For six years, Manchester United fought tooth and nail to replace Peter Schmeichel following his departure in 1999, cycling through multiple goalkeepers without ever regaining the authority and presence he provided.
Sir Alex Ferguson went through several candidates, with a mixture of high-profile, inconsistent, and error-prone performances, inevitably creating instability at the back.
This period is considered one of the few in which Fergie failed to address a key weakness immediately, as the squad often struggled with defensive assurance.
Here, I take a look back at this period and some of the individuals tasked with taking over as the number one at Old Trafford.
Mark Bosnich: 1999 – 2001
Bosnich returned to Old Trafford immediately after Schmeichel’s departure in ’99, having left as a young prospect before impressing during seven years at Aston Villa.
He made 23 league appearances during a debut season that saw United win the Premier League by a record margin.
Still, despite that success, the boss remained unconvinced by a player he later described in Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography as a “terrible professional”.
“He was tucking into everything: sandwiches, soups, steaks,” Sir Alex said. “He was going through the menu. I told him, For Christ’s sake, Mark, we’ve got the weight off you. Why are you tucking into all that stuff?
“We arrived back in Manchester, and Mark was on his mobile phone to a Chinese restaurant to order a takeaway. Is there no end to you? I just couldn’t make an impact on him.”
That season proved to be Bosnich’s only as a regular at Old Trafford, and he left for Chelsea in January 2001 after being demoted to third-choice.
Inevitably, the West London outfit later terminated his contract due to well-documented off-field issues.
Massimo Taibi: 1999 – 2000
Many goalkeepers have endured high-profile blunders throughout the Premier League era, but perhaps none are more infamous than Taibi.
The Italian was signed in a £4.5 million deal from Venezia to provide competition for fellow new-boy Bosnich.
It did start well at United with a Man of the Match debut against Liverpool at Anfield. Nonetheless, this was followed by that catastrophic error against Southampton, before another poor performance in a 5-0 loss at Stamford Bridge.
Unfortunately, he made just four appearances for the treble winners. Mercilessly, he was dubbed The Blind Venetian by the English press before packing his bags and heading back to his homeland, initially on loan.
Taibi left permanently in the summer of 2000 and returned to Serie A with Reggina.
Fabien Barthez: 2000 – 2004
After the struggles of the previous two recruits, Sir Alex was confident in his acquisition of a World Cup and European Championship-winning keeper from AS Monaco.
Barthez arrived shortly after his nation’s success at Euro 2000, and his performances often combined the sublime with the ridiculous, despite the fan base warming to his eccentric style.
The Frenchman began well at Old Trafford, helping United to the Premiership title in his debut season.
Throughout this time, he produced some top-class saves, displaying an air of arrogance with the ball at his feet, often taunting opposition forwards with step-overs, nutmegs and dribbles – a style not often seen before in English football.
This method, however, eventually led to some high-profile errors, including costly mistakes against both Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League and Arsenal domestically.
Barthez had a penchant for saving penalties, often engaging in mind games and delaying tactics with his opponent, only to save the resulting effort.
Undoubtedly, the Frenchman was a goalkeeper ahead of his time and would likely work well in today’s modern sweeper-keeper era.
However, he never really recovered from a jittery second season, marred by numerous errors. Although he collected a second league title in 2003, he ultimately departed for former Marseille the following year.
Roy Carroll: 2001 – 2005
Following the departure of Raimond van der Gouw, Carroll arrived from Wigan Athletic to provide competition for Barthez in 2001.
Despite spending four years at Old Trafford, he never truly established himself as the club’s number one despite several opportunities to do so.
His time delivered both Premier League and FA Cup glory, though he was largely a bit-part player in both triumphs.
Carroll’s most controversial moment arrived in January 2005 after spilling a speculative effort from the halfway line against Spurs. Fortunately, the officials failed to spot that the ball had crossed the goal line.
Another costly blunder occurred several weeks later in a European defeat to AC Milan, when he spilt a shot straight into the path of Hernan Crespo, who gleefully bagged the winner. The Italians ultimately progressed as United crashed out early.
Carroll left for West Ham on a free transfer in 2005, later having spells at the likes of Rangers, Derby, Olympiakos, Notts County, and Linfield.
The Fermanagh man’s final game for United came in the 2005 FA Cup final penalty shoot-out defeat to Arsenal.
Tim Howard: 2003 – 2007
Hopes were high that Howard could finally solve the goalkeeping woes following his arrival from Major League Soccer in 2003.
The USA international began impressively by saving the decisive spot-kick as the Reds beat Arsenal on penalties to win the Community Shield.
Truthfully, his debut season at the club saw him show plenty of early promise until a costly blunder against Portuguese giants, Porto.
Jose Mourinho’s men snatch a last-minute equaliser to eliminate United from the Champions League when Howard parried a late free-kick, shattering his confidence in the process.
He never quite recovered from that error and was soon replaced by the aforementioned Carroll, eventually leaving on loan to Everton, where he would go on to sign permanently.
It was not until the summer of 2005, when the club acquired veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from Fulham, that Ferguson finally solved his longstanding issue.
The Dutchman immediately instilled a sense of calm into the United defence, which had been sorely missed since Schemichel’s departure six years previously.
Van der Sar went on to cement his status as a Manchester legend, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League, and playing an instrumental role in beating English rivals Chelsea.
The only regret was that he wasn’t signed immediately after Schmeichel departed the club.
Who do you consider the best goalkeeper of the Sir Alex Ferguson era? Let us know in the comments or across our social channels.
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