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Fabien Barthez

Full Name	Fabien Barthez
Position	Goalkeeper
Squad Number	1
Date of Birth	28th June 1971
Place of Birth	Lavelanet France
Height	6ft
Weight	12st 8
United Debut	20/8/2000 (H) Newcastle Utd
Transfer Fee	£7.8 million
International	42 Caps - 0 goals

Career History
Although primarily from a rugby background, Fabien Barthez started his career in professional football with Toulouse, playing for them from 1989 to 1992. He then joined Olympique Marseille, who won the European Cup at the end of his first season,1992/93 when the team was later infamously stripped of the title because of bribery. Gaining a reputation as a colourful and unconventional character with great acrobatic reflexes he won his first senior cap with France on 26 May 1994, in a 1-0 win over Australia. In 1995 he joined Monaco and was involved in controversy when he was suspended for Four months in 1996 after testing positive for Cannabis. However Barthez soon returned and helped them to win the French League Championship in 1997.

In the following season, Barthez and Monaco knocked Manchester United out of the UEFA Champions League and the summer of 1998, Barthez claimed the greatest honor of all, a World Cup winners' medal at France 98. He captured the French peoples imagination with his performances and the bizarre ritual in which Lauren Blanc would kiss his bald head before each game. He was instrumental in France's triumph on home soil, conceding only two goals in the final tournament. Subsequently Barthez became a huge celebrity, almost a French equivalent of David Beckham.

In 2000 Barthez won his second French championship with Monaco and was voted best goalkeeper in French First Division. However a major row with the Monaco coach after a match against Marseille led to him seeking another club and in 31 May 2000 Manchester United confirmed they had signed Fabien for £7.8 million, a British record fee for a goalkeeper.

Recent History
The previous record, £4.5 million for Massimo Taibi, had also been set by United, nine months previously. Barthez was again a vital element for France as they swept to victory in Euro 2000. Numerous crucial saves in the semi-final and final underlined the fact that he is one of the world's best goalkeepers.

Barthez is a real eccentric character. His most famous quote would make even Cantona proud: "Unconsciously, I fell in love with the small, round sphere with its amusing and capricious rebounds which sometimes play with me" - which probably reflects his love for football. His first season was a triumph even though he had to inherit the role vacated by the Great Dane Peter Schmeichel. All questions about how he would handle rainy Manchester compared to sunny Monaco were answered as Barthez performed brilliantly throughout the season and became an instant favourite with the fans. The fans loved his taunting dribbles and step-overs past opposing strikers, not to mention most importantly, those awesome reaction saves.

Only five teams put more than one goal past Fabien during his first term at United - Chelsea, West Ham, Anderlecht, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. No opposition team scored more than two against him. His only blemish was a bizarre incident in the FA Cup 4th Round in which he tried to convince Paulo Di Canio he was offside. Di Canio wasn't fooled and scored the goal that knocked United out. Notable was his first half performance against Panathinaikos when he made numerous vital stops and a penalty save away to Leeds. Very often was it was heard this season "If it wasn't for Barthez, United would be 4-0 down". There can be no higher praise for a goalkeeper.

However, this current season 2001/02, Fabien has not been his old steady self. His two costly errors in the Champions League match against Deportivo cost United dearly. The only excuse that can be made out for him is that with the departure of Jaap Stam the new defensive cover in front has left him badly exposed many times this season. As a result it seems to to eating into his confidence thus resulting in his somewhat nervous disposition in goal.