He won the ballon dor after Italy's WC win.
How good was Rio Ferdinand? | …….
- Thread starter Paxi
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He won the ballon dor after Italy's WC win.
I agree. He was as good as him at the very least. Nesta was better than both.
The closest thing we had to the classic Italian defender. Composed, intelligent, calm, elegant, fast, athletic. Never felt so calm and relaxed watching United like around 2007-09. They could throw everything at us but I was assured we were in safe hands. Day and night compared to the clowns we have in defense today.
Rio was in the habit of hoofing aimlessly in his last few years. But yeah, generally very comfortable with the ball, so much so that he was tried out in midfield a couple of times.
Gotta defend Pally here too, he was deceptively good on the ball - he was Bruce's Rio if Bruce was his Vidic.
Nesta spent his years along side Maldini, Stam. He was underwhelming imo.
(I say this as a massive caveat as I was young pup but nevertheless Nesta never flattered me)
Oof gotta disagree with you there mate, Nesta was a magnificent player. Elegance personified in a central defender.
Nesta is the best defender I've ever seen. Even as a crocked 30 something year old, he was able to take the ball off a high flying Messi.
That's fine. It's your opinion but in my opinion there were a few better players in his generation. Never mind of all time.
Have to echo others, who're saying our best ever defender. His first season or two here were a bit poor by his standards but after he came back from the suspension he was a proper Rolls Royce of a player. Love him to death.
Fair enough! I agree with you about Cannavaro, just not Nesta.
I'm not disputing that Nesta wasn't world class! He was!
I think Ferdinand was better than him.
Rio is like a poor man's Nesta, for me. The next best thing, but not the toy you asked for at Christmas.
We will agree to disagree then? I'm not sure. Rio was the nucleus of Man Utd's best ever defense. United were completely dominant in the league and Europe. Nesta didn't reach those levels.
Best defender I've seen at United. Vidic was world class, but Ferdinand was comfortably one of the best of his generation. If you had the chance to sign one of them at their peak again, for me it would be Rio every time.
He was excellent. One of the last of a dying breed.
He and Vidic (and Carrick) were the foundation of a side that won 3 PL titles in a row (when the league was it's strongest), made it to 2 consecutive finals, winning one, and hold the record of the longest away undefeated run in the CL.
He and Vidic (and Carrick) were the foundation of a side that won 3 PL titles in a row (when the league was it's strongest), made it to 2 consecutive finals, winning one, and hold the record of the longest away undefeated run in the CL.
Eh, Nesta was a key member of the great Lazio side and a huge part of Milan's European dominance between 2003-2007. He also won The World Cup. Undoubtedly one of the top 5 Italian defenders of all time.
So yeah, I guess we disagree.
One of the best and most complete defenders of the modern era, and arguably the best central defender in the world for the 2006-10 era overall. Through the course of his career - a few others were more determined, or more defensively secure in a proactive sense, or had more consistently good concentration, or were bigger shithouses, etc. But as an all-round package - Rio combined immaculate pace with great strength, defensive nous, marking skill, competence in the air and ease on the ball. It's hard to pin-point significant flaws in his game and at full flow, he was a sight to behold because for a period of time - he was phenomenal in terms his ability to read the game and general positional awareness - which combined with his seemingly languid athleticism made him an a absolute terror for opposition attackers. He would anticipate what was going to happen with experience, and even if he was beaten with the initial move, he recovered to thwart you - unlike a lot of others who couldn't maneuver in space like him. Like Nesta in that sense of being complete, albeit at a lower overall level. And the perfect scalpel to Vidić's sledgehammer.
At his best I've only seen Nesta who I would confidently say was a better player. I have him marginally better than Vidic, marginally worse than Stam.
Taking all things into consideration, imo, he was the best defender ive seen at United.
I don't think Nesta was significantly better than Rio. Did Nesta ever show consistency over the course of an entire league?
Eh, of course I know that Nesta was a mainstay at Lazio et al.
