Alex Stepney – the goalkeeper with the most Manchester United appearances to date shared his thoughts about the Premier League’s title race in a recent interview with SportingPedia. Looking at the Premier League table, even though we are a long way from the final, we can say that Stepney’s prediction for the top 4 fully coincides with the current standings.

Alex Stepney’s end of the season Top 4 Prediction:

1. Arsenal

2. Manchester City

3. Newcastle

4. Manchester United

There are only a few days until the highly anticipated Manchester derby, and Stepney, who won the European Cup with the Red Devils in 1968, believes Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy as the best manager in England is secure even if Guardiola stays at City for another decade. Stepney’s main argument was the Spaniard’s inability to win the Champions League for over a decade, despite leading some of Europe’s best assembled teams.

Alex Stepney also shared his thoughts on the Glazers’ tenure at United and confessed that there is no connection between the legends of the past and the club’s current crop of players.

Exact Quotes:

Question: There are some topsy-turvy times at Old Trafford now. What do you think about that?

Alex Stepney: “No one’s ever going to beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s record!”

Question: So you don’t think that Gurdiola can stay another ten years and beat Sir Alex?

Alex Stepney: “There is one thing about Guardiola. When did he last win the Champions League? 10 years ago. The thing is, Manchester City, that’s the only thing they want. And Guardiola, if you think about it, I know you’re a big Real Madrid fan, and he was at Barcelona, but he’s never won it since he left Barcelona.”

Question: Tell me about the English youngsters.

Alex Stepney: “Jude Bellingham is unbelievable. Every touch, everything. He’s also got strength. Strength. Because today’s game there’s so much strength in the players. But he rides it, he knows where they are and it will go on. Well, you’ve seen that, obviously, in the World Cup.”

Question: So what about Ten Hag, any observations?

Alex Stepney: “I don’t have any observations on Ten Hag. We don’t get involved. When Alex (Sir Alex Ferguson) was there, we could meet the players and the players knew who we were. But now, the modern game, it’s one of these things, it’s moved on. And we don’t have a lot to do with the manager now.”

Question: A quick top 5 of the English goalkeepers?

Alex Stepney: “Alisson of Liverpool is a superb goalie, but I mean, I see him all the time, obviously this, you know, in the Premier League, and he is a master of his trade. Of the English – Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope and Dean Henderson have come through and done well. De Gea and Ederson have done very well. ”

Question: De Gea’s absence from the World Cup was rumoured to be because of his inability to play with feet and Ederson has been a constant at City’s goal for the past five years for that specific reason. What do you think?

Alex Stepney: Yeah, but it’s the way that Pep wants his team to play as a goalkeeper. But unfortunately, this is how I look at it, Joe Hart was England’s goalkeeper, and a manager comes in and says he can’t use his feet. The managers that he played under never played that way, so he never really had a chance. And I think that ruined his career, actually.