It wasn’t always inevitable that Rio Ferdinand would become a Manchester United legend.
As Ferdinand put it himself, during his first training session at Carrington, Roy Keane bollocked him for playing a short pass sideways to the right-back: “What you doin’?” Keane asked. “This is Manchester United! Take some chances! Pass the ball forward!”
And it took time for Ferdinand to grow into a United shirt. Performances during his first season, despite picking up a Premier League winners medal, were mixed and the defender received an eight-month ban from the FA after missing a routine drugs test that also ruled him out of Euro 2004.
Things didn’t improve dramatically upon his return; United were a side in transition during the mid-00s and Ferdinand was struggling against perceptions that he possessed an over-inflated ego and a lack of application.
Following a 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in 2005, the match which prompted Keane’s infamous MUTV interview, the United captain said of Ferdinand: “Just because you are paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar.”
The United fans were also on Ferdinand’s back after he stalled on signing a contract extension amid rumours that he was being courted by Chelsea when he was photographed in a London restaurant with the club’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon.
A group of fans with baseball caps and hoods on turned up at his house to remonstrate. Many considered him disposable. Many considered him the emblem of an underperforming club.
It just served to make Ferdinand’s blossoming at the heart of the United defence even more spectacular.
Fast forward three years and Manchester United were champions of England and Europe.
While their 2007-08 side is mainly remembered for its awe-inspiring attack – Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez making up one of the most glittering trios in footballing history – United’s success was actually built upon a watertight defence.
Patrice Evra was a world-class irritant at left-back. Wes Brown, in the absence of Gary Neville, was a stalwart on the opposite flank. And there was Nemanja Vidic, a defender made of granite who always held the air of a soldier casually smoking a cigarette while watching someone dig their own…
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