My best Manchester United XI post-Sir Alex Ferguson, including five current players

Manchester United dominated English football under Sir Alex Ferguson, but hasn’t been the case since the legendary manager retired.

There are multiple reasons why Manchester United didn’t continue to dominate after Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement in 2013. From the Glazers’ ownership, poor recruitment, and how there hasn’t been a level playing field in English football, with Man City breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations.

On top of all that, it was never going to be easy to replace the greatest manager of all time. Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions League titles and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Ferguson assembled some of the greatest teams English football had seen. Since then, the job at Old Trafford has been to restore those standards, knowing it won’t be easy.

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That brings us to the best line-up of players who played for United after Ferguson retired.

Of course, not everyone will agree with each selection, but there should be no arguments over the best goalkeeper and full-backs. Here’s my very own United XI post-Ferguson – including five current players and three stars who played under the Scot.

Goalkeeper: David de Gea played under Ferguson for two of his 12 years at Old Trafford, winning the Premier League title in 2013, but he would go on to become the best goalkeeper in the world. The Spaniard won United’s Player of the Year award four times, which is unprecedented for a goalkeeper.

Moreover, the other options hardly compete with De Gea. His replacement, Andre Onana, was a flop, and it’s still too early to compare him with Senne Lammens.

Defence: Antonio Valencia is another player who starred under Ferguson and went on to be a positive influence on the team under other managers. After transforming from a right winger to a right back, the Ecuadorian was a brilliant servant to the club.

I can’t look past Luke Shaw at left-back. He may not have reached his maximum level due to injuries, but he has been at the club for over 10 years. His replacement will have big shoes to fill.

At centre-back, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire both get the nod ahead of Lisandro Martinez. Varane arrived at United aged 28 after enjoying his best years at Real Madrid. There were still times when he would look like a Rolls-Royce in United’s defence. Other players looked a lot better when playing alongside him. Maguire has had a United career of ups and downs, but he is currently seen as one of the leaders in the team and with good reason.

Midfield: I have opted to leave Paul Pogba out of the midfield because we didn’t see enough of the French midfielder at his best in a United shirt. That is why I selected Michael Carrick alongside Ander Herrera, with Bruno Fernandes occupying the No. 10 role.

That is a midfield with a player renowned for defence-splitting passes from deep positions, a runner (or wild dog, as Jose Mourinho would describe Herrera), and United’s best signing since Ferguson stepped away.

Hopefully, it won’t be long before Kobbie Mainoo enters this line-up because he has shown plenty of promising signs since breaking into the team under Erik ten Hag.

Attack: United’s best striker since Ferguson has been Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The only problem I have with the former Swedish striker is that he didn’t come to United earlier in his career. He is joined in attack by Bryan Mbeumo and Marcus Rashford.

It’s still early days as far as Mbeumo is concerned at United, but he’s one of a few players I think have arrived at United as a ready-made elite player ever since Ferguson retired.

Finally, Rashford’s place on the left wing is not up for debate.