Manchester United's Greatest 23-Man Squad Of The Premier League Era

21. Steve Bruce (England, 1987-1996)

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer,Manchester United
Neal Simpson/EMPICS Sport
With centre backs, the key for any football team is to find two players who complement each other excellently and stick with them week in and week out, as frequent changes have an adverse effect on consistency.

United have been fortunate enough to have maintained two rock-solid centre back partnerships for the majority of their Premier League spell, the first of which was carried over from the days of the Football League First Division and the second of which was only dissolved this time last year. A number of makeshift partnerships bridged the gap between the two periods, most notably that of Jaap Stam and Ronny Johnsen in the Treble winning season of 1998-99. The sale of Stam after just three seasons in 2001 was one of Sir Alex Ferguson's biggest transfer mistakes, and his short longevity prevents his inclusion on his list.

Perhaps the greatest English defender to never win a senior cap for his country, Steve Bruce was a loyal servant to United for nine seasons, the final four of those being the first four Premier League campaigns, three of which the team won. He captained the side during these four seasons (albeit sharing the honour with Bryan Robson for the first two), commanding from the back.

Bruce played 30 games in 1995/96 despite reaching the age of 35, winning a final championship before dropping down a division to join Birmingham City, despite Sir Alex Ferguson believing he could still have a part to play.

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Alex was about to write a short biography, but he got distracted by something shiny instead.