Gordon Strachan has admitted that Eric Cantona’s individual nature meant it was hard for him and his teammates to get to know the mercurial Frenchman during his time at Leeds United.
Cantona signed on at Elland Road in January 1992 and he would go on to help Howard Wilkinson’s side win the 1992 Division One title as Leeds were crowned champions of England in the final season before the Premier League was established.
And while Strachan acknowledges the role Cantona played in Leeds’ title win, he does not feel he ever really got to know the French international off the pitch.
“We didn’t get to know him that well because he kept himself to himself,” Strachan tells FourFourTwo. “On the team bus, Eric would be looking out the window. Lesley and I took him to a rugby league match and he enjoyed that. He was a talent and, funnily enough, I first met him during a World Cup qualifier between France and Scotland. Andy Roxburgh said during the team talk, “They’ve got a poor man’s Joe Jordan up front.”
Cantona’s eye-catching performances during the run-in were followed by a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over Liverpool in the 1992 Charity Shield, which put him on the radar of Manchester United.
That would bring about one of the most controversial transfers in English football at the time, as the France international crossed the Pennines and became the catalyst for the Red Devils’ dominance in English football in the 1990s.
And Strachan believes that the environment Cantona moved to under Sir Alex Ferguson suited his personality more than it did in West Yorkshire.
“When he came to Leeds, he helped us to win the league – there’s no doubt about that – but we worked as a unit and Eric couldn’t always see that,” Strachan continued. “When he went to Manchester United, it was different. It was perfect for everybody; for Sir Alex and for the youngsters at United. I don’t think it would have worked as well at any other club.”
Cantona would go on to win four Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Manchester United before his shock retirement in 1997 at the age of 30.
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