People are just miserable in general, as a rule...
Rio Ferdinand
- Thread starter choccy77
- Start date
He was above Vida for me, and many others (check the threads) ... Wish people wouldn't speak for a whole diverse fansbase.
Was he feck. Terry regularly got dragged out of position and had to make last ditched diving blocks to compensate for it. When did you ever see Rio desperately throw himself in front of a shot? I would also argue that's one of the reasons why he was better than Vidic, as his positioning and reading of the game was elite. Nevertheless, Rio was miles ahead of Terry in every metric.
Comparing Rio to Vidic is like comparing Nesta to Cannavaro. It is just a matter of taste.
Rio and Vidic peaked at slightly different times. Rio was better during their first two seasons together (06/07 and 07/08), then the back injury in 08/09 hurt his agility and he never quite reached that level again. That same season Vidic stepped up a level and took over (from Rio) as the best defender in the world. IMO Rio's peak was higher. Indeed, Rio's best season of 07/08 isn't just the best in PL history for me, it was the best any defender in the world has had since Nesta in 02/03.
They were both better than Terry during that period. What Terry had over both of them (and every other defender in PL history other than maybe Adams) is longevity. He was right up there as one of the best for at least a decade, even though he was rarely (if ever) actually the best.
Tbf, there’s only one or two in here that I’ve seen now with this latest bump, but your overall point is spot on. The amount of negativity, dislike & borderline hate towards the likes of Keane, Neville, Beckham - to name a few, is at times weird, even moreso when it’s from our own fans.
I just realised I haven't spent enough time here to be aware we have people who have a visceral dislike for Rio.
Feck me, I should spend even less time here.
Feck me, I should spend even less time here.
Yeah its one of the most bizarre things ever.
My theory is that because we have so many club legends, it's easy for a lot of United fans to pick their favourites out of the bunch, and be apathetic towards the rest. Whereas Newcastle fans, for example, can all unite over adoring Shearer and they'll defend him to the death because he's their only legend from the PL era.
Could well be, similar notion to the one we see often in players’ threads: some (I stress, not all!) who preferred Martial, tended to be negative towards Rashford (& vice versa) as they were competitors for a position at one point. Similar to Herrera v Fellaini, McT v Fred, AWB v Dalot. I don’t think it’s all too common but it does exist/happen.
It was a video on MUTV that introduced an exciting new player. A big chunk of our huge fan base was going to watch it. As an ambassador of the club, Rio should have known better. I assure you that SAF have taught him better
I met many legends in the my life. This summer alone I met Jaap Stam, Ronnie Johnsen, Lou Macari, Martin Buchan and Patrice Evra. All of them have their own style but you knew from the first second you meet them that they demand respect. Sir Alex would make you go on alert the moment he walked into the room, the late Sir Bobby was a frigging royalty.
If a player doesn't respect himself enough to show up in a decent state then he can't expect others to respect him on his behalf.
If he had his nob out in the video then I would understand the disapproval. We see loads of topless blokes walking around in the sunshine every summer. I'm sure Lenny didn't give a feck, and I'd imagine the vast majority of the public don't see it as an issue either.
I don't speak for everyone on the forum but a lot of our ex-players have become quite cringeworthy with their media activities and Rio is on top of the list. I have grown up watching Rio and would always love the player. But there are a few things which do rub some people the wrong way. His worshipping of Ronaldo, his tacky podcast group filled with cheap versions of Goldbridge, that awkwardly scripted video of him refusing to walk on the emblem of Real Madrid, the fact that he couldn't wear a shirt for Yoro's announcement video... The list goes on.
Judge the player for their playing capability and a media person for how they present themselves. Rio is full blown media personality now and not everyone who liked him as player has to like him for what he's doing these days.
I gave my opinion of why I feel he is disrespected. @Nickelodeon came up with many other points which I find extremely valid as well. I don't think that an ambassador of manutd should represent united on live tv as if he's going for an orgy. But Let's agree to agree on this.
Puyol was better imo.
As a player he was flawless. A giant of a player. No one can take that away from him . I don't hate him. I kind of find his actions post retirement frustration. I say the same about Gaz who seem to have a fetish on shitting on himself as a player. I can also add paddy to it as well. Everyone who kicked a ball with united is a legend in his book. I'd love if our legends showed more self respect. They deserve that
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My first thought when I saw the video was that Rio was on holiday in a very warm country, rather than thinking he was going for an orgy, but fair enough.
Terry was a more consistent goal threat. I feel us United fans don’t give him the credit he deserves. Yea chelsea were our rivals and he was a cnut, but as a player there wasn’t much between him and Rio. Rio’s peak may edge him ahead but Terry’s longevity and consistency was annoyingly amazing.
