There haven't been too many football players of the last 20 years to have a more inflated opinion of themselves than Eric Cantona. The self-styled "King" was one of the most arrogant players of his time during his playing days, with his trademark, upturned collar and pretentious philosophical preaching. On the field he was brilliant - powerfully built, strong in the air and endowed with exceptional technique, flair and originality, he made scoring goals look like fun and did so with almost languid, consummate ease. Off it he tried to present himself as an intellectual, with a number of rambling rants like his now-infamous "seagulls and the trawler" spiel characterising him as a player. Cantona made a series of arrogant observations in a bid to boost his ego during his career, spouting such quotes as: "I prefer to play and lose rather than win, because I know in advance I'm going to win," "when the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea," and "my ancestors were fighters, something I have inherited". He was also notoriously a pain to work with - once reacting to taunts from a rival fan in a game against Crystal Palace by launching himself into the crowd and delivering a kung-fu kick on the supporter, earning himself a nine month ban from football. And, after letting United down by effectively robbing them of their best player for the better part of a year, the Frenchman cockily boasted: "my best moment? I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan."
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
