This article is not about the number of games he played, or the goals he scored or any other statistic. You can find them very easily on Google. But that will not be able to describe in fullness, everything that he has done and been for this club in Manchester. I can’t promise my article will do it either. But out of respect, here is an attempt.
Somewhere in the early 2000s, Ten Sports broadcasted a few hours of MUFCTV daily. As a new fan of the game, I watched with great curiosity how these teams that were not national teams were playing at such a stage. The entire concept of club football was fascinating. And the way they portrayed United was fantastic. That was the time when a certain Ryan Giggs caught my eye. I didn’t know much about football then and I believe I still don’t know enough, but you know genius when you see it.
Ryan Giggs was sheer class. Still is. Any football fan worth his salt would agree to that. YouTube compilations of his trickery and magic with the ball are aplenty. That said, he was much much more than can be captured in a video or a movie. Still is. Damn, I don’t know what tense to write in. His retirement has marked the end of an era and has heralded a new one, but the man himself is too big to fit into any one. I believe he still has a big role to play at United and he will.
Giggs was never the glamourous types. Simple fellow. Furrowed brow – as though he was carrying the burden of the entire team on his shoulders. Mind you there have been times, when he has done that. Just ask the average United fan, and he’ll go on ranting about all those times. That is why, it was so heartening to see the man as Manager at Old Trafford, even if on an interim basis. It was a pleasure even for a rival fan. At the risk of sounding cheaply clichéd, it was as though life had come a full circle.