Eric Cantona calls for Manchester United to play ‘creative football’ again

The King is not happy

Eric Cantona has called for Manchester United to start playing 'creative football' again, dissatisfied with their current style of play under José Mourinho. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Cantona said that he would take a coaching role at the club to make the team "play creative football once again" and reiterated his belief that Pep Guardiola should be in charge at Old Trafford, instead of Mourinho. "Listen. I joke about Manchester City but they are playing great football," he said. "It's just that I think Guardiola should be at United. He is the spiritual child of Johan Cruyff — he played under Cruyff at Barcelona and learned everything from him. He's the only person who should be at United."

"Well, except for me," he added. "I would like to coach. If they called me, I would go; I would enjoy it. They know where I am. Then we would play creative football once again."

"It would be great for the fans, like it was with Alex Ferguson — he allowed players to be creative, treated them as individuals. We all felt special with him. All felt loved. He was always praising. A good man. A good leader."

His praise for Sir Alex Ferguson reflects badly on José Mourinho, who is under growing pressure to improve results at Old Trafford as Zinedine Zidane waits in the wings. Cantona spoke about his former boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, who is recovering from a brain haemorrhage that he suffered in May. "He is getting better. He sounds good. Sounds strong. I wish him to get completely better. I am sure he will. I feel he is stronger every day," Cantona said.