There have been longer, less torrid love affairs, but few are burned into the memory as indelibly as Eric Cantona’s five-season fling at Old Trafford. In the week he hits the silver screen in Looking For Eric, ManUtd.com examines why the Frenchman remains one of the club’s most idolised players…
That Eric Cantona's arrival from Leeds only slightly preceded the end of United's 26-year wait for the League title was no coincidence – the Frenchman was the brooding, swaggering catalyst behind the most successful period in the Reds' history.
Prior to his signing, the Reds were teetering between nearly men and battle-hardened winners. So much was already in place for success: The unflinching defence, a midfield combining industry and incision, and the blend of brutality and subtlety in attack.
It was a side which could claim to be the finest in the land, yet still missed that telling je ne sais quoi of champions. Cantona’s arrival provided the Gallic afflatus to send United over the tipping point - just as he had with Leeds some nine months earlier as the Whites pilfered the 1991/92 title from under the Reds' noses.
Midway through the following campaign, with the Reds in steady but unspectacular form, a phone call from Leeds chief executive Bill Fotherby provoked a moment of opportunism from Sir Alex. Fotherby had dialled Old Trafford to broach the potential signing of Denis Irwin. Instead, less than an hour later, he and Leeds boss Howard Wilkinson had agreed to send Cantona across the Pennines for a cut-price £1million.
With that spontaneous counter-offer, Ferguson had bought the player who would bring glory back to United. As the manager subsequently admitted in his autobiography: “One of the most extraordinary periods in the history of Manchester United was about to begin.” But beyond simply signing a top class talent who guaranteed more points and prizes, the Reds had snared a man with the mentality and charisma of a champion. Even the manager was taken aback by the immediacy of Cantona’s off-field impact.
At the end of his first training session at The Cliff, Eric strolled up to Sir Alex and asked him for two players and a goalkeeper, so that he may continue to practice. An extra half-hour was spent with the Frenchman volleying crosses from either side. The next day, half the first team squad stayed for the extra-curricular session.
“Many people have justifiably acclaimed Cantona as a catalyst who had a crucial impact on our successes while he was with the club,” said the manager, “but nothing he did in matches meant more than the way he opened my eyes to the indispensability of practice.”
A squad who, hitherto, had little tangible success to back up their glaring promise was revitalised. Over a quarter-century of anguish and near-misses was soon a distant memory as the Reds elbowed their way to the head of a three-way tussle for the title alongside Aston Villa and Norwich City. There was even the flourish of champions – seven straight wins to end the season in style.
The winning habit had started and Cantona, chest puffed, collar upturned, was the charismatic face of the new champions. Previously something of a journeyman, the Frenchman had a loving home at last. He had achieved near-divinity with United supporters, who saw in Cantona the edgy visionary which had lived deep within Manchester’s favourite sons, from Best to Bez.
As the adulation gushed forth from the stands, the trophies were flowing at a similar rate. In his five seasons at Old Trafford, Cantona won four Premier League titles and two FA Cups. Indeed the only season in which the Reds failed to clinch England’s crown, the French talisman was spectacularly sidelined. Had Cantona not taken exception to the baitings of Crystal Palace supporter Matthew Simmons at Selhurt Park and collected a nine-month ban for his troubles, the history books could very easily tell the tale of United’s five successive league titles between 1993 and 1997.
Cantona’s importance during his playing career was obvious - he was team talisman and a phenomenal player. But it’s the seismic shift in mentality he instigated among the players which continues to be felt around Old Trafford. Over 12 years after he retired, the winning habit he championed shows no sign of culmination.
