Eric Cantona spoke about his move to Manchester United in November 1992.
After winning the title with Leeds earlier that year, Cantona made the switch and made an instant impact.
He helped United win their first top-flight title since 1967 and during his five years at Red he helped the club win four Premier League titles and two FA Cups, scoring 82 goals in 185 appearances.
Before joining Leeds, Cantona had retired and been out of football for two months: “I didn’t want to play in France anymore,” he told The Athletic, “So I retired and stayed away from football for two months.” But I thought England could be a good country for me.”
He spoke of other footballers who played here in the top flight that he aspired to: “Football in England was Kevin Keegan, it was George Best. They were rock ‘n’ roll stars.”
Cantona prospered in England because he changed his mentality: “I realized that I expected too much from people before. I thought I loved these kinds of people and I wanted them to love me. Then I realised, you become a prisoner of this idea.”
“I found the words. In French, it means ‘Je suis de passage’ (I am in transit). It helped me a lot as a man and as a player.”
When he arrived in England, Cantona was living in a hotel, he got the idea that he could return the key and go free.
“It was a way of being in transit. I came to England as someone in transit and it gave me the freedom to express myself. If I had stayed in the same mindset as before, I don’t think I would have been successful in England,” she says.
The club was understanding and accommodating of that idea, “Manchester United understood it very well because they said: ‘If Eric wants to go, he can go’”.
Sir Alex Ferguson was very supportive and understanding of his star striker’s approach to the world.
The Athletic highlights two incidents where the unconventional striker was panned by critics but Ferguson stood by him.
The most notable incident occurred in 1995 when Cantona jumped into the stands at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park and kung-fu kicked a fan who was yelling insults at him.
The Frenchman received a nine-month suspension from the FA and was ordered to do 120 hours of community service.
The Athletic says on that occasion: “Ferguson traveled to Paris and rode a Harley-Davidson to secretly meet Cantona and convince him not to give up English football.”
Adam Crafton chooses another occasion: “It would also be small, everyday things. Former teammate Ryan Giggs, for example, recalled a civic function where the team was ordered to report in a formal black-tie suit, only for Cantona to show up in a ‘white linen suit and red and white Tiempo sneakers. ‘”.
Perhaps Ferguson indulged his off-pitch antics because of the magic he created on-pitch: “You can ask the players this: I trained really hard and when I played I worked really hard, which is the most important thing.”
He continues: “He [Ferguson] I knew that for me to have a pair of sneakers with a suit, it was not a big deal. We wouldn’t destroy our relationship over this kind of thing.”
Returning to his new ‘in transit’ mentality, Cantona, while an inspiration to his younger teammates, didn’t want the pressure of being called a leader.
“I wanted to feel like I was in transit and I didn’t want to feel this responsibility to be an example,” he says.
He continues: “Being an example is like being a sheep. Sometimes I reacted in a certain way that most people didn’t like and maybe they were right. But what they weren’t right about is what they said: ‘He was an example to millions of people, he can’t react like that.'”
“The only responsibility I had was to work hard and win games and if you are an example as people say it is because you think you are above everything”.
Although his time at United was slightly marred by controversy, he became a legend, an icon of the game, but Cantona insists he is, for the most part, a humble person.
“Most of the time I am very humble. I joke that ‘I’m a legend’ because I don’t care. I know we live in a circus, so I play the clown.”
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