{"id":347174,"date":"2025-08-15T18:24:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T18:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/347174\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T18:24:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T18:24:43","slug":"why-alan-hansens-you-cant-win-anything-with-kids-line-is-still-iconic-30-years-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/347174\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Alan Hansen\u2019s \u2018you can\u2019t win anything with kids\u2019 line is still iconic 30 years on"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It was 30 years ago this week when Phil Neville and Paul Scholes were among the few Manchester United<\/a> players who could even bring themselves to watch Match of the Day<\/a> on the opening day of the 1995-96 season.<\/a> They consequently got to witness a piece of punditry that everyone around the training ground \u2013 and the Premier League<\/a> \u2013 would be talking about the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t win anything with kids,\u201d Alan Hansen<\/a> famously stated after United\u2019s 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa<\/a>, almost saying that notorious line in passing.<\/a> The worst part was that many of United\u2019s \u201ckids\u201d agreed with him. \u201cHansen just said what everyone was thinking,\u201d Nicky Butt would later admit.<\/p>\n

For some of the players, though, the worst words were something else. Hansen had been summing up United\u2019s issues in that authoritative staccato style, and immediately added something that really stung. \u201cYou look at that Manchester United line-up today and Aston Villa, when they get the team sheet, it\u2019s just going to give them a lift. It will happen every time he plays the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"By<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

By the season\u2019s end, Manchester United had emphatically disproved Alan Hansen\u2019s proclamation (Getty)<\/p>\n

And yet, when that team sheet came through on that blazing afternoon at Villa Park, Mark Bosnich recalls that it wasn\u2019t the names that caused a reaction. United had already sold Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis<\/a> without replacements, after all, which had created weeks of debate. Villa were primed for that. The absences of Ryan Giggs, Steve Bruce, Andy Cole and \u2013 notably \u2013 suspended kung fu enthusiast Eric Cantona<\/a> further forced Alex Ferguson<\/a>\u2019s hand. He had to throw most of the kids in. He didn’t have to set them up in the way he did, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing that stood out was they started with three at the back,\u201d Villa goalkeeper Bosnich reveals. Gary Neville, Gary Pallister and Paul Parker were the centre-halves, with Phil Neville and Denis Irwin as wing-backs. The formation was fashionable at the time, but Ferguson had never really played it before, and barely played it afterwards. For a reason.<\/p>\n

Villa manager Brian Little was, on the other hand, one of the best-known practitioners of 5-3-2 and, on receiving the team sheet, he immediately went over to assistants Allan Evans and John Gregory to reshape his own team. \u201cThey were very astute tactically and it was about figuring out where the space was,\u201d Bosnich explains. <\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Man United struggled on that opening day against Aston Villa (PA)\"Talisman<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Talisman Eric Cantona (centre, in cap) was suspended and watched from the stands as United went down 3-1 to Villa (PA)<\/p>\n

Villa had gone on the kind of spending spree that United didn\u2019t in the summer of 1995, bringing in Gareth Southgate, Mark Draper and club record signing Savo Milosevic. The difference initially told. Emphatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cut them to ribbons,\u201d Bosnich says.<\/p>\n

By the 37th minute, Villa were 3-0 up against England\u2019s dominant team, with Ian Taylor, Draper and Dwight Yorke all scoring. The ease of Draper\u2019s goal, amid all the space that Little imagined, seemed to reflect the scale of what was happening. Was an era already ending? Missing out on the double in 1994-95 <\/a>had cast a gloom over United that got worse with the departure of stars, but no one expected this.<\/p>\n

The shock was only sharpened by the notification of each goal. BBC Radio 5 Live and teletext were the only sources of information for a 3pm kick-off in a different media world. People couldn\u2019t see how it was developing. United\u2019s kits even added to the colour of the day, so to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember noticing the grey shirts,\u201d Bosnich says. \u201cHorrible\u2026 well, they weren\u2019t horrible for us that day!\u201d<\/p>\n

Villa, a burgeoning side themselves, were sparkling.<\/p>\n

\"Aston<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Aston Villa\u2019s club record signing Savo Milosevic was stretchered off in the second half but that didn\u2019t slow Villa (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were cutting them open because they weren\u2019t quite sure who would come short, who would stay back, and they just got swamped,\u201d Bosnich adds.<\/p>\n

