Goalkeeper: Massimo Taibi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esFAGx7RDL4 If we are being honest, if there is one role that can be considered the perennial problem position of Manchester United, it is goalkeeper. In the two decades that they have ruled the roost in the Premier League, they have had a total of two world class keepers - Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. Surrounding these two are a number of players that were brought in to fill the void left by these two legends, only to disappoint the fans hungry for success. Schmeichel in particular seemed to be succeeded by a string of poor quality shot-stoppers, as if he had left a curse in between the sticks. Players like Ricardo, Roy Carroll, Mark Bosnich and even World Cup winner Fabian Barthez all couldn't hold a candle to the Great Dane. But none live as long in the memory for all the wrong reasons than Massimo Taibi. Arriving from Venezia for
£4.5 million, he was an experienced Italian goalkeeper that appeared to be competent and consistent when push came to shove. He was competing for the No.1 shirt in the first year post-Schmeichel against an overweight Bosnich and out-of-favour Raimond van der Gouw. And his first performance proved to be his best, as despite being at fault for a Sami Hyypia headed goal, a string of fine saves saw him earn Man of the Match in the victory over Liverpool. However, it can be fair to say that it all went downhill from there, and remarkably quickly. In his third outing against Southampton, late in the game Matt le Tissier hit a daisy-cutter of a shot straight at Taibi. He immediately pounced on the ball, getting his entire body to block the ball trickling into the goal. Except the gap between his legs, as the ball somehow squirmed under him and found the back of the net. It is one of, if not the most, replayed goalkeeping blunders in history. When he followed up this performance in the woeful 5-0 defeat against Chelsea where he looked all at sea and petrified of catching the ball. These two performances were a glaring blip on an otherwise strong career, where Taibi showed he had elements of Schmeichel when he became one of only two goalkeepers to score in Serie A from open play. However, the unfortunate truth is that his legacy at United is one of the worst of any keeper in the club's rich history.