did anyone here see pallister play??
How good was Rio Ferdinand? | …….
- Thread starter Paxi
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Of course! He was no Ferdinand, but he was the more talented of the partnership with Bruce - calm, good on the ball, excellent reader of the game.
Good debate this, and there's never a definitive answer as who was better than who. Pallister and Bruce deserve mentions along side Rio and Vida btw
Rio had everything. Pace, power, stature, grace, control, bravery. He definitely deserves a mention when anyone from any club is talking about all time Premiership great defenders.
Rio had everything. Pace, power, stature, grace, control, bravery. He definitely deserves a mention when anyone from any club is talking about all time Premiership great defenders.
Yeah great player maybe a bit underrated among United fans at times. Don't think he was at Rio's level, but on his day there were few better defenders in Engkand than Pally.
Not same game. Nesta spotted the danger & went to mark Ronaldinho but you had to ask where the midfield line was & wtf Gatusso was doing, not trying to rush back & block the wide area. It's a wonder strike right there. Not many times it would go in from that angle.
When the attacker is on that kind of level with too much space, even the best defender can't close the gap. Ronaldo hattrick was us & 2 goals, Rio couldn't catch him. Doesn't make Rio shite though.
Between Rio & Nesta, Nesta is more complete since he get tuck in & tackle more as well as more dominant physical & in the air while Rio is more behind in this area. Rio is more special since he can play his game without getting to dirty his jersey. I would say he edges Rio in ball playing too with less hoofball & more proper play making but less elegant. However, when it comes to rate player career, Rio was a better player since he could stay healthy & maintain his top level for a decent period of time while Nesta career was plagued with injuries which prevent him to keep his peak consistently enough. Nesta IMO was better player than Rio beside his peak though: breakthrough becoming key player of the team player; past peak period.
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Nesta was in no way more dominant physically than Rio. Rio was bigger faster stronger, taller
Nesta has bigger frame. Nesta is like blend between Vida & Rio; more balanced between strength & pace. Rio is kinda light for his height. Nesta contained prime physically Zlatan 1 vs 1 just fine. Rio couldn't contain Zlatan physically. In the game vs Inter, Rio to marked Zlatan when Zlatan dropped deep, however in set piece & in near box Vida had to step in.
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But not as strong as Nesta. Nesta is closer to Vida in term of physical power than Rio.
Nesta was skinny as hell. Rio actually had lean muscle mass. I don't recall Zlatan posing us a threat. I am sure Zlatan has scored plenty vs Milan as well. I recall Ferdinand coping well vs Henry, Eto'o etc where as Henry made a mug of Nesta.
Are you moving the goal post? We're talking about physical power. Henry is not strong physically & played right into Ferdinand hand. Eto'o made a mug of Vida via skill & paace. Does that make Vida a weakling physically? Weird logic. I said Nesta dealt with Zlatan's physicality just fine 1 vs 1, just like Vida. Rio didn't fancy go physical with Zlatan. Rio was more ideally to deal with Zlatan's pace & trickery. Near & inside the box, it's Zlatan vs Vida for the obvious reason.
Nesta skinny is laughable. Everyone knows Rio is lean & strong. Zlatan was their best players in that tie. He's tightly marked but still able to break free at time & did have space & chance to cause us some trouble. We're simply better players.
Once
Nesta wasn't skinny, the guy was a tank.
I reckon people get the opposite impression because he's pretty.
Sorry but I don't recall this rendition of the game. perhaps you'd like to share some highlights. You seem to have been privy to United tactics, bear in mind this was 10 years ago. You also made the mistake in saying Henry is not strong physically. That is laughable. When did Thierry get pushed off the ball in England? you do recall Henry is a legend in the Premier league, a league with the most physically imposing CB's around. It is well known that our players are bigger and stronger than those across the continent. Henry made a mockery of them and was never outstrengthed lol. Rio dealt with beasts like Drogba, why would he not fancy Zlatan?
He should definitely have won more England caps than he did.
No, not a single one of us!
Not really, and Zlatan was/is as big and strong as Drogba
In terms of their contribution to United success, yes they deserve it. But as footballers POV, they are individually and collectively are second best to the later.
Henry is good at shielding the ball, but there is a reason he's not used as traditional holding up play focal point. The physical strength we're talking about here is dominate & tip off balance the opponent. His play style is to play with the feet & wide range of movement so that the CB couldn't follow him. He was not as effective in Europe or international tournament since teams tend to sit deeper & stay more compact in the central area. Arsenal was a fast transitioning side back in the day. When the opponent played the right way, they lack a traditional no 9 inside the box. There is only as much you do from wide area against deep sitting team with opponent defenders comfortable deal with any ball going into the box. If you look close enough, when it comes to scrappy physical play, Henry still got his pushed away by defenders.
Rio couldn't dominate Drogba when it comes to physical scrappy game. Again, the tactic SAF used more often than not was having Vida on Drogba to counter his physicality. Thing is Vida & Rio partnership make them compliment each other well so Drogba, Zlatan never really enjoyed one vs one with Rio or Vida to full extend. Those few times they were against Rio purely through physicality; they had the edge, while Vida can stall them. When it comes to Drogba you can truly say he beat English teams at the their own game, physicality while Henry did it different.
