Kevin_Yahoo wrote:Hello there.
I'm writing an article about heroes of the Euros (it's a kind of Where Are They Now? thing) and I want to get United fans' memories of Karel Poborsky. Any memories/stories you have - good or bad - please post them here. Doesn't even have to be a story/memory as such, could just be your general view on his time at United (and the Czech team, if you followed his international exploits!).
I'd want to use some of the your quotes for the article, which will appear on the Yahoo Football website during the tournament. So if you don't want your comments to be used then let me know, and they won't be. All quotes will be credited to United Lounge.
Cheers,
Kevin
Poborsky was the right player at the wrong time for United. A classy, technical winger, he seemed made for United, and with that lob against Portugal in Euro 96, we'd signed a player who had scored on of the best goals in European Championship history. Then a month later, David Beckham scored from his own half against Wimbledon, and that summed up Poborsky at United. No matter what he did David Beckham would just do it better.
He was never a bad player for United, but he was surplus to requirements from the moment he arrived. If he had come a year earlier to replace Kanchelskis, when Beckham had only 16 professional games under his belt, five of them for Preston, it might well have been a different story. A full season and a bag full of goals later, Beckham was the first choice right winger on merit, and Poborsky could never do enough to quite displace him.
When he left there was no great sense of loss at United, and the team went on to win the treble the following season. Lovely as the move was.,when one of your most memorable moments is a goal against Swindown Town in the League Cup, it says a lot about your standing.