<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-375484,00.html" target="_blank">Top lad...</a>
Ferd Class
Interview by Peter Lansley
It is a year since Alex Ferguson hustled JAAP STAM out of the exit door at Old Trafford. Now, the Dutch defender gives his verdict on the man chosen to replace him. Interview by PETER LANSLEY
Jaap Stam considers the question carefully. He does, after all, have a vested interest in the answer. Can Rio Ferdinand become the best defender in the world? “He could, yes,” Stam said. “But only after I’ve retired.”
It is four years since Alex Ferguson made the Holland international the most expensive defender in football by paying PSV Eindhoven £10.75 million for his signature. This summer, the Manchester United manager has done it again, writing a cheque for £30 million to take Rio Ferdinand off Leeds United’s hands.
Twelve months ago Ferguson dramatically cut short Stam’s United career by selling him to Lazio. Now, finally, he appears to have settled on his successor.
Stam, who insists he bears Sir Alex no malice, is a fan of Ferdinand. “Rio’s got everything: he’s good in the air, he’s quick and he’s got good vision,” he said. “He’s already good and he can get better still. You need to prove your class on the biggest stage, week in, week out, over a certain period: in the Champions League, for your country, playing for United at the top of the English game.”
Despite winning the Premiership title in each of his three seasons at Old Trafford, Stam refuses to gloat about United’s failure to land a trophy after they sold him off for £16.5 million. Instead, he believes the acquisition of Ferdinand will enable United to become winners once more.
“United are willing to take risks on you if they have full confidence in you as a player,” he said. “They did it when they paid £10.75 million for me; now they’re doing it with Ferdinand. I think it’s a good move for them.
“I’ve seen him doing well in the World Cup, he has grown as a player with Leeds United and yet he’s still young. So if he is doing well, United can get a lot of profit out of him. They have to ‘do it’ with all 20 players of course, but if United play their best football and everyone is in good shape, then they can beat every team in the world.
“Everyone at Old Trafford will know what he’s capable of so I don’t think there will be any pressure on him from within the club. The pressure comes from outside, from the press, from other teams, from pundits willing to fall over themselves if there’s a game when he’s not played so well. You need to judge him over a long period.”
Stam had plenty of critics when he first joined United after the 1998 World Cup finals. “People were saying, ‘£11 million on a defender from Holland? It’s a big risk’. They judged me on one or two games, saying I was not going to make it, I was not good enough.
“People don’t give you time, they expect you to come in and play the best football of your career from day one. That’s not the case, especially when you’re getting used to a new country and a new style of game. After a couple of months, when my form settled, people went the other way in their judgments.
“The first time I ran out at Old Trafford — it’s full, the people are screaming and shouting and singing — it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Never has my heart beaten so much before a football match. It’s a good feeling, you’re in a good situation, but you never get used to it. It’s great.”
Stam believes his successor will settle quickly. “Rio’s in his own country and he already knows a lot of United’s England boys well. That will help him and he has been playing in the Premiership for five years already. Maybe he’ll need to adapt to a new system but he’s a bright player. He’ll make it there.”
He has not spoken to Ferguson since his hasty departure from Manchester a year ago, which followed the publication of his outspoken autobiography. “Maybe we’ll run into each other once again and can speak about football, but I’m not the sort who says I definitely need to speak to him about certain things. If we met each other, and you never know how it goes in football, why should we fight? Maybe certain situations could have been resolved differently, but that’s how it went and now we look forward. I’m looking at Lazio, he’s looking at Man United. They have got a good defence but it’s how you defend and attack as a whole team that dictates how well you do.”
After leaving United Stam endured a year that even his worst enemies would not have wished upon him — uprooting his young family across the continent, serving a four-month ban for alleged use of nandrolone, Holland missing out on the World Cup and Lazio failing to qualify for the Champions League amid financial investigations.
He watched the World Cup as a distant spectator: “I have worked with Guus Hiddink so it was nice to see his South Korea team do so well. It was a big surprise the big countries were going out. It made you think, when you consider the players Holland have, that we’d have stood a good chance to do well.”
He harbours no ambitions to play in England again. “I’m enjoying it at Lazio, a great club, with nice people, with a very good team. If I had needed to leave Lazio, I would firstly look for another club in Italy, then back home in Holland.”
