According to many of the older mob we get here drinking inside the Football Transfer Tavern, one of the subjects they often talk about is that modern football has gone soft.
Whether it’s Ashley Young writhing about on the floor after yet another dive or as recently as the last Premier League gameweek which saw West Ham United’s Mark Noble receive two yellow cards and a sending off against Liverpool for what appeared to be legitimate play, they often wonder where the games’ great hard men have gone?
The fact of the matter is that the game has moved on but we can’t help agree with our elder punters who recall the great battles between the likes of Roy Keane versus Patrick Vieira and Ian Wright trying his best to wind up Peter Schmeichel.
At the time of writing, Manchester United were heading into a crunch home fixture with old foes Liverpool and if a negative result plays out for the Red Devils on Saturday evening, perhaps their fans would be hoping that the likes of Keane would be back to really put the frighteners into his team-mates ahead of what is still the club’s biggest game of the season.
Keane’s stare alone could freeze a man they say and we can only wonder what the Irishman thinks about the club splashing a simply ridiculous £36 million on Anthony Martial.
With this hardman theme in mind, we’ve devised a list of the five hardest Manchester United players of the last 10 years.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 hardest Manchester United players of the last 10 years.
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Nemanja Vidic
Paying eight years of service to Manchester United, Red Devils fans can only dream of having Nemanja Vidic back in their defence at the peak of his powers.
With the current Chris Smalling and Daley Blind partnership very much a work in progress, Vidic was part of the bedrock on which five Premier League titles were won during his Old Trafford stay.
A competitor who was often seen bandaged in bloody tissues given his no holds barred attitude to competing for the ball in the air with opposition brutes such as Didier Drogba, Vidic was a leader of men very much deserving of his place on this Manchester United hardman shortlist.
Gabriel Heinze
Only a Manchester United player for the space of three years between 2004 and 2007, former Argentine international Gabriel Heinze was something of a hardman despite hailing from a country which lets be honest, has had its fair share of play actors in the past.
Signed for just £6.9 million back in 2004, Heinze proved to be a pretty good bargain for the Red Devils and wasted no time in launching himself into English football, often lamented by opposition supporters for trying dirty tricks such as pulling opposition shirts and genuinely being a nuisance.
This wasn’t a cover up however because Heinze could also take care of himself, often sliding in for challenges and genuinely being seen as an extremely tough member of United’s squad that won one Premier League title (2006/07) during his stay.
Alan Smith
Having seen his career trail off into relative obscurity with the player now at League Two Notts County, Alan Smith used to be a household name in the Premier League during his time at Leeds United ahead of his switching across the Greater Manchester / Yorkshire divide to United.
Starting out his career as a striker, Sir Alex Ferguson recognised that Smith’s tenacity could be better utilised in the centre of the park and lets face it, Smith was never frightened of getting stuck into opposition midfielders.
Often boasting the expression of a player who wanted to cause some damage to opposition teams, Smith liked to think of himself as a hardman and to be honest, for many, he was.
Rio Ferdinand
Nemanja Vidic’s trusty partner at the back during a simply scintillating spell of winning league titles under Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand is undoubtedly one of the Red Devils’ best ever defensive signings.
Never someone to shy away from a physical battle, you never caught Ferdinand play acting with the former England international always a threat in the air while also grabbing opposition shirts when the referee wasn’t looking.
Standing at 6 ft 2 in, Ferdinand could take care of himself and in tandem with Vidic provided one of the meanest Premier League defences the division has ever known.
Roy Keane
The original hardman, Roy Keane manages to just make the cut given the fact he was still on the books of Manchester United in 2005 ahead of leaving for Celtic the same year.
A leader of men, Keane gave absolutely everything for the United cause in a colourful twelve year association with the Red Devils.
Most famously going up against Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira in a series of high profile battles, these two were the best of enemies with either coming out on top on separate occasions.
Highly critical of Sir Alex Ferguson since retiring from the game, Keane has never been short of controversy in his career but one thing’s for sure, he was a fine, fine central midfield player.
