Rio Ferdinand...

kanchelskis14

I am beginning to become more and more convinced that this man is the best defender i've ever seen. He's ridiculously good, better than everyone else, and is surely the best centre-half in the world, probably aead of Nesta for me. He's just as important at one end as Ronaldo is at the other. Game after game, i watch him do some ridiculous pieces of defending to bail us out.

Ever since he came back from his 8 month ban, he's been supreme and such an influence on the team. I salute him.

Dippersripper

I agree with you K14. He has been immense.

20le_Solskjaer

My thought exactly. Defenders don't really get that much recognition any way. If they did he would sweep all the awards.

KeyserSoze

Rio Ferdinand is sheer quality. He was underrated for so long because he didn't slide in wildly, have blood bandages on his head or get kicked in the face like the overrated John Terry. Though I have gotta say that is one of the reasons I love Vidic.

Feed Me

The man has come on as a character a lot as well. He looked like real captaincy material against Barca and that was not the first time. In light of Neville's continued absence, I'd give the armband to Rio.

Another point to be made is that he has always been talked of as a Rolls Royce defender, yet he has shown a gritty determination to get the other side of the game done. He puts his head/body in as much as most centre halves when he needs to.

The Hairdryer

Admit it though, you'd still like us to sign Cannovaro, Nesta and Lugano right?

kanchelskis14

Agree, it pissed me off when Terry used to get more recognition, and people even wanted Rio out of the national team. It's a pity he could not go to the Euro's this summer and take his place amongst the best defenders around, as England captain.

kanchelskis14

Have a glass of water or something.

Sam#1

Remember when he actually got dropped at one point?

That was ludicrous, I guess it just goes to show how far he's come, now that he's been touted as the next Captain.

Feed Me

I take it this is a piss-take over K14's apparent penchant for foreigners. Who is Lugano again?

Cannavaro is a defender who relied on his exceptional physical qualities, speed and low centre of gravity. He is not up there with the great defenders though. He has been awful at Madrid.

Nesta, I have never seen much of, but he has been virtually flawless on the few occasions I have seen him.

I'd say Carvalho, Vidic and Gallas (when in form) are the only Premier League defenders who come close to Rio.

kanchelskis14

They are good, but not close to Rio i reckon. He's a level above. Gallas has dropped a bit since he joined Arsenal too.

And Lugano is a Uruguayan international who playes for Fenerbache.

crappycraperson

Cannavaro for Juve and Italy was up there. Nesta's still go it, but Rio has surpassed him for me. Before this season I would have gone with Nesta, not anymore.

surf

Plus he kicks doors and stewardesses when he loses so he obviously cares greatly about his and the team's performance.

Feed Me

Totally agree with you. Gallas has definetly lost some of his reputation since leaving Chelsea. I have this theory that he played most of his football at full back alongside an abolsutely brilliantly drilled backline at Chelsea. A case of being made to look slightly better than what he is. That is not to say he is not a good defender - but he is another who I think relies heavily on his pace and he seems to have lost some over the past year. I had Toure up there as one of the better Premier League centre halves but he has been pretty disasterous since the turn of the year.

Inspite of his abberation against us, I think Carvalho is a complete defender. Very, very good. Agger was coming along well before his injury problems.

Yeah. I think the Cannavaro hype was too much after the World Cup. There is no way he should have won the Fifa World Player Award. Good defender over the years, but he is not a truly class defender.

Feed Me

Well, we only really have Va Sahn's account of events, so I'd prefer not to discuss. The stewardess herself apparently laughed it off so there we go...

kanchelskis14

Agreed, i think Carvahlo is the next best in the league after Rio personally, he's a proper South American type of defender in al seriousness.

As for Gallas, you're probably right. At Chelsea, i used to think he was the best one on one defender in the league. He was virtually unbeatable by an opponent, but he isn't the complete defender that Rio is.

Agger is another good shout, was quality for Liverpool. Not quite sure if this Skrtel is near his level yet, i've seen him have some terrible games, but also some quality ones like against Arsenal in the CL at Anfield.

That Rio wasn't in the shortlist for player of the year is a joke. Terry made it when he had his good patch.

Giggsy PO

I´ve been saying that for ages. He his the best. I remember there was thread a few months ago where I said Rio was a bargain. I still mean it, what a fucking bargain.

