24 January 2023 , 13:13
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Manchester United's Class of 92 will always hold a special place in the club's history - but their role in recent years has been somewhat trickier.
The generation of youngsters including David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt was the backbone of United's golden era of Sir Alex Ferguson including winning the treble in 1999. But since Ferguson's retirement in 2013, the Red Devils have had a tough time - and the Class of 92 have regularly given their opinions.
With the likes of Neville and Scholes in punditry roles and others still involved in the game, there have been no shortage of instances of the United legends airing their views on what has gone wrong at Old Trafford since they left. In 2019, they were pulled up on that - by former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The outspoken Swedish striker won the League Cup and Europa League in 2017 under Jose Mourinho and was a key part of the last United side to win major silverware. That made him a popular figure with fans - but he risked his legacy by opting to take on the Class of 92 publicly in 2019 in a debate surrounding Paul Pogba.
Ibrahimovic claimed at the time that the Class of 92 were simply the 'circle of Ferguson'. He even suggested they must've needed permission from their former manager.
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Ibrahimovic said at the time: "With Pogba, he was with United when he was young, then he went out and he came back.
“And in the circle of Ferguson, they don’t like that. Because they stayed all their life under Ferguson and they never moved from Ferguson.
"And they didn’t even talk if Ferguson didn’t tell them to open their mouth. So now if they are talking, I don’t know whether Ferguson gave them permission or not.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Zlatan Ibrahimovic have a point about the Class of 92? Join the discussion in the comments section.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic aimed a dig at Man Utd's Class of 92 back in 2019Those comments from Ibrahimovic were addressed by one member of the Class of 92 - Ryan Giggs. Giggs didn't hold back in response and offered a cheeky reply referencing his lack of appearances for the club in comparison.
He also referenced Butt, who was the club's head of youth team development at the time, as proof that he and his team-mates still have an involvement with United.
Giggs said: “When you've played over 2,000 games between us, we’re going to have an opinion. Sometimes positive and sometimes negative but I don’t think that has any bearing on results or anything.
The Class of 92 have remained vocal on Man Utd since retiring (Getty Images)“We’re supporters of the club together with other ex-players who are on TV or radio, that’s what football is about, having different opinions.
“I think there’s only Nicky [Butt, United's head of academy] who’s connected with the club. But obviously he [Ibrahimovic] knows more about the club than us.”
Despite taking on the club's most legendary group of players, Ibrahimovic remains viewed fondly by most at Old Trafford after his two-year stint. And with Erik ten Hag now leading a turnaround, the noises surrounding the club from the Class of 92 and beyond are far more positive than they have been for quite a while.
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