Manchester United fans will never forget that moment John O’Shea channelled his inner Zinedine Zidane to leave footballing icon Luis Figo red faced on this day, fifteen years ago.
As was sung on the terraces when O’Shea played for United: ‘When Johnny goes marching down the wing, O’Shea! O’Shea! When Johnny goes marching down the wing, O’Shea! O’Shea! When Johnny goes marching down the wing, the Stretford will fucking sing, we all know that Johnny is gonna score…’
O’Shea resembled part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s brilliance. The Waterford man arrived at Old Trafford as a centre back, yet probably wasn’t quite good enough to cement that role in the United side, so the gaffer made him a utility player.
The former Ireland international wasn’t the greatest player to grace the Old Trafford pitch but he was far from the worst. We loved him as fans because he’d put in a shift no matter where Ferguson would ask him to play. No bollocks just commitment.
To this day, O’Shea in his prime would be an important member in any United side.
