How good was Rio Ferdinand? | …….

Nowhere to put this but surely Rio being exposed in his backing of Mike Ashley sticks a pin in the argument that they're being paid to give their honest opinion every time someone questions their motives in criticising Pogba / Jose etc?
You may agree or not but that doesn't validate agenda chasing that's been blatant for some time.
Rio and Scholes have long been accused of being overly critical so Utd can become an old boys club and that's why I expect calls for Ole to get the job permanently regardless of how the rest of the season goes and be overly critical on any non Poch choice we'll make.
I just thought this was interesting.
 
Not really, I think it’s a bit ridiculous that more people aren’t considering that Rio perhaps just has a different opinion of things on Newcastle and Ashley.
 
Infordin said:
Judged only by their centerback career:

1. Nesta
2. Maldini, Thuram, Cannavaro
3. Ferdinand, Stam, Terry, Puyol
4. Pepe, Chiellini, Lucio, Campbell, Samuel, Godin, Silva

That’s how I roughly rate them in tiers.

Ramos, Pique, Bonucci, Barzagli, Boateng, Hummels, etc... are all honourable mentions. Probably forgot a few.
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Great list but no desailly?
 
He’s the best defender I’ve ever seen in my time watching football.

If he was coming through in this modern ball playing CB era he’d be worth stupid money. He’s a far better player than VvD and from what I’ve seen of Koulibaly too.
 
During his prime, he had great anticipation and rarely had to make slide tackle. If he misses a tackle, he had pace to burn too. Not bad at scoring as well.
 
Bwuk said:
He’s the best defender I’ve ever seen in my time watching football.

If he was coming through in this modern ball playing CB era he’d be worth stupid money. He’s a far better player than VvD and from what I’ve seen of Koulibaly too.
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Up there with the best....should've been Italian then he would've been rated as the best in the world.
 
Rozay said:
Not really, I think it’s a bit ridiculous that more people aren’t considering that Rio perhaps just has a different opinion of things on Newcastle and Ashley.
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Give over. Rio was lying on television yesterday because his clothing brand has been granted exclusivity in Sports Direct. Either that or he’s wilfully ignorant. Everything he said yesterday was factually wrong.
 
Kag said:
Give over. Rio was lying on television yesterday because his clothing brand has been granted exclusivity in Sports Direct. Either that or he’s wilfully ignorant. Everything he said yesterday was factually wrong.
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Well it wasn’t ‘factually’ wrong. It was ‘factually’ correct. It is quite possible that the proposed theory by the masses of social media is correct don’t get me wrong.

But he may also just feel that way.
 
Don't go off topic.
This is a specific thread on how good Rio was as a footballer. Please keep the discussion about his punditry out of here — you can create a new thread on his words about Newcastle if you feel the need to.
 
Rozay said:
Well it wasn’t ‘factually’ wrong. It was ‘factually’ correct. It is quite possible that the proposed theory by the masses of social media is correct don’t get me wrong.

But he may also just feel that way.
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He was wrong about every single thing he said. Which he’s bright enough to know, to be fair. But his business interests take precedence.
 
Very good defender, with a graceful defending style you rarely see. Rolls Royce defending, somebody named it. I remembered that he went for record time without being booked.

That being said, when he was young he always had the odd brain fart in him and when he was older he was the king of row Z.

Vidic was better than him for most of his time here.

Generally, I found him overrated by our fans and underrated by our rivals.
 
He was good enough to be considered as a world class defender and one of the best of his generation. Probably the fact he is English makes some people underrate him but he really deserved to be mentioned as a top player in that Ferguson's list.
 
He's the best we've ever had, atleast that I can think of. He could do everything. Only Nesta at his peak was better.
 
The best defender I have seen by miles. Very Underrated player. One of those players that didn't get noticed because of how easy he made the game look.

I can't find any stats but I remember before his drug ban we had one of the best defenses in the league, when he was banned we looked very shaky, then the second he came back we were dominant again.

He just made very difficult defending look very easy. He'd transform this Utd team more than probably any other player in my opinion.
 
Hughes35 said:
The best defender I have seen by miles. Very Underrated player. One of those players that didn't get noticed because of how easy he made the game look.

I can't find any stats but I remember before his drug ban we had one of the best defenses in the league, when he was banned we looked very shaky, then the second he came back we were dominant again.

