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Edwin van der Sar surprisingly left fellow Manchester United legends Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and Patrice Evra out of his star-studded all-time XI of teammates.
The 55-year-old Dutchman made an appearance on Sky Sports on Monday evening to provide punditry for Manchester United’s 1-0 Premier League win over Everton.
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Joined by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher in the studio, Edwin van der Sar recalled different moments from his prolific career, including at Ajax, Juventus and United.
Van der Sar’s all-time XI featured Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in the backline, but the United legend did not include Gary Neville or Patrice Evra in his picks.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesWho did Edwin van der Sar choose ahead of Man Utd legends Gary Neville and Patrice Evra in his all-time XI?
Frank de Boer, who played alongside Edwin van der Sar for the Netherlands and Ajax, made the final cut at left-back ahead of Patrice Evra in the all-time XI.
Speaking on snubbing Evra and picking Frank de Boer instead, Van der Sar said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football: “Frank, because he’s a good friend, good player.
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“You can put it in [the] different way. I could have put Patrice there, but I think Frank de Boer is quite clever.
“Not the quickest, [but] knew exactly what they [opposition players] do. Great pass. If you remember the pass to [Dennis] Bergkamp, the goal that Bergkamp scored against Argentina.
“So, he helped a lot of players. He let [sic] Marc Overmars, he came in [with] the ball [and] went over the top. So, he was a tremendous defender and a great tactician.”
Joining Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and De Boer in the four-man backline was former Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara, who was at right-back ahead of Gary Neville.
“Yeah, I think on the right it’s Ciro Ferrara,” Van der Sar explained.
“I played with him at Juventus. Maybe [he] was more like a centre-half, but great attitude. Fantastic warrior. I think he deserves to be in that team […].”
Edwin van der Sar leaves Man Utd icon Wayne Rooney out of his all-time XI for Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp
Man Utd icon Ryan Giggs was out on the left wing in Van der Sar’s all-time XI and Red Devils legend Cristiano Ronaldo took his spot out on the right wing of attack.
Wayne Rooney was not picked to lead the frontline and Van der Sar turned his attention to former Ajax and Netherlands teammate Dennis Bergkamp instead.
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“Yeah, it’s not Dennis Bergkamp’s ideal position,” he said.
“I think he plays maybe more from the [No] 10, maybe behind. I’m not really sure how he played with [Thierry] Henry at Arsenal, but to have him there, it’s, yeah, I don’t think he ever scored [an] ugly goal.
“I think all his goals, like every, I don’t know, [out of the] 300 that he made [there were] 275 [that were] nice goals, great goals.”
Van der Sar spent the final part of his illustrious career at Old Trafford under iconic ex-Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson before he retired from football in 2011.
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