Seventeen years ago, Mikael Silvestre travelled all the way to Brazil as Manchester United played the first FIFA World Cup of Clubs.
The result ended up being quite disappointing as in the Brazilian summer the team couldn’t handle the American sides and drew 1-1 with Necaxa, losing 3-1 to Vasco Da Gama.
Silvestre is now back in the country to promote New Era’s line of Manchester United caps, and had a word with Sport Witness about his past and the current situation at Manchester United.
You played for United in Brazil and the results weren’t great. Was it the weather or were you surprised with the level of the teams?
I don’t know, it was the middle of the winter (in England), I think we were surprised with the weather. For sure it wasn’t the best performance from us, but it was a good experience anyway.
As a Frenchman, what do you make of Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba at Manchester United so far?
Both talented young players. They play for the national team, so we just expect them to fulfil their potential. We’ve got big hopes for them.
You’ve played many games for United as a left-back, and the squad seems to have a problem with the position these days. If you had to pick one player to start there, who would it be?
Nobody has taken control of this position this season. In fact, we don’t really know, there wasn’t a real back four this season, there was a lot of changes, a few injuries, Eric Bailly went to the African Cup of Nations.
I don’t know for left back. That will depend on the profile of the team you play against. It’s good for the manager to have options anyway.
Sometimes he plays three at the back, so Rojo was playing there as well. As long as the guys are performing, it doesn’t really matter who’s playing.
You’ve faced José Mourinho as an opposition manager a few times. Does he seem the same at United?
I’m not in the dressing room anymore, so I couldn’t compare. Playing against his team was tough, because we know they were strong to break in midfield, the central midfield was the main strength of the team.
The likes of Drogba were tough to play against. But now we’ve got Ibrahimovic at United so it’s the same kind of player.
The only player from the current squad that you’ve worked with is Wayne Rooney. How do you evaluate his situation after all these years?
Obviously he’s not in his prime anymore, he’s not as sharp as he was, but the brain still is. So now it’s a question of how the manager can use Wayne and make sure he’s giving his best to the team.
