Eric Cantona: Louis Van Gaal ‘right one’ for Man United

Eric Cantona does not speak about football much any more, but when he does it is always worth listening.

King Eric is in Shanghai for the Laureus World Sports Awards and spent half an hour outlining his thoughts on Manchester United’s resurgence, Manchester City’s demise and the merits of art-house movies versus soft porn. The latter cropped up because Cantona is now an actor, of course, and his latest film “You and the Night” was reportedly given an adult classification on its release, what with his character called the Stallion being whipped in his underpants.

So is it soft-porn?

“No, it’s not porn, it’s a piece of art,” he said. “It’s just a piece of art. But it’s beautiful. You should see it. Unfortunately, porn is not so aesthetic or beautiful. But love is sex also, you know? This kind of story for the ones who have seen it — I’m sure nobody has seen it — it’s too beautiful.”

Not quite sardines-and-trawler speak, then, but fairly cryptic all the same. Yet Cantona was more straight-talking when it came to his other great love – United. He admits he does not watch much football these days, but he delighted in United’s 4-2 win over City that gives them bragging rights in Manchester again and has restored them to the top three in the league after 18 months of turmoil at Old Trafford.

“The derby is a special game, so it’s great to win it. I was proud and very glad. Now they are the kings of the city. They are two of the best clubs in England, so it’s important to win.”

And he acknowledges there was always likely to be a comedown after the glory years of Alex Ferguson, which he helped to launch when he joined from Leeds in 1992.

“Sometimes you have a season when you have to lose games and you finish fourth or fifth. But United is a great club and will be at the top of the table. They have come back and next year they can win the league. With a manager from Holland, it seems to be important for United because it’s the same kind of philosophy for the game: Holland and Manchester United.”

He once said the only job that would tempt him into football would be as manager of United, but those dreams have long gone, and he is fully behind Louis Van Gaal. “No, I think they’ve found the right one. He’s a good one.”

But the Blue side of Manchester may soon be looking for a new manager after Manuel Pellegrini’s likely failure to retain the Premier League title, whichCantona believes is down to their lack of a strong youth system. “City have won the league twice, so they have been successful. But they cannot win every year because the Premier League is so strong, so many rich clubs, and so many clubs who work on young players.

“And some of them do both; work on the young players and buy the best players in the world, like United. I prefer this kind of club. Barcelona are another example. They can buy the best players but when you have a great academy, when you have a great generation, nobody can beat them, because they have been playing together since they were 14.

“Barcelona understood that. I think it was Johan Cruyff who put that in. When he went there as a manager, he brought that from Holland and Ajax. And since then, Barcelona have been one of the best clubs in the world — as United have been and the last few Dutch teams.”

He believes City’s policy of spend, spend, spend is not enough without a proper youth policy. “Maybe they are trying to do something and work hard on young players but it takes time. You can build a team with a lot of money and, the next day, you can win the league. But with young players, you need 10 years. You have to wait until the young players are ready to play for the first team. So maybe they will do that, and maybe Chelsea too.”

He admits he does not study the game too closely these days, though. “I don’t follow football much. I don’t go to stadiums, I don’t watch it on TV a lot — just sometimes.”

But he has a surprising view on the world’s best player – not Ronaldo or Messi, but Javier Pastore of Paris St Germain.

“For me, today, the best and most exciting player in the world is Pastore. He has got something special. Football is interactive, which is why it is so popular, and Pastore can do things the others don’t know, that surprise you every time. It is not only his spectacular goals but his passing — he’s the most creative player, I think, in the world today. It’s why I think he’s the best player in the world, because I love this kind of player.”

It is also why he would love to see former Portugal captain Luis Figo beat Sepp Blatter to the Fifa presidency in May’s election. “I’ve always supported those people coming from football, like Michel Platini in Uefa. As far as I know, I don’t think Blatter played football. So I will support Figo.”

But if Blatter stays on, as expected, it will not unduly concern Cantona, who is concentrating on an acting career that has seen him feature in 30 films so far, with a Western to come later this year. “I don’t miss football. When I retired, there were two years of that feeling of missing it, because it is so big and exciting. It’s like a drug, so I didn’t want to watch a game on TV or anything. You miss it psychologically and physiologically. So to be passionate about something else and to be prepared to do something else helps a lot. And now I can do something else that’s a very exciting life.”

So no regrets, not even over the infamous kung-fu kick on Crystal Palace supporter Matthew Simmons that earned Cantona an eight month suspension 1995?

“No, the kung-fu kick was great. I think the good thing from that is, through me, everybody realises you can do good things and bad things in your life. I’ve done things I’m proud of and I’ve done some bad things that I don’t regret because it’s just my life.

“And if you’re happy, it’s good. If you’re not happy, I don’t care. Nobody will teach me how to behave myself.”

And with his characteristic shrug, he was off, exit stage left.