He just made very difficult defending look very easy. He'd transform this Utd team more than probably any other player in my opinion.
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This. He is one of my all time favorite United players - he had pace, power, skills, could read the game well (remember the streak he had without any fouls/cards?) and a proper winning mentality to boot.
 
Had one of the more memorable career arc I’ve seen from a United Player. When he first came to us he was a bit of a big time Charlie. Most expensive defender in the world, the dreadlocks, the extravagant lifestyle, late night parties etc. On the pitch he was far cry from the finished article. We all know there’s a player in there but he was extremely prone to lapses in concentration and had the propensity to do something ridiculous with the ball.

I thought he was a goner after the missed drug test but he came back a whole new player. And what a man he transformed himself into. The definition of a rolls Royce defender and easily the best defender I’ve seen at the club.
 
Rio was an exceptional player in his day, and read the play brilliantly when he was at the top of his game. The partnership with Vidic was on a par with Bruce and Pallister. His reading of the game like Martin Buchan, our 70s captain, who instinctively covered the defence area in a squad of young players. They are unique players, and strategically valuable to any squads.

Then Rio injured himself and his performances dropped to the level of an average player. Everyone could see it and it was even disussed that Fergie expected him to change his game. He didn’t manage it and ended up leaving under Moyes. Of all the pundits he seems utterly frustrated about having stopped and can get heated when commenting on players of lessor ability. In recent punditry he has talked about playing and that reveals his real comfort zone. Great player - poor pundit.
 
I'll stick to the football. He was World class and there is a reason we paid a large amount of money back even in 2002 for him ( somewhere near 28 mil pounds I think). Formed a great partnership with Vidic and I Always tought the pair of them complimented each other (Vidic being the more agressive and Rio the composed one). I guess Lindelof is suppose to have similar qualities but he is nowhere near prime Rio. He definetly isn't overrated and he would certanly be a welcomed addition in this current United first 11 (was going to say Squad but then I compared Rio with the rest of our defence)
 
kouroux said:
When I think about Rio, I immediately think about he easily handled Eto'o in that CL semi final. Amazing performance
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And Brown was fantastic as well, don't recall Browns better performance for United.

As for Rio, once he got rid of concentraction lapses he was in a league of his own when it comes to defending.
 
kouroux said:
I weirdly had the CL final mind when I typed that :D
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:lol: Well he was beast at RB that season!

Don't want to derail this thread, but such a shame Wes got all that injuries, he was natural defender who could've and should've had even better career.
 
Bwuk said:
He’s the best defender I’ve ever seen in my time watching football.

If he was coming through in this modern ball playing CB era he’d be worth stupid money. He’s a far better player than VvD and from what I’ve seen of Koulibaly too.
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Hmmm.... this VvD is something else though. Too early to compare them - I know Liverpool fans will say he hasn't forgotten a drugs' test yet but he's got the same swag of a great player, has the arrogance and leadership qualities to be admired. Read a ridiculous state at the weekend about the clean sheets before and after him joining them. Guy's a beast; they have found their Stam so far. Let's see what happens in 5 or 10 years; Rio was a Rolls Royce of a player - intelligent, articulate, easy on the eye.

Good shout
 
I would have him as the best centre-half I've seen in Britain's top divisions during my lifetime.

I never saw enough of some of the foreign players to make comparisons but Baresi was something else.

Stam was second to Ferdinand at United.

1. Ferdinand
2. Stam
3. McGrath
4. Vidic
5. Buchan
6. Pallister

After that it doesn't really matter but Bruce, Johnsen woulkd be up there.
 
Best CB I've seen but was probably a bit too young to fully acknowledge Stam's greatness. As a young 'un you tend to rate flashy attackers more than defenders.
 
ottosec said:
Very good defender, with a graceful defending style you rarely see. Rolls Royce defending, somebody named it. I remembered that he went for record time without being booked.

That being said, when he was young he always had the odd brain fart in him and when he was older he was the king of row Z.

Vidic was better than him for most of his time here.

Generally, I found him overrated by our fans and underrated by our rivals.
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Well said, people seem to look back with rose tinted glasses though. As good as he was (and he was excellent) there was a very long period of time where he was questioned by our fans (and all others) as he was always capable of a brain fart and to be honest these mistakes should have been ironed out long before they eventually were. With experience he conquered this but he wasn't always the top performer we remember him as at his peak. That being said at his peak he was immense.
 
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