Dream United Team: Six-a-side game between Busby and Ferguson

With all due respect to Old Trafford icons of other eras, it defies belief that any more exciting combination than this scintillating sextet could conceivably have been produced during the reign of another club manager in the game’s history.

One thing seems a certainty. If the opposition, any opposition, lost the ball to Matt Busby’s men, then in all likelihood they would not recover it until they fished it out of their net.

The fiery Gregg, a study in utter commitment, would issue orders from his line, while every outfield player was capable of dazzling dexterity in possession and ceaseless industry if the ball was lost. Each individual was such a complete all-rounder that the attacking interplay would be bewildering, frequently impossible to combat by fair means or foul.

The team is beautifully balanced, too. Though captain Carey and Edwards were not out-and-out speed merchants, they weren’t exactly sluggish either, while they were strong, supremely unflappable and their reading of the action was second to none. In addition, their ability to spear destructive passes through even the tightest of defensive ranks to find their forwards, was game-changing.

And what forwards! Law would be the front man, whipcord tough, sharp as a dart in front of goal and with a will to win that was positively savage. Best would roam to every corner, dribbling mesmerically, a twisting, teasing, bright-eyed assassin who found the net for fun but could also tackle like the most jagged of defenders; and then there was Charlton, lying slightly deeper, all that spectacular firepower underpinned by a dynamic work ethic.

Busby’s only problem would be justifying his selection to the stars he left out. Just about any member of his three great teams could make a case for inclusion, with the likes of Charlie Mitten, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor, Dennis Viollet, Nobby Stiles and Paddy Crerand perhaps the most aggrieved. What a bench – and what a dream!