TheRedPirate

Oozes class on the pitch, lets hope he can keep it up for many years to come.

odinnh

id take Rio over Ronaldo all the time.

Gazza

He's not only become immensely important for us, but he seems to have more about him character-wise than when he joined. I reckon he's become a real United player in terms of his attitude and commitment, especially over the last 2 seasons. Now no one can accuse him of being inconsistent, or losing focus, or lacking a winning mentality. I would gladly have him as United captain after Neville.

As for other defenders, I don't watch much European football but it doesn't seem like there are any of Rio's class currently (since Maldini's on his way out). Carvalho is a great player unfortunately. Terry is good but I'd have my doubts if he was taken out of that Chelsea side, whereas Rio has done it for West Ham and Leeds, and Carvalho did it for Porto.

cockneyred

another london boy done good at united

giggs-beckham

Hes easily the best in the world he has no equals, and no one even comes close.
thing is that alot of non united fans dont really rate him, madness.

Me: ''rios the best defender in the world.''
them ''no hes not ive never really rated him.''
me 'course he is , whos better then?''
them ''well i dont know, but hes not the best.''
me ''what about nesta?''
them ''who?''

Idiots.

kanchelskis14

Since i've joined the caf, i learned that slide tackling is the easiest way to win a fan over, and makes you appear more committed to the club than someone who slides less. Vidic is a hero for it, Smith was a hero, despite not being a particulalry good player, Heinze was a hero too, and he's not particularly good either, Rooney apparently has United in his blood and will never leave us. I just think it's the way they play the game, and will do so for any team.

Meanwhile, Rio is better than te lot of them, and people don't like him because he says 'merked' on television!

Slight exaggerations perhaps, but general essence of it is probably right.

Raven_Blade

Rio is just a classy defender. He makes it all look so easy and that is the sign of greatness. Now he is getting the recognition he deserves and credit to him for that.

olesmyhero

He's an absolutely brilliant player. He gets unjustly ridiculed for being too laid back or lazy. He might not run as much as other defenders, but that's just because he reads the game so well and his positioning is better than pretty much any defender I can think of.

Tumbling-Dice

Best defender around for me. First name on the team sheet. Oozes class. Should be permanent captain in Neville's absence but his character is such that he puts in captain's performances even when he doesn't wear the armband. Probably my second favourite current player behind Scholes. I remember a cold January Wednesday night at OT against Burton Albion in the FA cup, watching him warm-up, his touch and passing was perfect - he very much played in a midfield role that night, playing some superb balls through, that top corner rocket volley against Liverpool, I realised this lad can play anywhere in any position. His performance against Barca in the two legs was priceless. A truly great footballer, just gets more solid as he gets older, a great investment by the club. I'm one of the first to moan about footballer's wages nowadays but Rio is worth every penny.

giggs-beckham

Not far off being a united legend for me, a little while to go yet though.

If he puts in a collossal performance in the final, he will be.

CantonaVeron

There is no Utd fan out there that doesn't like Rio because he says 'merked' as you put it the general bad feelings were created by Rio not signing a contract after missing a drug test and then showing up with his agent at a resturaunt with Peter Kenyon there. Obviously this wasn't the wisest thing to do at the time, which Rio has admitted btw. Personally i think Rio was just unfortunate in this situation I read his book and his explaination sounded right to me but I also can understand why some people not reading into the details may have thought Rio was a bit of an unloyal fool for doing that.

I'll not go into your views on people sliding only to say Wanye Rooney is an incredible talent who works hard, not a sin imo.

Rio for me the player is easily the best centre back in the league and in europe, I like Carvalho too who is imo world class but still some way off Rio in terms of all round ability. His development over the last two years as been immense and he was extremly important to us before then. In that time I think he has cemented himself as one of the worlds greatest ever defenders and its a joy to have him as a major part of Manchester United.

zain

Rio is right now the best defender in the world..

I don't care what anyone says.. but he's got everything...

Amazing in the air, excellent at organising the back line, pacey, but MOST importantly a fucking good reader of the game!

And he's excellent with the ball at his feet, very calm when he needs to be, and can start off moves from the back as well..

There is nothing more you require of a centre back, and Rio's got it all.