Eric Cantona was a striker, first and foremost. He could toe-poke them in from six yards with the very best of them. He could pop up at the back post with a neat little header. He could bundle one in off his arse if he needed to...
But he could also do things no other striker could. He could send a volley in off the crossbar with the power of an atomic bomb. He could chip it like Phil Mickelson onto the 18th green. He could bend it like Beckham long before Becks himself.
Some of his goals have gone down in legend. These are his very best, from across is days in France, as well as at Leeds and Manchester United. According to, well, us...
ALSO SEE Cantona week on FourFourTwo: 7 days of King Eric
10. Auxerre vs Strasbourg, September 1988
Back in the time machine as we kick things off...
This is a lovely early goal from the Cantona vaults – and a treat for those who may never seen footage of the great man before his move to these fair shores. Spotty, skinny and basically just an unkempt teen, it's still unmistakably Cantona.
You can almost hear his eyes roll before he blasts this – "well if nobody's going to make a decent run, I'll just..." – before running off with giddy abandon. He wasn't cool yet... but he was still incredible.
9. Man United vs QPR, February 1994
When Cantona collects Paul Ince's header near the halfway line, you'd want good odds of a goal coming in the next five seconds. He's got a defender inching closer to him and there are enough bodies behind the ball to buy QPR the time they need to avoid disaster. But then everything changes...
The first man is beaten with the old schoolyard trick of just knocking it past someone and then running around the other side. The pace Cantona advances with suddenly turns this situation desperate for Rangers' players. They don't know whether to stick with Hughes and Giggs or shut the Frenchman down. He mercifully ends the tortune quickly, ignoring passing options to simply arrow a shot into the corner. You could try and replicate that move a trillion times and never manage it so effortlessly.
8. Sheffield United, January 1995
Cantona loved playing Sheffield – it didn't matter which one. Perhaps because off the trial he had at Wednesday or the fact he played for neighbours Leeds, he tended to save his most swaggering performances for the Blades.
It's another trademark lob. But what we love about this goal is the touch and pass to Ryan Giggs that sets the whole thing in motion. It's also lovely to see the Frenchman galloping forward, busting a gut to keep apace with Giggsy.
7. Arsenal, March 1996
The run-in of the 1995/96 season saw the King score a series of winners as United reeled Newcastle with ice cold inevitability in to seal the title.
Before this game, Cantona had already scored winners at Newcastle (the day things really turned south for Kevin Keegan's side) and QPR, but it was this bazooka against Arsenal that would have set Magpie knees trembling.
He just lamps the living day out of it... and off the crossbar too. *Chef's kiss*
6. Southampton, August 1993
This one's actually bang out of order.
If ever proof was required that Cantona wasn't operating on the same plane as the rest of us, it's this. After Paul Ince wins the ball in the edge of the area, Cantona spots Tim Flowers off his line, reclines like he's on a sun lounger and then executes a lob which finds both the top corner and side netting... and all in about a tenth of a second.
Also, those black kits were almost as cool as he was. Even with the blue socks.
5. Leeds vs Chelsea, April 1992
Cantona only spent eight months with Leeds. During that time he won a league title and scored an impressive 14 goals. This was the pick of the bunch.
For anyone that might think Cantona's genius didn't show until he'd move to Old Trafford, here's all the evidence you'll ever need that that is complete tosh.
He weaves and bobs his way through Chelsea's defence before applying the finish in a 3-0 win over the Blues in April 1992. Taking the absolute p...
4. Wimbeldon, February 1994
The first touch, just to tee himself up, is so delightful it deserves an article by itself. No, it wasn't a difficult ball to control, but it's the preposterous ease with which Cantona popped the ball a muddy football pitch that made fans so in awe of him.
Mind you, the second touch wasn't bad either...
3. Man United vs Liverpool, May 1996
Manchester United became the first English team to win the Double twice in 1995/96 and, typically, Cantona was heavily involved.
The score was 0-0 when David James’ weakly punched a David Beckham corner off Ian Rush and into the path of King Eric, lurking on the edge of the box. It doesn't sit up for him the way he wants it to, requiring the Frenchman to twist his body. In a split second, he finds the angle he needs and arrows a fierce volley into the bottom corner.
There was some talent on the pitch that day... but not another soul could pulled that finish out of a hat.
2. Man United vs European XI, 1998
A controversial choice, admittedly – this goal didn't even happen in a competitive match (and whoever uploaded the video think it came against Newcastle!). But you can't deny its beauty.
Manchester United beat an Eric Cantona European XI 8-4 at Old Trafford in a match to remember the Munich Air Disaster in 1998. As ever, the night belonged to Cantona, who lined-up for the Europeans before donning red for the second half. He scored this superb solo goal for the latter.
We’re not quite what the defenders were playing at, as Cantona put several of them on their backsides in a mazy run before lobbing the ball over the defender on the line. Impudence personified!
1. Man United vs Sunderland, December 1996
Probably his most famous goal, Cantona’s beautiful lob against Sunderland summed him up as a player.
It begins with him beating two players in a tight zone near the halfway line, outwitting the pair rather than outmanoeuvring them, before the one-two with Brian McClair and a ridiculous finish. The casual nature of the perfectly weighted lob, the even more casual celebration; it was just classic Cantona.
Eric Cantona week on FourFourTwo
• King of the Kop? When Eric Cantona nearly signed for Liverpool
• How Sheffield Wednesday turned down signing Eric Cantona
• Every club Eric Cantona played for: a potted history of the Frenchman's career
• Quiz! Can you name every club Eric Cantona scored against in the Premier League?
• Why did Leeds sell Eric Cantona to Manchester United?
• Year Zero: The making of Eric Cantona (Leeds/Manchester United, 1992/93)
• Does Eric Cantona have a Leeds tattoo? The truth behind the collar
