He was incredible, my favourite ever CB and certainly the best I’ve seen at United along with Stam. If he was on the market now he’d be over 100 million. And I would be delighted if we paid it
How good was Rio Ferdinand? | …….
- Thread starter Paxi
- Start date
Rio was the best defender I've ever seen.
Bold statement given I've been watching football 30 years, but I stand by it.
Bold statement given I've been watching football 30 years, but I stand by it.
Fantastic, always surprises me when people claim Vidic was better.
Firmly in the Ferdinand >>>>>>>> Vidic camp. I'd also agree with the sentiment that he's the best-ever Premier League defender and up there with Nesta, Cannavaro et al as Europe's best from the 21st century.
Ferdinand between 2006-2008 was the better player (and had the ultimately higher peak), Vidic was better from the 08-09 season until his injury. Vidic was also the better defender when it came to partnering with others. Ferdinand without an aggressive ball winner alongside him struggled, Vidic did well no matter who was with him.
Fair points. They were such different defenders it's hard to truly compare them but if I had to say who's better my pick would be Rio overall but Vidic is of the same level. Kind of makes me sad Jones and Smalling was out partnership yesterday when not long ago we had what I felt was the clear 1st and 2nd best in the world a decade ago. There is no current defender close to their level currently. Only Godin of a few years back truly came close IMO.
I'd kill for someone with his confidence and quality at the back. He was a proper dedicated United player.
Best defender I’ve seen at this club. His position play was world class so he didn’t really need to make last ditch tackles. Vidic was great aswel, but I struggle to understand how people rate him higher than Rio.
Rio's top level was better than Vidic, but Vidic was more durable over the course of a season.
His partnership with Vidic was awesome, it was a bit sad to see the way they both declined a bit through injuries in their latter days at OT. That said, the good far outweighed the bad in their case. Ferdinand was so classy but could defend as well, Vidic was just a hard as nails centre back.
I don't get the point of the Vidic v Ferdinand comparisons. It was the way the combined that was so amazing. Even if one was better than the other, it's what they formed together that was the envy of the world at the time.
He was fantastic. 2008, best centre back in the world. Head and shoulders above anything we have now.
Ferdinand was easily the best defender I have ever seen in a red shirt,
He had everything in his prime...pace, tackling, composure, good on the ball, read the game brilliantly...
If I had to pick my Top 5 ever they would be
1. Ferdinand
2. Stam
3. McGrath
4. Vidic
5. Buchan
Pallister and Johnsen were probably just short of those five.
He had everything in his prime...pace, tackling, composure, good on the ball, read the game brilliantly...
If I had to pick my Top 5 ever they would be
1. Ferdinand
2. Stam
3. McGrath
4. Vidic
5. Buchan
Pallister and Johnsen were probably just short of those five.
Great player, best PL centre half
Agreed. Only Stam was better for United from my views, and not sure who can be argued better for England in the past 30 years (Adams?).
Rio is up there with Nesta and Maldini IMO.
Ferdinand was exceptional, definition of a complete centre back (quick, strong, good on the ball). I’d have him as undoubtedly the best in the Premiership era and the second best centre back in Europe over the last 20 years (after Nesta).
Agree re: best we've had and one of the best ever.
Always seemed to ooze in class, time, awareness, positional ability, leadership etc
Always seemed to ooze in class, time, awareness, positional ability, leadership etc
Very but his ability on the ball is really overrated imo. His final few seasons in particular had him hoofing it aimlessly more than Rojo.
In our entire history only Stam was as good. It's a pity we were never blessed to witness than two together.
True that he did aim it more aimlessly towards the end, but ability on the ball is so much more than long range passing. He could still do those Carrick passes along the ground between opposition players; his technique was phenomenal, and he always looked to have plenty of time with the ball.
I also recall him saying once that he read the game in a way that he didn't always want to win the race or get first to the ball because that could put you in a difficult position. I think there's some truth to this; sometimes, in difficult positions, it can be better to have the attacker get the ball, and then bully him a little into losing it to a throw in or a goal kick, instead of having to clear it yourself. Those little things meant that we kept the ball better at the back; that, and Evra was also just brilliant at containing the ball. Watching Young trying to do the same is painful.
Summed up: Rio is my all time favourite CB - his peak was truly brilliant, and he had longevity to go with it. He did fade at the end due to injuries. It's strange that he was extremely fast at his peak, then lost all of it all of a sudden, but at his peak he wasn't dependent on speed because of his positioning, but when he lost it, he looked lost, somehow.
Peak Ferdinand was as good as any top defender. Shame we dont have such quality anymore
Th best CB at Man United I have ever watched. I remember the SF versus Barca how he was controlling Eto'o.
Easily. Probably closer to 150m.
Yep, Nesta of around 2002 (I might be a year or so off) is the only one that maybe beats Rio of 07/08.
Fantastic player and character. My favorite United defender bar none, a monster when he was at his peak.
Yep rios intelligence, positioning and ability to read the game was incredible. I wouldnt say rio struggled without being alongside an agressive ball winner but i much preferred vidic because of it.
