Former Manchester City midfielder Paul Bosvelt has admitted his infamous tackle on Manchester United’s Dennis Irwin wasn’t planned, and even shocked him.
The former Manchester City midfielder has been speaking to Algemeen Dagblad about his career, and the rivalry he enjoyed with Manchester United during his time at a Citizen.
The Dutchman only made 65 appearances for Manchester City after arriving from Feyenoord in a €1.5m deal in July 2003.
He thoroughly enjoyed his time at the club, even though it only lasted two years before he returned to the Netherlands with Heerenveen in July 2005.
He arrived in Manchester with something of a reputation after a famous clash with Manchester United’s Dennis Irwin in the Champions League.
That saw Irwin taken off the pitch with a suspected broken leg after Bosvelt struck him with a ferocious tackle, which was beamed across the world as viewers watched on TV.
Fortunately, Irwin did not suffer such a fate but did spent months out with ruptured medial ligaments, something which Bosvelt apologised for in a fax that Manchester United later made public.
That incident made him popular at Manchester City when he joined the club, although he admits he wasn’t particularly pleased with the incident.
“Denis Irwin, huh,” he said on the subject.
“It could have been a lot worse, although it was still annoying that he got injured. I was shocked myself when I saw it on TV later. It was just a blind move. A blur before my eyes.
“Yes, that tackle was well received there,” he added on Manchester City fans loving the moment.
Fortunately for Bosvelt it wasn’t all negative when he came up against Manchester United, with another performance against them, this time for City, seeing him named man of the match.
That was something he never saw coming, and he admits he still has the champagne bottle handed to him, unopened.
“At first I thought they were pranking me,” he concluded.
“Because we didn’t play at home, but at Manchester United, at Old Trafford. It is not really common there for them to appoint someone from the opponent. Let alone a player from the hated Manchester City.
“It’s more that I don’t quite trust what’s in it,” he joked about the unopened reward.
