I'd understand if it were English people who were going on about Rio and Rooney but it's not just them. French media and viewers really rate them extremely highly as well and the french cannot be said to really like the English in general.
Rio - SAF's greatest defender?
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I'd understand if it were English people who were going on about Rio and Rooney but it's not just them. French media and viewers really rate them extremely highly as well and the french cannot be said to really like the English in general.
Fair enough, I disagree. I haven't seen and defender who can take him consistently so far. Maybe in the future but I haven't yet.
Also I have to add that having the support of your whole team parking the bus alongside you in defence is hardly a personal victory for any defender against messi. It's more a victory for the unit and tactics.
I'm sure they rate him very highly. They also seem to out terry in their world 11s for some reason every tee. Regardless they rate rio and Rooney because they're fantastic players. But the pair of them get very overrated here on the caf.
Edit: Rooney doesn't anymore since his popularity among fans nosedived
And like I said I'm sure they do think highly of him but I doubt the French media actually believe he was so good they're not sure whether messi would get the better of him one on one. My guess is they'd laugh at that. Like they'd laugh at some of the claims made here that Rooney was better than iniesta.
They probably see him as one of the best defenders of the last decade. Am I correct?
Thiago Silva and Varane showed glimpses of that last season.
Just saying that some players aren't just rated because of their nationality. vuc for instance prefers Vidic and despite joking I honestly think it's got little to do with nationality. I rate Vidic really highly, there isn't a noticeable difference between him and Rio, Rio's style is more what I prefer.
Is that what a percentage of caftards think ?
Oh no, I've just been debating that with one fellow.
I'm just speculating to be honest. Forget individuals, in general the two players who get ridiculously overrated here have been rio and Rooney. That's why is speculated about the nationality bit.
I mean I rate rio very highly too. I don't think here's much difference between Vidic and Rio too, and for me too one slightl edges it and for me it's vidic. So our stances are very similar. But I acknowledge that vidic top, like rio, has always had his weaknesses. There are some here that seem to think rio didn't have any and was basically this mythical god like defender who did everything magnificently and perfectly. And would possibly deal with messi one on one. It's crazy hyperbole really. As I've often said, just like vidic had his weaknesses in his lack of pace and tendency to be rash at times, Rio also has his weaknesses in facing physically strong defenders or that he want as dominant in the air.
So, yeah, weaknesses and that messi thing.
Up here it tends to be the most astute fans and pundits who rate Ferdinand and, on that same kind of defensive excellence note, Cole.
Its not really his fault that there was no protection whatsoever from the defence and Benayoun had all the time in the world to pick the through pass. He was left exposed 1 v 1 against a peak Torres in the acres of space. You can be a Baresi or Nesta but the advantage will always be in the attacker's favour, even more so for a potent striker like Torres.
Between 08 - 10 Torres was probably THE bogey forward. Always manages to score against us. A large part of it came down to the way Liverpool played us, they were the underdogs and they ALWAYS played on the counter. It didn't help when our forwards couldn't gel with Berbatov and our midfield had Scholes and an ofform Carrick. 07-08 was the season when Torres was destroying defenses across the country but couldn't score a single goal against us.
I saw a replay yesterday and rio was definitely at fault. He lost Torres who wandered off into the space between him and vidic. I'm not actually being critical. Every defender makes mistake. I'm just saying he's being overrated here.
Didn't Rio have back problems then? I read somewhere he was nowhere near 100% fit in that 2-0 loss at Anfield and for a few other games around that period. Hard to face a in form Torres with that kind of pace when you have a back injury.
Torres has played against us about 15 times now, of course he's going to have had a couple of good games and scored a few.
He didn't terrorise us or Vidic, Liveprool hyperbole at it's finest. He had that one good game in the 4-1 after being anonymous in our first 2 meetings, Vidic made a mistake by letting the ball bounce. The next 2 games he caused no problems for Vidic in their individual battles, he was kept fairly quiet but got put through on goal to score and then got left unmarked at the back post by Neville for the header. For the rest of his Liverpool time he was crap against us.
Agree. It was mostly myth.
What the feck, Rio? Worst performance in a long time.
He's pissing me off a great deal with his slowness in possession.
Apart from the goal, he was fine.
When our players are hiding behind Liverpool players then he doesn't really have any options.
When our players are hiding behind Liverpool players then he doesn't really have any options.
Poor in the air for the goal. He was never all that great in the air for me.
I was more worried about that mistake which almost allowed him through on goal before vidic saved us.
I was more worried about that mistake which almost allowed him through on goal before vidic saved us.
He was the same in our last two games, and strangely none of our other players seem to suffer this problem. Maybe they only go and hide when Rio gets the ball?
Awful defending on the goal. Nobody really has mentioned it, but if someone like Luiz made that mistake he would have been slated.
All he had to do was stand tall and header, but he went for it with his foot? It's a shame on his part, because just before that he made a good interception after Evra was dispossessed stupidly. It's a bigger shame because that mistake was what ended up being the difference.
All he had to do was stand tall and header, but he went for it with his foot? It's a shame on his part, because just before that he made a good interception after Evra was dispossessed stupidly. It's a bigger shame because that mistake was what ended up being the difference.
He's always been a bit suspect in the air for me. I've said it before in this thread. He makes up for it in other ways if course.
The defending against Sturbridge shortly after where he completely messed up his positioning and let him in was even more worrying.
He doesn't even have to be amazing in the air to stop that goal. Literally jump up.
Reminded me of when that hack Williams didn't put his head on that ball which Van Persie scored from. Just sloppy.
Reminded me of when that hack Williams didn't put his head on that ball which Van Persie scored from. Just sloppy.
