant player for Manchester United, but if you said 'Ji-sung Park' they may not know who he was."
Rooney went on to say: "Yett all of us who played with Park know he was almost as important to our success. That’s because of what Park gave to the collective and I want to talk about teams. They — not stars — are the most important thing in sport.”
