Kae Kurd: David Beckham and Eric Cantona made me fall in love with Manchester United

Comedian Kae Kurd has told us about how former Manchester United duo David Beckham and Eric Cantona made him fall in love with the club when he was a child.

Kurd, who arrived in the UK as a refugee in 1990 at the age of six months, mentioned that football was the only accessible sport to him in his youth, which helped him idolise his favourite players on the field.

Speaking on William Hill’s Stripped Podcast, a series in which ex-footballers and celebrities are invited to take a trip down memory lane by revisiting their favourite shirts, Kurd said: “I was a refugee when I arrived in the UK, I was six months old, and my parents weren’t into football at all. Football was just a great working-class sport – it didn’t matter who you were or where you were from, you could play.

“It’s one of those sports where everyone can play, it’s just really accessible. It’s a great leveller. People say, ‘why didn’t you play rugby?’, but you can’t play rugby near where all the cars are coming in the street. The same goes for skiing – you need to spend £3000 before you even get on the slopes!

“Back in the day, it was £3 for a football, and 22 people could play. Sometimes you don’t even need a football – you could make do with some jumpers and a coke can!”

Touching upon his heroes on the football pitch as a child, Kurd added: “The reason I supported Manchester United was because when I first started following football, my three favourite players were Eric Cantona, Ian Wright and David Beckham. When I found out two of them played for Manchester United, I said ‘I guess I’m a Man United fan!’

“I loved Beckham. I think he should have won the Ballon d’Or in 1999! Rivaldo won it, but what did he actually do? The reason Beckham didn’t win it is because of the number of Manchester United players who were on the list – so the vote was split! If Roy Keane and Dwight Yorke weren’t on the list, he would have won it.

“He scored that free kick against Barcelona and put in the corners for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham. Whenever Kevin De Bruyne does it, we call him the best midfielder in the world, and when Trent Alexander-Arnold puts in crosses, we claim he’s redefined the game! He didn’t even need to beat players – if he can just sling the ball into Andy Cole, he doesn’t need to necessarily run. There was nobody playing better that year than Beckham, he was an incredible player.”

David Moyes was handed too big of a task

As a big Manchester United fan, Kurd was familiar with the success brought to the club by former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, a period of triumphs that was abruptly brought to an end when the Scotsman left the club in 2013.

When asked about the period of transition since Ferguson’s departure, Kurd said: “The reason it didn’t work out for David Moyes is because that Manchester United job was way too big. The thing with Sir Alex Ferguson was that he slowly took on more responsibilities as he went on, which is easier to do over time. He was Director of Football, Head of Recruitment, Head of the Academy and Head Coach all in one – he was truly the manager, and that club was his.

“The club then took on someone in Moyes, who was just a coach, and tasked him with all those responsibilities, as well as the scrutiny you’re already under as a Manchester United manager and all the different press commitments you have to do for a worldwide brand like that. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but what we needed to do was break down that role – if the job was too big, then they should have made it smaller.”

Kurd was, however, complimentary of the Red Devils’ current head coach, Erik ten Hag, who had guided the club to fifth place in the Premier League before the World Cup break.

“I think finally what we’re seeing with Erik ten Hag is that he’s a manager with a very specific style of play, and I don’t think he takes any nonsense,” he said. “He’s not afraid to make the big decisions, we saw that with Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s a big period for the club at the moment, but I think the fans are slowly beginning to get behind the project that Erik is building.”

England’s ‘Golden Generation’ better than today’s team

When asked about whether the current England crop of players are better than the Three Lions team he grew up watching, Kurd said: “People talk about this current England team and say ‘well they’ve got to a final and a semi-final, so they’re better than the Golden Generation’ – no they weren’t!

“Look at who England went out to in that 2002 World Cup, it was against that Brazil side – they had Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, and Cafu. It was a ridiculous side! When people say this current England side is incredible, you just need to look at the quality of teams in 2002. Then you look at the teams this England side beat to get to the World Cup semi-final – I’d only heard of Panama through Prison Break!

“That Brazil side were truly the best in the world, when they played football, it was just magical. People say that modern-day full backs have reinvented the role. So did Cafu and Roberto Carlos play golf? They were the original attacking full backs!”