Manchester United: The club’s complex relationship with the Class of 92

In the exchange between Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and two of the club’s most popular players in recent times, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, they have had their say.

In the same ‘The Good, The Bad, The Football’ podcast where they heckled Martinez by taking the mickey ahead of the Manchester derby, the duo praised the Argentine defender for his performance in the 2-0 win over Manchester City at Old Trafford but questioned his justification for responding to what they said.

“Fair play to him,” Pat said. “He competed man-to-man with the best striker in the world. So, we came here and said: ‘Well done’. He’s fantastic. He did a really good job.”

“I think when someone gets so upset about something on the podcast, or in the media, to come out and say, ‘They can say whatever they want’ and ‘Come over to my house’ — grow up.”

“If you’re going to be so affected when someone says something about you and you act that way, you shouldn’t be at a big football club.”

Before the match, Butt and Scholes had joked with host Paddy McGuinness that Haaland would pick the 5ft 7in Martinez at Old Trafford and run with him.

After the victory, Martinez said: “Everyone can talk on TV, but when you see… [them] “Here face to face, no one says anything.”

The argument is a snapshot of United’s complex relationship with the famous “Class of 92”.

Between them, Ryan Giggs, Scholes, David Beckham, Bute and the Neville brothers Gary and Phil have made 3,448 appearances for the club. They were the foundation of the second great team built by Sir Alex Ferguson which became the first team in England to win the Treble in 1999.

Giggs became caretaker coach for four matches following the sacking of David Moyes in 2014. He was previously coach and then assistant to Louis van Gaal. Pat, Scholes and Phil Neville trained under Giggs.

Butt worked as a youth coach before that and was appointed head of United’s academy in 2016 before leaving in 2021. There are few qualified to talk about United’s DNA in bringing in young players.

He is part of the club that he cares about passionately. On December 15, he went out with United officials on a rainy night in Moss Side to coach a group of underprivileged children on behalf of the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation, even though his old club were playing Bournemouth in the Premier League two hours later.

Butt had previously strongly objected to a remark from a United official that youth development was about more than just winning. Most recently, it was claimed that the club was threatening to cancel his season tickets.

Three days before the BAT Foundation debut, Gary Neville was at Old Trafford as United announced its agreement to become a campus for UA92, which was founded by the Class of 92 in 2019.

Obviously the league is still there but their opinions on United are eagerly sought, especially the negative ones.

In October, Giggs sat inside Old Trafford as a speaker at the Training Ground Guru conference and lamented Ruben Amorim’s preference for playing with wider players on the other side of the pitch with their strongest foot.

They are all regular speakers on match days at the Football Hotel, a hotel they part own and located about 50 yards from Old Trafford.

In the past, the hotel itself has been a subject of tension. United tried to stop its construction, although the club uses it occasionally now.

Then there’s Neville, who whether as a commentator or pundit on Sky’s football coverage – or the hugely successful ‘Stick to Football’ podcast – rarely has an opinion.

In the press conference at Elland Road that led to his sacking, former United manager Ruben Amorim referred to Neville as a prominent person at the club who had paid close attention to him.

This is a debatable point. However, unlike former captain Roy Keane, whose criticisms of new manager Michael Carrick were clear and personal, United had faith in Neville to speak to his former team-mate on camera in the Old Trafford tunnel before the derby.

Neville launched his project at the UA92 Old Trafford Campus, pitching it to BBC Sport based on the theory of the Class of 92 and United being incompatible.

“This is a theory,” he said. “There is no doubt a few years ago there may have been some reasons for concern but that has been mitigated.

“I don’t think there are any problems at all now,” he said, adding that the Class of 92 “crave the success of the club” and “feel disappointed and frustrated” when they lose.

Colette Roche, United’s chief operating officer, had a similar view.

“A lot of our former players are in the media and obviously they will have opinions about the football team,” she said. “This is good.

“But the Class of 92 is part of our family, so the connection we have with UA92 is much deeper than the latest headline or podcast.”

Which is fine if players ignore it, as Scholes and Butt suggest.

The problem is, as Martinez showed, they don’t.

“We exchanged messages on Instagram a while ago because he wasn’t happy with something I said,” he said.

“I can’t remember what it was, but he said he lost all respect for me.

“I sent him my phone number, but I didn’t hear anything from him.”