Cole: 'Saying Man City is the best in history is disrespectful to Man Utd'

Legendary Englishman Andy Cole believes that Man City are not the best team in English football history even if they win the treble this season.

In 1999, Man Utd won the Premier League with 79 points. Cole and his teammates were one point ahead of second-placed Arsenal. In the FA Cup final, they beat Newcastle 2-0. In the Champions League final, the team under the guidance of legendary coach Alex Ferguson came from behind to beat Bayern 2-1, thereby completing the first treble in English football history.

After more than 30 years, Man City is getting closer to the feat of the same city team Manchester - Man Utd. In the Premier League this season, the team at Etihad Stadium successfully defended the crown with 89 points, with a gap of five points compared to second place Arsenal. In the FA Cup final, Man City beat Man Utd 2-1 in the match at Wembley Stadium on June 3. Pep Guardiola's team has the final and most important match this weekend: the Champions League final against Inter in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Witnessing the superior strength and maintained over many years of Man City, many experts believe that this is the strongest team in the history of English football. But Cole disagrees. On BoyleSports on June 6, he said: "To say that Man City is currently the best in the history of English football is completely disrespectful to Man Utd, especially from people who are not in that position. You can see that there is a lot of hatred towards Man Utd because of the club's success. Man City is not better than us even if they won the treble this season."

Man Utd won the Champions League and completed the treble in 1999. Photo: AP

The former England striker stressed that Man Utd are still the only English team to have won the treble, while Man City need to beat Inter in the Champions League final to achieve the same. He also insisted that he would not swap any of the 1999 Man Utd squad for a current Man City player, as he believes it would be disrespectful to his former team-mates.

Cole also noted that Man City have spent a lot of money to build their current squad, while Man Utd in 1999 developed six first-team players themselves. "Ronny Johnsen is a great player, but he doesn't get the respect he deserves," said Cole. "If he's so bad, why is he and Jaap Stam one of the best centre-back partnerships at Man Utd?"

Cole played for Man Utd from 1995 to 2001, playing nearly 200 games and scoring nearly 100 goals in the Premier League. He once set a record of scoring 34 goals in a 42-game season in the English top flight.

In history, besides Man Utd, there are six other teams that have won the treble, including Barca in 2009 and 2015, Bayern in 2013 and 2020, Inter in 2010, Celtic in 1967, Ajax in 1972 and PSV in 1988.

Thanh Quy (according to BoyleSports )

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