But Rio won 06/07 pl won 07/08 pl 07/08 ucl 08/09 he was a mainstay in those years that we came close.
This sums it up perfectly for me. He had concentrations problem and suffered from a bad back but at his peak, simply unsurpassed for me. One more thing with him, even at his peak years, he would save his best for the really big games and some of the performances he came up with in those big games were simply as good of a defensive display as I've seen in the past decade or so.
Best CB I've seen at United, when he was at his peak. I loved how he virtually never had to go ground, and very often just cut off attackers and nicked the ball without even making a tackle. Definitely deserved the label "Rolls Royce defender".
I can't remember seeing Rio scrambling to get to a defender, and if he did it was maybe once or twice. Incredible reading of the game.
Because Vidic did that for us
People always downplay the fact that CBs who kept their shorts clean usually had someone next to them to do the dirty work.
excuse me? Being great on the ball was one of his best assets?
Do you think that Rio was the best central defender of the 21st century?
As someone else already said, Ferdinand's prime was 2006-09, after his brain farts, and before his back problems. I feel that Cannavaro had better longevity, and he also reached a higher peak in 2004-06. Nesta also reached a higher peak IMO, and sustained it for longer although he was more prone to injuries.
Overall I rate the best centerbacks born post-1970 like this (in their prime):
1. Nesta
2. Cannavaro
3. Stam
4. Puyol
5. Ferdinand
Although they are all very close. Terry, Carvalho, and Vidic just miss out.
Overall I rate the best centerbacks born post-1970 like this (in their prime):
1. Nesta
2. Cannavaro
3. Stam
4. Puyol
5. Ferdinand
Although they are all very close. Terry, Carvalho, and Vidic just miss out.
World class, one of the best players in his position in the world for a while.
Peak Rio had absolutely everything.
- immaculate reading of the game.
- Physical behemoth
- excellent on the ball
- pace
- aerial dominance
- composure
- positioning
- tackling
- leadership
fecking perfect defender.
To think I grew up watching Pallister/Bruce, Stam/Berg/Johnsen, Ferdinand/Vidic/Brown and now we have......
.......I just can't.
- immaculate reading of the game.
- Physical behemoth
- excellent on the ball
- pace
- aerial dominance
- composure
- positioning
- tackling
- leadership
fecking perfect defender.
To think I grew up watching Pallister/Bruce, Stam/Berg/Johnsen, Ferdinand/Vidic/Brown and now we have......
.......I just can't.
Take Puyol off your list and it looks very good.
Nice list. I know it's all subjective but no way was Carles Puyol better than Ferdinand in my opinion. I was living in Spain for a good chunk of his career, and in between flitting between right back and center back, he had positional issues until his mid 20's at least.
His peak was superb though, I'll give you that. Although I feel he relied more on his rugged physicality than his reading of the game.
For me, the best defender I've seen at United, no doubt about that. I would put him ahead of Vidic and Stam.
I'd have a hard time trying to place him relative to Nesta, Maldini, and Cannavaro because I didn't watch them anywhere near as often as I watched Rio. I think he is better than Terry and Carvalho though.
I'd have a hard time trying to place him relative to Nesta, Maldini, and Cannavaro because I didn't watch them anywhere near as often as I watched Rio. I think he is better than Terry and Carvalho though.
I agree with the English bias thing, but Rio was constantly unfairly criticized for being error prone. For part of his career he definitely was, but I kind of remember him having difficulty shaking off that perception of being a bit aloof. There was the drug ban too, and I think the whole English bias thing cuts both ways, a la Rooney.
I think in 2006-07, Nesta was the only defender better then Rio. Not that he carried Vidic, but he was the heart of the defense. Vidic was the all action defender, but Rio was the steady head with amazing positioning. Especially noteworthy was the game at Anfield that year where Vidic was an absolute mess but Rio was always in position, always in the right spot. Rio was just ridiculously consistent, while Vidic was prone to having an absolutely terrible game every now and again. The team relied far more on Rio's form during that era then it did on Vidic.