At least he's doing something right.
I work remotely from Malta mate. Heat is a way of life. If you've got a meeting you put a shirt on. Let alone if you're an ambassador who is set to be part of a clip that tens of thousands will see
It's funny - I almost typed out "asides from being more of a threat from set pieces" but I didn't think that was relevant when comparing two defenders. I agree that you can't knock Terry's longevity, which is why he's makes my top 5 best PL CBs. Rio's peak still lasted around 10 years though, so it's hardly like we're comparing Terry to Van Dijk's peak.
Personally I think the rules around being shirtless are a little more relaxed if you're an athlete when compared to being an ordinary bloke in a business meeting. Footballers are frequently seen on the pitch without a shirt on (whether at full time or when celebrating a goal), whereas my work colleagues aren't used to seeing me topless, so it would be a lot stranger if I recorded a video for them without a shirt on.
Probably an impromptu call out to Rio while they were doing the photoshoot and Rio was in the gym or something. But hey, let’s make a fuss about it.
I couldn't care less about our legends' media careers or how they go about them frankly.
There's so many other far more interesting things to invest my time, bandwidth and feelings on. The only thing that lives rent free in there is what they did for the club when they walked onto a pitch.
Fair enough. But people who have come across Rio or anyone else’s media activity and formed an opinion on it have every right to do so.
Of course they do. I think Scholes is as boring as I expected him to be and that Gaz acute pitch is rather annoying.
The relevance of it in my appreciation of them is minuscule though, while I'm reading people passionately running him down. Worse, the whole thing is triggered by him being shirtless when what should matter is how invested he was in making the transfer materialise and the boy feeling welcome.
He could wear Borat's trikini for all I care (except the kid may start having second thoughts).
I want whoever West Ham sign next to have their unveiling video include a zoom call with a half naked and grinning Iain Dowie.
Just look at the things you are highlighting. It’s all trivial in the grand scheme of things and not offending anyone.
His worshipping of Ronaldo. I mean maybe due to his close proximity to Ronaldo’s rise he has a unique admiration for him. A player he saw join the club as 18yo and go on to be arguably the greatest player ever. They were also friends so he gave Ronaldo grace just as Keane did with Ole.
Tacky podcast group? You sound out of touch. Joel and Steve are just football fans creating content in a way that is common online. There’s nothing Goldbridge like about them they literally just dicusss the game as we all do here or in our personal lives. Rio’s channel has provided a goldmine of content for United fans, I find it so strange that people would have a go at him for that. The same on BT he’s one of the better interviewers and relates really well with other top players.
Your list of reasons to not like Rio is pretty weird. Rio unapologetically being himself and being a fan of football is somehow cringeworthy.
If you're a Chelsea fan fair enough. But if you are not this is laughable.
Someone might rebut by saying that rating Ferdinand higher than Terry is laughable unless you're a United fan. It's silly fanboy nonsense. I can be a United fan and rate a Chelsea player ahead of a United player. This is the old Henry vs RVN situation.
Henry was always better. Saying so doesn't require someone to be an Arsenal fan.
Terry was much better than Ferdinand. One doesn't need to be a Chelsea fan to say that.
I don't think its laughable at all, I'd say Terry was marginally better than Rio and also had a longer peak. 04/05 Terry > 07/08 Rio, but they're close. Think Terry has ended up a bit underrated among the average non Chelsea fan because he's a cock. You even see people describe him like he was some kind of Steve Bruce type player who couldn't use his feet which is the opposite of the truth, he had great ball playing ability.
If you're a Chelsea fan fair enough. But if you are not this is laughable.
Rio Ferdinand is the best defender I’ve seen for the club. Best in the prem for me.
Stam I was too young to fully appreciate.
Stam I was too young to fully appreciate.
Stam is the one for me (shocking I know). Only shame is he didn't get to stick around long enough.
He’s also in great nick for his age, if I’m in shape at 45 I’m doing all video calls topless whether for business or social.
He's the only player I recall Fergie admitting he made a mistake selling him.
We were deprived of seeing a Rio and Stam partnership. That would've been colossal.
I like rio. I always think of when he was talking about losing his wife and how hard it was for him. He's come along way man.
I think every few months about our possible 2002-2003 team
Barthez - G.Neville, Ferdinand, Stam, Silvestre - Scholes, Keane; Beckham, Veron, Giggs - Van Nistelrooy
No it's nonsense to say Ferdinand was always below Terry, that's what I'm laughing at.
While I disagree your opinion is at least reasonable.
But I can only laugh at the idea that Tery was not only better but always ''much better'' than Ferdinand.