Rio - SAF's greatest defender?

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Seems fitting to ask this question on the day of his testimonial. Personally I'm not quite old enough to judge the likes of McGrath and Bruce, but do we think SAF has ever had a better defender (and for such a long time) than Rio at his disposal?

Certainly the best in my eyes anyway, and probably the best PL defender of the 2000's.
 
I'd say so. At his prime(2006-08), no other central defender came even close to matching his performances. Simply the best center back in those years.
 
Of the ones I've seen a good amount of, Yes. I'd have him at the top above Vida.
 
Fergie's best ever without doubt.
 
Very close between Vidic and Ferdinand. Ferdinand's style gives him an edge but I think we've missed Vidic more when he's been out.
 
Ferdinand has been one if the best defenders in the world for nigh on ten years now. I think between 2007-09 he was the best in the world. Absolutely imprenetrable. He gave an exhibition against Liverpool at Anfield in 2007/08 which was one of the great individual United performances of the Ferguson era.

Majestic defender and no doubt a United legend by now.
 
Yep, at his peak, he was amazing. Put in one of the finest defensive performance I've ever seen against Liverpool in around 2007 I think it was...
 
He's one of the best readers of the game I've ever seen. Sometimes doesn't get the credit he deserves because he's not a Vidic/Terry style mentalist, but for me he's the best defender I've seen at United.
 
Agree that at his best, Rio was SAFs most talented ever centre back.
 
Solius said:
He's one of the best readers of the game I've ever seen. Sometimes doesn't get the credit he deserves because he's not a Vidic/Terry style mentalist, but for me he's the best defender I've seen at United.
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I remember there was a prolonged spell a few seasons ago where he hadn't given a foul away in ten games on the trot or something mental. He was just so fecking good at defending without having to resort to dirtiness.
 
Easily SAF's best. 5 years ago he was head and shoulders above any other defender in Europe.
 
Some people think he's a bit of a prick too due to Twitter and the 5 stuff but he's a good guy. Clearly loves the club, great character to have in the dressing room, and seems fantastic with the youth players..
 
No love for this beast? He's certainly up there.

Maybe slightly ahead of Vidic imo

Stam.jpg
 
Most definitely. Vidic is the perfect partner for him and his style means Rio can best utilise his great reading of the game. He and Ronaldo would be my first names on the team sheet against the best in Europe in previous years. Certainly brings an element of calmness to everybody. He's got everything and could make attackers look stupid with his pace
 
Rio's by far Fergie's best ever defender. He has been incredibly good for a long time and on his day, though they are less often now, he is still one of the best in Europe IMO. His only flaw was that Merk'd programme before the World Cup. He's been worth every penny of his fee and seems to get the ethos of the club as well, he's a decent role model for the most part I think, which makes it baffling that he was shunned in favour of the likes of Terry for England.
 
Solius said:
Some people think he's a bit of a prick too due to Twitter and the 5 stuff but he's a good guy. Clearly loves the club, great character to have in the dressing room, and seems fantastic with the youth players..
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He's bit of an idiot but he's a good guy IMO. Stories like this highlights this

Premier League footballers often get a rough ride from the public but Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand confounded popular stereotypes with a random act of kindness on Wednesday that could prove to be a huge boost for a worthy charity.
Ferdinand was making the journey from Manchester to London in the same carriage as commuter Michelle Clarke, who, amazed, texted friends to tell them she was in the presence of the former England captain.
One of those friends, Laura Wilson, runs a charity called Dance Aid, which uses dance to help transform the lives of vulnerable children, and spotted an opportunity to make a cheeky request of Ferdinand, as he sat in the carriage completely unaware of the plot being hatched.
Laura tweeted: "Hey Rio any chance u might b on a train southward from Manc?! 1 of our ambassadors has spotted u! In fact she's sitting opposite!"
Incredibly, Ferdinand saw the tweet, broke off from what he was doing and started quizzing a stunned Michelle all about Dance Aid and how he could get involved and help raise awareness for the charity.
When Michelle reported back that Ferdinand had not only noticed the tweet, but also engaged her in conversation about the charity, Laura was shocked. "We both screamed at each other!" she says, taking up the story in an interview with Yahoo!-Eurosport.
"Michelle had texted a few mates to tell them she was sitting opposite Rio Ferdinand. Some were texting back to ask for a photo, the Liverpool fans were saying, 'Trip him over', that sort of thing. But I said, 'You are not getting off that train until you have spoken to him about Dance Aid.
"She said she would never have the balls to do that, so I tweeted him to tell him an ambassador of the charity was sat opposite him. I texted her to tell her and she was going completely crazy.
"Then he initiated the conversation and she was completely flabbergasted. I think both of us thought that it was just a tweet and he wouldn't do anything, and we were utterly amazed when he did.
"He has asked me if I could email him information about the charity and about how he can get involved, and he has been very enthusiastic about it from the get-go, presumably thanks to whatever Michelle told him."
Dance Aid says its aim is to fundraise through dance to "provide support, protection, and opportunity to thousands of vulnerable children", and funds projects all over the globe, tackling issues such as the proliferation of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, street poverty in the Philippines and child welfare in the UK.
Laura says Ferdinand's selfless act could have an unimaginable impact on the charity, and the causes it promotes.
"It could be absolutely huge," she says. "Dance Aid fundraises primarily through dance to transform the lives of orphans and poor and disabled children. As a result of the work we do, most of the endorsements we get from celebrities are from the dance world - the likes of Flawless and Diversity, people like that.
"Rio is a more universally known celebrity and it is huge. For any charity it is all about awareness, which then facilitates fundraising, so his endorsement could be absolutely the biggest thing that has happened to the charity in its history."
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That'sHernandez said:
Rio's by far Fergie's best ever defender. He has been incredibly good for a long time and on his day, though they are less often now, he is still one of the best in Europe IMO. His only flaw was that Merk'd programme before the World Cup. He's been worth every penny of his fee and seems to get the ethos of the club as well, he's a decent role model for the most part I think, which makes it baffling that he was shunned in favour of the likes of Terry for England.
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I thought he was brilliant pretty much all season, bar the start.
 
kouroux said:
What was that crazy stat about Rio and not making fouls (or picking up yellow cards) in an entire season or something like that ?
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I think he went eight months without making foul, I made a thread about it long time but can't find it anymore.
 
Cina said:
I thought he was brilliant pretty much all season, bar the start.
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No I agree but in contrast to a few seasons ago, he hasn't been nearly as consistent. That's more of a testament to his previous consistency as opposed to him becoming less good/consistent. Before he was a machine, now he seems human.
 
Yeah Stam was brilliant, he just left too early. It says a lot about a player when SAF actually admits he made a mistake getting rid.
 
Rio for 3 or 4 seasons was the best defender on the planet and was performing to Baresi-like levels.
 
I don't know about back then, but this was around 2009.
 
Spoony said:
Yeah, he's the best I've seen since McGrath...and he's arguably our greatest ever CB.
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You must have missed Stam and Vidic then who were/are both better than McGrath.

McGrath could have been on their level but for injury and various other issues but he never reached the same heights.
 
Carl said:
You must have missed Stam and Vidic then who were/are both better than McGrath.

McGrath could have been on their level but for injury and various other issues but he never reached the same heights.
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Not with United but with Villa and Ireland it was easy to see what a players he was. If it wasnt for the injuries and his other problems this wouldnt even be a debate....
 
I remember McGrath said on Sky Sports that he used to go home three days a week and work in a steel factory or something whilst playing for us.
 
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