‘King Eric’ became an icon at Old Trafford for his brilliance on the field, yet he was just as mercurial away from it
Getty Images1"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much." (1995)
Cantona was responsible for one of the most bizarre press conferences in footballing history following his sentencing for the Crystal Palace fan assault.
He sat sullenly after being thrown in front of the media, having been given community service after a two-week prison sentence was successfully appealed.
Cantona’s only words during the entire affair were these two sentences, which were spoken slowly and deliberately, with the player taking sips of water as he did so.
He then got up and left.
AdvertisementGetty Images2"Deschamps gets by because he always gives 100 per cent, but he will never be anything more than a water carrier." (1996)
Among the other players he fell out with during his career was Didier Deschamps, who was an icon with Cantona’s hometown club of Marseille for having captained them to Champions League success in 1992-93.
Ahead of a Champions League clash against Deschamps’ Juventus in 1996, Cantona made no bones about a man who was the antithesis of the artistic game that he believed in.
“You can find players like him (Deschamps) on every street corner. At present Didier likes to act like a monk and a moralist but he'll end up wallowing in every kind of vice,” he said. “The only two decent French players in Italy are Youri Djorkaeff and Zinedine Zidane and the rest are nothing special.”
It certainly provoked a reaction from Deschamps, who would carry those words with him as a badge of honour for the remainder of his career. Moreover, his Juve side won both games.
Getty3"Sac à Merde" (1988)
One of the driving forces behind Cantona’s move to the Premier League was because he had fallen out with apparently everyone in France.
One of those that was on the wrong end of his ire was national team coach Henri Michel, who had the audacity to drop him for a young Zinedine Zidane.
On live television, he called the coach a “bag of sh*t”, was indefinitely banned from the national team and only returned when Michel Platini took charge later in the year.
Getty Images4“I am Cantona. I can go as I want.” (1995)
Cantona shocked Manchester United team-mate Paul Ince when he turned up prior to his court appearance for the aforementioned kick in a shirt unbuttoned to his chest.
As Ince recalled in 2005: “I told him: ‘Eric, you can’t go to court like that.’ He says: ‘I am Cantona. I can go as I want.’ So he got into the dock and he got 14 days in prison. I thought: ‘Oh my God, it must be that shirt.’”