Parker remembers looking around at famous teammates who now just \u201cweren\u2019t there\u201d. United\u2019s backline was instead all over the place. \u201cI can remember the dressing room at half-time \u2013 the boss wasn\u2019t happy,\u201d Parker laughs.<\/p>\n

Ferguson acted. A young David Beckham came on for Phil Neville and United switched to a 4-4-2.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt clicked for them,\u201d admits Bosnich. \u201cThe second half was completely different. I don\u2019t want to blow my own trumpet, but I was very busy. We were hanging on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckham scored a deflected late strike to soften the score, and perhaps give a signal. Bosnich told the press afterwards to \u201chave faith\u201d because he had seen \u201csomething very different\u201d in the second half, something \u201coutstanding\u201d. The goalkeeper had the benefit of knowing those players from his time in United\u2019s youth teams from the ages of 16 to 19. Ferguson, of course, knew better than anyone.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Alex Ferguson knew just how good those \u2018kids\u2019 could go on to be (PA)<\/p>\n

Very few on the outside did, which was why Hansen\u2019s words so chimed. What is often forgotten, though, is that this historic piece of punditry was actually very measured.<\/p>\n

Hansen also said: \u201cI think they\u2019ve got problems, I wouldn\u2019t say they\u2019ve got major problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior players were to come back. It\u2019s partly why Hansen was right. The kids were balanced by \u201cmen\u201d \u2013 to use Roy Keane\u2019s word \u2013 like the Irishman himself, Pallister, Bruce, Cantona and Peter Schmeichel. Phil Neville admitted that such experience later \u201ccarried\u201d them.<\/p>\n

Hansen\u2019s words would also drive the players. \u201cYou want to shove it right back,\u201d Parker says.<\/p>\n

\"Hansen<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Hansen (front left) was a key member of the BBC\u2019s football coverage for many years (PA)\"But<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

But his proclamation in August 1995 will live on in infamy (PA)<\/p>\n

Even Ferguson didn\u2019t feel the need to mention Hansen after that Saturday. He knew the players were hurting, so reasserted his profound trust. United won the next five in a row, just before Cantona\u2019s return. The mercurial Frenchman would eventually help secure a league and cup double by the end of the season.<\/p>\n

There are other resonances from that day beyond Hansen\u2019s little lesson. The Scot later admitted to The Telegraph that it just occurred to him in the moment to flip Bob Paisley\u2019s old maxim, that \u201cexperience<\/a> is everything\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I meant to say is: \u2018you can\u2019t win everything with kids\u2019!\u201d Hansen still laughed that the line \u201cmade him\u201d.<\/p>\n

It also made for one of the great football stories, in a way that\u2019s arguably impossible for a piece of punditry now. Match of the Day was then the flagship programme, and almost literally the only show in town. This was old TV power. Bosnich, now a pundit himself for Australia\u2019s Stan Sport, laughs that \u201cit would have gone viral today\u2026 It has gone viral!\u201d<\/p>\n

While that\u2019s obviously true, it would likely be just one more signal amid the noise. Social media makes many in the game\u2019s ecosystem keen to utter outlandish opinions, just to get a reaction. There\u2019s been a strange reversal as media has proliferated. Single lines don\u2019t have that same impact, or context.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

A young Paul Scholes would go on to be a key part of Man United\u2019s future (PA)\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The return of Cantona soon afterwards also changed things (PA)<\/p>\n

You only have to look at how Hansen\u2019s own line still resonates 30 years on. It\u2019s also relevant in a different way, given that it involves another reversal. While Hansen was indeed partly right at the time, and that United were a \u201cone-off\u201d, his comment is absolutely not true for the modern game. <\/p>\n

The total domination of pressing in football tactics necessitates energy, while an increasingly systemised sport requires malleability, both of which are better delivered by young talent. The most expensive players in the transfer market are consequently those in their early twenties, with average ages of key players dropping across the game.<\/p>\n

In that 1995-96 season, for example, the average age of Premier League squads was 26.3 years. For Friday night\u2019s 2025-26 season start, the average 25.7. Managers, like Ferguson then, favour youthful brio.<\/p>\n

Now, you can\u2019t win anything without kids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-347174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115034185842948905","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}