Fans on social media have been left scratching their heads after seeing a bizarre all-time Manchester United XI featuring Fabien Barthez and Phil Neville.
The United all-time XI was selected by comedian Josh Jones as part of BBC’s MOTDx and was shared on the Match of the Day Twitter account.
Jones controversially selected former United No 1 Barthez between the sticks ahead of Peter Schmeichel, David de Gea and Edwin van der Sar.
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Ahead of Barthez, whose selection sparked floods of confused responses by fans, is a centre-back pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Steve Bruce.
Gary Neville takes his spot at right-back, but Phil’s place at left-back had the same reaction as Barthez’s selection in Jones’ team.
Despite making over 200 appearances for United and being part of the club’s famous Class of ’92, many fans preferred Patrice Evra or Denis Irwin to make the cut ahead of Phil.
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Jones’ midfield included Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, with Cristiano Ronaldo out on the left wing and David Beckham on the opposite flank.
United legend Eric Cantona is leading the frontline of Jones’ all-time XI alongside record Red Devils scorer Wayne Rooney.
Despite some notable omissions from other positions, the inclusions of Barthez and Neville in the team sparked a massive backlash from fans on social media.
“Stopped looking at the team as soon as I spotted Barthez,” one fan simply said.
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Another tweeted: “Phil Neville isn’t better than [Luke] Shaw, let alone [Denis] Irwin.”
A third Twitter user wrote: “Each to their own but WTF is Barthez and Phil Neville doing there?”
Someone else commented: “Everyone will have different opinions but some of these selections are just ridiculous. Barthez and Phil Neville! WTF!”
While a fifth added: “I never thought I’d see the day Philip Neville would be ahead of Patrice Evra or Denis Irwin. Less said about the goalkeeper situation the better.”
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And a sixth posted: “I’ve never met anyone whose put Barthez ahead of Schmeichel/VDS [Edwin van der Sar] and Phil Neville ahead of Irwin/Evra but each to their own.”
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Topics: Phil Neville, Manchester United, Premier League, England, Football, Fan Reactions
Adnan Riaz