Rio was overshadowed that year by the emergence of Ronaldo and Vidic, and Scholes' form, but he was the team's most important defender.
After 2007, Nesta struggled with injuries and Rio was the best defender in the world the year United won the double. That backline of Brown-Rio-Vidic-Evra with VDS in goal was the best defense I have ever seen.
When Rio was struggling with back issues after 2010 or so, Vidic became the leader. I think they worked so well together, but they also kind of peaked at different times. Maybe Rio adapted better to his loss of pace and youth then Vidic did, although Rio became far less durable then Vidic ever was.
Probably won't be a better partnership at United. Two dominate defenders, whose games complemented each other so well. It was a joy to watch really
I think in 2006-07, Nesta was the only defender better then Rio. Not that he carried Vidic, but he was the heart of the defense. Vidic was the all action defender, but Rio was the steady head with amazing positioning. Especially noteworthy was the game at Anfield that year where Vidic was an absolute mess but Rio was always in position, always in the right spot. Rio was just ridiculously consistent, while Vidic was prone to having an absolutely terrible game every now and again. The team relied far more on Rio's form during that era then it did on Vidic.
Rio was overshadowed that year by the emergence of Ronaldo and Vidic, and Scholes' form, but he was the team's most important defender.
After 2007, Nesta struggled with injuries and Rio was the best defender in the world the year United won the double. That backline of Brown-Rio-Vidic-Evra with VDS in goal was the best defense I have ever seen.
When Rio was struggling with back issues after 2010 or so, Vidic became the leader. I think they worked so well together, but they also kind of peaked at different times. Maybe Rio adapted better to his loss of pace and youth then Vidic did, although Rio became far less durable then Vidic ever was.
Probably won't be a better partnership at United. Two dominate defenders, whose games complemented each other so well. It was a joy to watch really
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Rio is one of the best defenders of all time.
Best English defender I have seen and that includes Moore, who was quite a bit slower and not as good in the air. When Rio was on his game he was an almost perfect defender and it was remarkable how few fouls and yellow cards he had.
Best defender I have ever watched in my lifetime, and the best in United's history.
Rio was a key component of United' success after he came from Leeds.
Over-rated? Never. He had it all - the willingness to get stuck in when the going was tough and scrappy, the inteligently-timed tackles in European games where the refereeing is stricter, an imposing physical presence without being a bully or dirty player, the vision to spot an opening down the field or an open player in tight spots and split seconds, could play his way out of trouble, a leader on the pitch, and had the absolute drive of a winner.
As driven as Keano without Keano's particular brand of competitiveness. The Rio brand was calm although he could be passionate in cases of poor refereeing or dirty rivals on the pitch. When he played for West Ham and Leeds I was always interested in him, and was over the moon when United signed him. He belonged to the England generation which some commentators accused of having a sense of entitlement but no one could say that with any credibility about him as well as Becks, Gerrard and the likes who busted their guts for England.
Rio - a United Great and an England Great. Still miss you so badly.
Over-rated? Never. He had it all - the willingness to get stuck in when the going was tough and scrappy, the inteligently-timed tackles in European games where the refereeing is stricter, an imposing physical presence without being a bully or dirty player, the vision to spot an opening down the field or an open player in tight spots and split seconds, could play his way out of trouble, a leader on the pitch, and had the absolute drive of a winner.
As driven as Keano without Keano's particular brand of competitiveness. The Rio brand was calm although he could be passionate in cases of poor refereeing or dirty rivals on the pitch. When he played for West Ham and Leeds I was always interested in him, and was over the moon when United signed him. He belonged to the England generation which some commentators accused of having a sense of entitlement but no one could say that with any credibility about him as well as Becks, Gerrard and the likes who busted their guts for England.
Rio - a United Great and an England Great. Still miss you so badly.
same here- the complete footballer. Brilliant physique, pace, height, reading of the game, great passer of the ball, great shot, could score some great goals.. .. no wonder Harry Rednapp called him a Rolls Royce of a player. At his peak I struggled to find a weakness in his game