He did used to be absolutely class in the air and is still good, but that was poor today unfortunately. Unusual to see him make a mistake like that.
From his facebook, nice read:
Match Preparation: Getting your mind on the match - "You’re like a coiled spring"
I normally go and get a bit of strapping on my left foot before a game, get a bit of a stretch-off from one of the masseurs, always drink something, then I’ll come back to the dressing room where I always used to play two-touch with Scholesy (high level we are talking) - I need a new partner now! Sometimes Nani tries to get involved, but he’s not at the standard we were at!
Then we’ll just limber up, get your mind focused on who you are playing against individually and get ready to go out. Normally the music is playing and it’s a good atmosphere. I used to be DJ in the dressing room (from 80's pop up to current hip-hop, house & garage) but after a few years I got bored and relinquished my duties and passed on to Pat...he does a good job (not in my league yet but a good job I must say).
But, there are one or two of the young guys talking about taking the DJ duties off Pat as they haven't been happy with some of the selections in the last few months! When you’ve been here for so long it just becomes second nature - you walk out, and every game there’s an element of… not nervousness exactly, but you’re like a bit of a coiled spring, you’re just ready to get out there and do your stuff. You want the clock to tick as fast as possible so you can do your thing.
Running out and seeing the fans in the Stretford End to your left, you recognise the history. There are always the good banners hanging above you, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have scored there, of course. If I hadn’t scored at the Stretford End in my United career, I’d have been devastated. So I’m pleased to have done that.
Smell, feel, hear the history as you leave the tunnel and enter the pitch......
Match Preparation: Getting your mind on the match - "You’re like a coiled spring"
I normally go and get a bit of strapping on my left foot before a game, get a bit of a stretch-off from one of the masseurs, always drink something, then I’ll come back to the dressing room where I always used to play two-touch with Scholesy (high level we are talking) - I need a new partner now! Sometimes Nani tries to get involved, but he’s not at the standard we were at!
Then we’ll just limber up, get your mind focused on who you are playing against individually and get ready to go out. Normally the music is playing and it’s a good atmosphere. I used to be DJ in the dressing room (from 80's pop up to current hip-hop, house & garage) but after a few years I got bored and relinquished my duties and passed on to Pat...he does a good job (not in my league yet but a good job I must say).
But, there are one or two of the young guys talking about taking the DJ duties off Pat as they haven't been happy with some of the selections in the last few months! When you’ve been here for so long it just becomes second nature - you walk out, and every game there’s an element of… not nervousness exactly, but you’re like a bit of a coiled spring, you’re just ready to get out there and do your stuff. You want the clock to tick as fast as possible so you can do your thing.
Running out and seeing the fans in the Stretford End to your left, you recognise the history. There are always the good banners hanging above you, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have scored there, of course. If I hadn’t scored at the Stretford End in my United career, I’d have been devastated. So I’m pleased to have done that.
Smell, feel, hear the history as you leave the tunnel and enter the pitch......
I'd rate in this order under SAF - Rio, Stam, Vidic, Irwin, Pallister with Evra and Gary just missing out of the top 5 defenders (not limited to centerbacks).
He seems to make one or two really bad misjudgements per game these days.
He's extremely fit these days and has played a lot of games but he's making errors, it's annoying.
He's best form will come when it really matters.
It was one error. I thought it was decent enough otherwise.
He also cost us the Liverpool game with a pathetic error, and could have cost us the Palace game with a pathetic error.
It's not really good enough at all when we have three excellent younger centrebacks who can't get a game.
He doesn't look fit to me. I'm sure he is as he's not the type to slack off, but he's a second behind the play all the time. Good teams ill just exploit it.
It's not really good enough at all when we have three excellent younger centrebacks who can't get a game.
He doesn't look fit to me. I'm sure he is as he's not the type to slack off, but he's a second behind the play all the time. Good teams ill just exploit it.
Evans should be starting ahead of him at the moment. He looked fantastic against Swansea but since then he's made some errors. Jonny on the other hand is coming off a very good season.
Also, not sure how wise it is to play Rio in every match considering his fitness issues.
Also, not sure how wise it is to play Rio in every match considering his fitness issues.
He'd need to waken up before the big one on Sunday. A bit nervous about him up against someone nippy like Aguero
.You're the only person to mention that mistake against Palace.
Again, if Luiz had made that mistake, as well as the mistake for the goal against Liverpool everyone would be slating him.
The commentator made a point last night. He needs to get physical instead of rely on just his positioning or non get stuck in style.
I agree. I also think he should have had a foul prior to Bender's shot as he was literally dragged to the ground. That's not bad defending but bad refereeing.
I think Ferdinand just got "merk'd" (as Rio would say) by Neville.
I'm a huge fan of Ferdinand as a player (the best defender I've seen for United), but I don't think he has played that well so far this season. Much better yesterday, though, as he didn't put teammates in a dangerous position every time he passed the ball.
I'd prefer Evans to be in our starting eleven, but not sure how fit he is for the match on Sunday. So Rio will probably start there as well.
Wasnt he partly at fault for the second Lev goal?
That aside, whilst I dont like him as a person hes undoubtedly one of if not the best defender in the EPL era.
Maybe, to be honest I didn't watch the replay properly, but I still felt it was better than earlier games this season. Against Liverpool he was at fault for the goal, in addition to the fact that he made it difficult for his teammates with almost every pass he made.
Yup, he conceeded a totally unnecessary corner. The lion's share of the blame lies with De Gea though, shocking work in the area on that occasion.
He's not in good form at the moment, but I'm not too concerned - he was ropey at the start of last season too.