Ryan Giggs reveals the wingers Man Utd lost who could have done anything

October 19, 2018
Posted by Steven Tan | Source from Manchester Evening News
Man Utd great Ryan Giggs has opened up about his time with Ben Thornley and Adrian Doherty in the '90s.
 
Ben Thornley and Adrian Doherty could have done 'anything in football' had it not been for injury, according to Ryan Giggs.
 
Thornley was widely regarded as the most talented member of United's famed Class of 92 and made his senior debut at 19 against West Ham in 1994.
 
Just six weeks later, the winger sustained knee ligament damage in a reserve game on the eve of the FA Cup semi-final and, in his own words, was never the same player.
 
It was a similar story with Doherty who was rated as one of the academy's greatest ever prospects but ultimately never played for the first team after also suffering a cruciate ligament injury in 1991.
 
And Giggs believes his former team-mates were destined for careers at the very top.
 
"We lost two brilliant players because of injury. Ben and Adrian Doherty, the Doc. They both could have gone on to do anything in football," he told Robbie Savage's Premier League Breakfast show on BBC Radio 5 Live.
 
"Wingers as well. Coming through Man United system with a history of wingers, players who get the fans off their seat, players that fans go away after the game and just, 'See what he did?'
 
"Ben wasn't like me, with just one foot, he could go either way and he was a nightmare for a defender because he could get onto his right foot and shoot, get onto his left foot and cross the ball.
 
"He was a brilliant player, Ben."
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