Ferd Class
Interview by Peter Lansley
It is a year since Alex Ferguson hustled JAAP STAM out of the exit door at Old Trafford. Now, the Dutch defender gives his verdict on the man chosen to replace him. Interview by PETER LANSLEY
Jaap Stam considers the question carefully. He does, after all, have a vested interest in the answer. Can Rio Ferdinand become the best defender in the world? “He could, yes,” Stam said. “But only after I’ve retired.”
It is four years since Alex Ferguson made the Holland international the most expensive defender in football by paying PSV Eindhoven £10.75 million for his signature. This summer, the Manchester United manager has done it again, writing a cheque for £30 million to take Rio Ferdinand off Leeds United’s hands.
Twelve months ago Ferguson dramatically cut short Stam’s United career by selling him to Lazio. Now, finally, he appears to have settled on his successor.
Stam, who insists he bears Sir Alex no malice, is a fan of Ferdinand. “Rio’s got everything: he’s good in the air, he’s quick and he’s got good vision,” he said. “He’s already good and he can get better still. You need to prove your class on the biggest stage, week in, week out, over a certain period: in the Champions League, for your country, playing for United at the top of the English game.”
Despite winning the Premiership title in each of his three seasons at Old Trafford, Stam refuses to gloat about United’s failure to land a trophy after they sold him off for £16.5 million. Instead, he believes the acquisition of Ferdinand will enable United to become winners once more.
“United are willing to take risks on you if they have full confidence in you as a player,” he said. “They did it when they paid £10.75 million for me; now they’re doing it with Ferdinand. I think it’s a good move for them.
“I’ve seen him doing well in the World Cup, he has grown as a player with Leeds United and yet he’s still young. So if he is doing well, United can get a lot of profit out of him. They have to ‘do it’ with all 20 players of course, but if United play their best football and everyone is in good shape, then they can beat every team in the world.
“Everyone at Old Trafford will know what he’s capable of so I don’t think there will be any pressure on him from within the club. The pressure comes from outside, from the press, from other teams, from pundits willing to fall over themselves if there’s a game when he’s not played so well. You need to judge him over a long period.”
Stam had plenty of critics when he first joined United after the 1998 World Cup finals. “People were saying, ‘£11 million on a defender from Holland? It’s a big risk’. They judged me on one or two games, saying I was not going to make it, I was not good enough.
“People don’t give you time, they expect you to come in and play the best football of your career from day one. That’s not the case, especially when you’re getting used to a new country and a new style of game. After a couple of months, when my form settled, people went the other way in their judgments.
“The first time I ran out at Old Trafford — it’s full, the people are screaming and shouting and singing — it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Never has my heart beaten so much before a football match. It’s a good feeling, you’re in a good situation, but you never get used to it. It’s great.”
Stam believes his successor will settle quickly. “Rio’s in his own country and he already knows a lot of United’s England boys well. That will help him and he has been playing in the Premiership for five years already. Maybe he’ll need to adapt to a new system but he’s a bright player. He’ll make it there.”
He has not spoken to Ferguson since his hasty departure from Manchester a year ago, which followed the publication of his outspoken autobiography. “Maybe we’ll run into each other once again and can speak about football, but I’m not the sort who says I definitely need to speak to him about certain things. If we met each other, and you never know how it goes in football, why should we fight? Maybe certain situations could have been resolved differently, but that’s how it went and now we look forward. I’m looking at Lazio, he’s looking at Man United. They have got a good defence but it’s how you defend and attack as a whole team that dictates how well you do.”
After leaving United Stam endured a year that even his worst enemies would not have wished upon him — uprooting his young family across the continent, serving a four-month ban for alleged use of nandrolone, Holland missing out on the World Cup and Lazio failing to qualify for the Champions League amid financial investigations.
He watched the World Cup as a distant spectator: “I have worked with Guus Hiddink so it was nice to see his South Korea team do so well. It was a big surprise the big countries were going out. It made you think, when you consider the players Holland have, that we’d have stood a good chance to do well.”
He harbours no ambitions to play in England again. “I’m enjoying it at Lazio, a great club, with nice people, with a very good team. If I had needed to leave Lazio, I would firstly look for another club in Italy, then back home in Holland.”