It was ridiculous the amount of times defending a set piece and vidic was the one heading it away.
He was an excellent defender, but highly overrated by caf.
It was a big weakness in the United defence and in Ferdinand's game and Vidic coming in made a huge difference to the quality of the defence.
I agree with all of the platitudes about Ferdinand's game. He was an extremely talented defender but he had 2 major weaknesses in his game:
- He was weak in the air and got dominated by "traditional English centre forwards" both physically and in the air.
- There was always a mistake in his game. No matter how well he was playing, a lack of concentration or silly mistake was always possible.
I stumbled on the Spurs vs United game from 2007 at WHL on MUTV the other day - the one where John O'Shea finished the game in goal. United won 4-0. Vidic didn't give Spurs a sniff (and scored a key goal). Rio was excellent too apart from 2 incidents. Berbatov (who was nothing special in the air) beat him convincingly in the air only a few yards out (VDS made an outstanding save) and an absolute howler where his back pass put Robbie Keane clean through.
I know this was only one game but this is exactly how I remember Rio from his career at United. Having a great game until a lack of concentration let him down, or being bullied by someone like Drogba or Kevin Davies.
He was an extremely talented defender and he was clearly better than any of the current options at centre back. But Vidic was better at stopping the opposition scoring goals. Unfortunately, that isn't how people rate defenders any more.
Rubbish, he was absolutely one of the best defensive headers of the ball in his playing days, he was extremely consistent. Should have scored more up the other end from corners but at the back he was very seldom beat.
I have to roll my eyes at the people claiming English bias and saying Rio and Terry were overrated and they weren't the best centrebacks at their club. They were and it's only the fact they are English that you are saying otherwise.
Exactly, they complemented each other perfectly and they were both great defenders, but the sum was greater than the whole of the parts.
Vidic arrived as pretty much an unknown for a fairly low fee, I recall watching a City game not long after both he and Evra had arrived, United were well beaten that day and I remember thinking both Vidic and Evra looked totally out of their depth....they certainly weren't once they settled in, to put it mildly. Ronaldo was sent off that day as well for a bit of a lunge at Andy Cole.
Vidic in 08-09 and 10-11 was more influential than Rio was at any point in his United career. But Rio was a way more rounded defender, and had a much longer peak period than Vidic. No matter how good they were individually though, they were always better together. World class defenders, one of the best cb pairings in recent history.
Vidic was better in a pure defender point of view, I.e stronger, big winner at headers.
Rio was as good as it gets for an all rounder.
Stam might have been the best though. He was pure steel
One of the best defenders in the world at his peak (probably just behind Nesta and Canavaro imo)
Probably the best partnership along with Vidic I have seen at United
Probably the third best centreback I have seen play for united (imo) behind Mcgrath and Staam... though he produced at a higher level for longer for United and therefore could be argued to have been a more important player than either for us but I think Mcgrath and Staam at their best were better for us
Best I’ve ever seen in my time, although I will concede that John Terry reached a level, for a period, where he was better.
Some think Vid was better but Rio was so cool on the ball. Not sure if he was the very best defender I've seen -- there have been far too many - but he was right up there. His performances at the World Cup just before we bought him were world-class. Put it this way: he'd walk into our team today
More depressing to watch jones and smalling now for utd when you used to have Rio and Vidic
I’ve got a real appreciation for defenders who can defend without being overly aggressive, or resort to last ditch challenges regularly.
Ferdinand was so good at calmly dealing with anything in front of him. His reading of the game is as good as anyone I’ve seen in the Premier League.
Vidic was unbelievable, but if Ferdinand and Terry played 50 games a season together, they would definitely have been formidable.
Ferdinand was so good at calmly dealing with anything in front of him. His reading of the game is as good as anyone I’ve seen in the Premier League.
Vidic was unbelievable, but if Ferdinand and Terry played 50 games a season together, they would definitely have been formidable.
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Vidic was the best defender I've ever seen play. The man was a monster in the air, never expected to see him beat when he jumped.
Rio was a brilliant defender and brilliant on the ball/passing.
They were equally as good imo. Just better than each other in difference aspects of the game. Can't believe they were out CB pairing
Rio was a brilliant defender and brilliant on the ball/passing.
They were equally as good imo. Just better than each other in difference aspects of the game. Can't believe they were out CB pairing
Rio and Nemanja were brilliant at their job. I should admit though that Rio made mistakes in high profile games too but we always had the will and the midfield machines to move the game to our halves and our finishers were lethal. What we are now left with is a hollow midfield which is not distorted and whatever chance we manage to create is unfinished. So yeah, we need a lot of sorting out.
For me Ferdinand was just - really just - better than Stam.
Vidic was great - but the 2 above were incredible.
Vidic was great - but the 2 above were incredible.
Didn't he go something like 30 matches without a yellow card? that's insane for the top level.
If we had him and Vidic at CB we would win the league no problem.
If we had him and Vidic at CB we would win the league no problem.