I'll leave Zlatan as our player out since he lost the pace & PL defenders ain't as high level as during Vida & Rio peak; so it's unfair to judge. However, it's easy to see that when it comes to pure strength, Zlatan is also beast & arguably rival the like of Drogba. He is record holder at our club at mid 30s in certain power test. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...er-records-during-medical-tests-a7115636.html
I can't share copyrighted material here you know. Try search, there are plenty sites archive older games.
Edit: Now I will go with some of the false info you threw in some of previous post I didn't have time to correct until now. Zlatan only scored 3 goal against AC Milan in his entire career. Only 2 with Inter (another one as Ajax player) so I don't know where you get "Zlatan scored plenty against Milan" from. I was very sure Zlatan didn't score enough against Milan without checking, mind; only need confirmation since I may miss games with Zlatan's non Italian teams in different competitions. I am not saying Zlatan is never a threat against Milan though, mind.
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Agree. Rio really struggled against physical strikers like Drogba, Duncan Ferguson, Kevin Davies, Crouch, etc.
Drogba in particular caused United a lot of problems when Vidic wasn't there. Vidic handled Drogba as well as any centre back I've seen. The red card in the Champions League final was pure frustration.
Never seen a defender that reads the game as well as he did. Playing through passes past him seemed impossible. 2nd greatest english defender ever after Bobby Moore.
I thought he wasn't good aerially. World class otherwise.
That's wrong. He is very good. Just that his aerial ability can be rivaled by opposition players while there were few forwards that stronger & could dominate him physically. Fortunately, we had Vida (had weakness with pace) who could compliment Rio's well & as defensive unit we're top class.
I think Rio is up there with the very elite central defenders of the premier league era - Rio, Vidic, Stam, Terry, Carvalho, Adams, Desailly, Sol Campbell.
Bruce and Pallister were the best in their day by a mile and monsters at clearing crosses and got stuck into 50/50 challenges far more than defenders like Rio, Terry and Carvalho but possibly fitness wise and pace wise and technical ability wise they may have been a tiny bit lower than the very elite center-backs similar to the likes of Hyppia, Keown.
Bruce and Pallister were the best in their day by a mile and monsters at clearing crosses and got stuck into 50/50 challenges far more than defenders like Rio, Terry and Carvalho but possibly fitness wise and pace wise and technical ability wise they may have been a tiny bit lower than the very elite center-backs similar to the likes of Hyppia, Keown.
Rio was amazing, world class but we wouldn't be having this discussion if Stam stayed at united longer.
If rio was a rock then Jaap was a mountain
If rio was a rock then Jaap was a mountain
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100% agree. Fav all time Utd defender with one of the best ever chants....
Stam was a great defender. Him and Rio in the same backline would have been awesome. One of the best potential partnership in the early 00's that could've brought even more success.
One of the things that Bruce and Pallister were best at was directing defensive headers to a team-mate, seems like a small thing now but I remember no other central defenders in the league could manage to retain possession like that at the time.
Agreed, I think Stam pips them both. Rio well ahead of his time in the PL given only now are we seeing lots more clubs try to find the 'ball playing' CBs.
Agreed.
While many remember that Juve Semi final for Keane's performance (and rightfully so) I recall Stam almost singlehandedly repelling wave after wave of Juve attacks in the 2nd half as the Italians tired to salvage the tie as it was slipping away from them
Rio didn't commit a foul for 5 months or something(?) in 2011? Extremely composed defender in his later years.
Stan and Vidic would be all time CB pairing that i have seen in my time . Then Rio though who was truly amazing and world class ..He was ten times better than Smalling and Jones combined
it was a shame we never get to see rio-stam CB partnership. would have been perfect timing as well, with vidic coming in as stam hits mid-30s.
most likely to get at least another champions league triumph with both of them at the back for us.
most likely to get at least another champions league triumph with both of them at the back for us.
Rio was the best English defender I've ever seen. The next best was Adams and Rio was easily better.
Rio
Adams
Terry /Butcher
Pallister
Campbell maybe. He never hit the hight's of the others.
Rio
Adams
Terry /Butcher
Pallister
Campbell maybe. He never hit the hight's of the others.
Probably has more to do with the later back problem Rio. Vida was absolutely immense and in beast form precisely when we most needed him to be.
He was a good defender alright. It's just that whenever i see his name in text, another big one comes up - Kaka. Man he skinned Heinze alive at OT, remember those two goals? Must have haunted him for years.
Rio Ferdinand: I believed I was the best defender in the world.
Mentality of a great player, especially if you're playing for a top team.
The desire and 'need' to be the very best.
We need more of this kind of players at Manchester United.
I wanna be the very best
Like no one ever was~
Mentality of a great player, especially if you're playing for a top team.The desire and 'need' to be the very best.
We need more of this kind of players at Manchester United.
I wanna be the very best Like no one ever was~