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'Beckham emulated Cantona' | Ben Thornley on 'Class of '92' memories

Former Manchester United player, and alumni of the 'Class of '92', Ben Thornley joined The Footba...



Soccer

'Beckham emulated Cantona' | Ben Thornley on 'Class of '92' memories


Former Manchester United player, and alumni of the 'Class of '92', Ben Thornley joined The Football Show, and spoke about his memories of team-mates such as David Beckham.

Thornley's new book - Tackled - chronicles memories from his time at Manchester United, where he came up in the group that came to define one of United's greatest teams.

While Thornley's involvement was curtailed due to a devastating knee injury, he left United in 1998 and had a good professional career.

His memories of his fellow alumni of that fabled class, under the tutelage of Eric Harrison, give a great insight for Manchester United fans and football supporters alike.

David Beckham

David Beckham would go on to be one of the most globally-recognised stars of the Class of '92 both on and off the field, but it was assiduous dedication to his training that helped lay the foundations, as Thornley remembers.

"When we were growing up, and the manager realised that he had something special with the team that he had produced in 1991, he always used to say to us 'Look at Eric Cantona - just watch him.'

"He told us to watch him in the dressing room, to watch what he does before he goes out to training. He was all alone, he doesn't speak, he motivates himself.

"Not only did we use to watch him, but people like Becks would do things that he did and that included staying out after the official training had finished.

"Behind one of the goals at The Cliff was the outdoor building, and Becks used to practice free-kick after free-kick, knowing that he wouldn't have to run very far for the ball if he missed the target!

"He would spend a good 45 minutes to an hour, or until the manager banged on the window saying 'you've done enough!'"

Paul Scholes

Describing Scholes as having a wicked sense of humour, with his partner-in-crime Nicky Butt, but it was a hard-won transformation to world-renowned footballer.

"Scholesy didn't actually kick any ball with the 1992 FA Youth Cup-winning side.

"It was a transformation when he realised that he had to do something with his diet and he actually used me as an example.

"He was looking at the likes of me, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt who were actually leaving him behind in terms of the way that we were developing physically.

"He realised that he needed to do something about that and described us as men, where he felt like a bit of a boy."

Whatever difference there was wouldn't last long.

"If the likes of myself or Gary Neville were thought of as the leading lights in the first year, then Scholesy was the leading light by an absolute mile [in the second year] - he was fantastic."

Ryan Giggs

"He was already at the club when we arrived, and since then had made his debut. But we loved the fact that Sir Alex would integrate him back into the youth team. There were some games he played [with us] and some that he didn't.

"Giggsy was a fabulous player, he was from the same place that I was, he played for Salford Boys [...] we both followed a similar path up until my injury.

"He was just an all-round terrific footballer."

Nicky Butt

Special praise was reserved for the man described as the Gorton Prince, Nicky Butt.

"People have asked me who I always enjoyed playing alongside [...] and when we played together for Manchester county, I was so fortunate to have Nicky alongside me.

"He had an incredible engine, incredible desire. For someone that you wouldn't see as very big, he was incredibly strong and had an appetite for the game that I had never seen. I knew that he was going to be a top, top player.

"He played in the same team very often as Roy Keane, or Scholesy, and Roy will tell you he loved playing alongside him. Nicky was just a terrific footballer with a fantastic attitude."

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