How good was Rio Ferdinand? | …….

[MadDogg]

Rio at his peak was amazing. He was only the best in the world for two seasons before injury dropped his level a bit (and Vidic took over), but 07/08, the season before the injuries started, was the best season any central defender in the world has had in the last 15 years IMO.

Vidic did have half a season (the first half of 08/09) where he reached that level, but he couldn't maintain it for the entire season. Rio did. It's why I've got no doubt that Rio at his peak was better.

 

[Paxi]

Do you think that Rio was the best central defender of the 21st century?

I do think Rio was the best Defender I've ever seen. Started watching football in 2001 so I can't say before that. I can't say if Nesta, Desailly we're better pre 21st century.

 

[Kag]

Frustrating to read the typical overrated because he is English narrative. It seeps into almost every discussion on these boards. Really, it's tiresome.

Ferdinand was brilliant. One of the best defenders of his generation, the best in the country, and one of the best defenders we've ever had. The best, perhaps. That Ferdinand could play for us even remotely competently in his 30s says it all about his ability to defend. His back was that ruined he couldn't even get up the pitch to compete for a corner. Yet, he remained one of the best defenders in the country right up until his mid 30s.

So intelligent, so calm, deceptively great in the air and positionally magnificent. There isn't a defender today that can light a candle to his consistency. And if the English sides had more defenders like him (and Terry, Vidic, Carvalho and co.) we'd be doing a lot better in the business end of European competition.

 

[devilish]

He's the best CB of his era. The best defender since Paulo Maldini

There again, I am not surprised that the Brits underrate him. They tend to underrate technical players who allowed their brains to do the work (ex Carrick, Scholes, Hoddle etc)

 

[Mike09]

Imagine a centre back who is good with the ball, composed, can pass the ball, can defend like a world class defender, has brain to do defending, can win header, strong and quick to bully attackers even Drogba. That is Rio Ferdinand. World class centre back. None of the current centre back today are equal or better than him.

 

[OldTrevil]

This sums it up perfectly for me. He had concentrations problem and suffered from a bad back but at his peak, simply unsurpassed for me. One more thing with him, even at his peak years, he would save his best for the really big games and some of the performances he came up with in those big games were simply as good of a defensive display as I've seen in the past decade or so.

Yea in his last years fitness issues and all, he would always remind me of the classic Rio during some massive games. Best defender defender I've seen play, I've never felt more confident and calm that a defense would do it's job than with Rio's. I remember taking some stick from oppo fans with my confidence that the 08 Barca needed some sixth dimension stuff to score against us and looking very smug after we knocked them out with two clean sheets.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

The difference a prime Rio would make to this current team would be absolutely huge, the entire team played so much better with him on the pitch. Was never more obvious than during and directly after his ban.

 

[vadimivich]

Only in England would Vidic be rated by fans higher than Rio - he was unbelievably composed and such an elegant player, smart and read the game brilliantly and so very skilled. He's kind of an awkward looking person, but on the pitch he moved around so gracefully. Best English defender of his generation by a mile, imo. The only knock was that the injuries meant his peak was only a few seasons, he was starting to slow down just as he should have been in the middle of his prime years. As a Spurs fan I can remember the match at OT where Bale picked up the ball and just ran directly at him and poor Rio couldn't even begin to close the space down. That's when I knew he was totally finished - his brain was still telling him exactly what to do, but his body was wrecked and could not cooperate any longer.

I always wondered what would have been for England if Rio's back hadn't been made from wet newspaper and Ledley King's knees hadn't been made from clay.

 

[devilish]

I do think Rio was the best Defender I've ever seen. Started watching football in 2001 so I can't say before that. I can't say if Nesta, Desailly we're better pre 21st century.

It depends how old are you. If you have missed AC Milan's glory days then you're probably right.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The difference a prime Rio would make to this current team would be absolutely huge, the entire team played so much better with him on the pitch. Was never more obvious than during and directly after his ban.

Apart from all his ability as a defender, if you could somehow transplant his voice-box into one of the motley crew of central defenders at the club we'd immediately ship less goals. They all seem fecking mute when they play. Nobody every tries to organise or talk to anyone around them. It's very frustrating to watch.

 

[Mike09]

For people who are talking about Vidic, let me jump in.

Vidic was better in defending than Rio in my opinion. Better in aerial duel and strength. Better tackler, without pace his interception was still great. But Rio was more complete as a centre back and everything what he did were in world class level. Best partnership in PL! We dominated PL with this partnership.

 

[Paxi]

It depends how old are you. If you have missed AC Milan's glory days then you're probably right.

Well I'm 27 and I had no interest in football up until I was 11-12 or so and even then it's hard to make a call. I can barely remember Blanc playing for Man Utd, I know he was here, I've seen him play but it's hard to recall if you know what I mean. Yeah certainly the best defender for me, was always confident when Rio was in our side.

 

[Zoo]

Best in the world at one point and the best CB in Premier League history.

 

[devilish]

Well I'm 27 and I had no interest in football up until I was 11-12 or so and even then it's hard to make a call. I can barely remember Blanc playing for Man Utd, I know he was here, I've seen him play but it's hard to recall if you know what I mean. Yeah certainly the best defender for me, was always confident when Rio was in our side.

Rio was better then Blanc ever was. The only 2 defenders I can think off who were as good or slightly better then Rio were Baresi and Maldini

 

[stevoc]

He was great for us, but I never felt safe when he was on the ball. In all honesty, he could be a bit of a donkey.. You see where Jones gets it from.

Part of great teams with great belief in my opinion. Not as solid as Vidic, but a leader.

We're talking about Rio Ferdinand here mate not Anton. He was one of the best defenders with the ball at his feet i've ever seen.

 

[Kag]

He's the best CB of his era. The best defender since Paulo Maldini

There again, I am not surprised that the Brits underrate him. They tend to underrate technical players who allowed their brains to do the work (ex Carrick, Scholes, Hoddle etc)

No they don't.

 

[devilish]

No they don't.

Many unfortunately do. I lost count of how many times I had to argue with those who think that Vidic and Terry were better defenders.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Interestingly enough, two weeks ago I was wondering myself about how good Rio was. I stumbled upon this article which calls Rio the most unheralded player of his England generation.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/why-rio-ferdinand-most-unheralded-player-his-england-generation

I dissagree with quite some things they write, but it raises some interesting points. As for Rio, he was incredible.

 

[Kag]

Many unfortunately do. I lost count of how many times I had to argue with those who think that Vidic and Terry were better defenders.

That's got naff all to do with where somebody comes from. I prefer Rio to Vidic and Terry, but all three were brilliant and there is nothing particularly controversial about preferring one of the others.

 

[Steven Seagull]

Great to see some people moaning he's overrated because he's British. And some people moaning he's underrated because he's British.

Best defender I've seen at the club and a big personality. Bought a very obvious calmness to the rest of the back 4 that few defenders can really bring

 

[Gambit]

Peak Rio is one of the best defenders I've ever seen. He would do difficult things and make it look easy which I think is why he didn't get the credit he deserved. While Rio would read a through ball to perfection and it was all done with class, another defender would be all out and making it look last ditch and get plaudits.

 

[Kentonio]

I remember being a bit snide about him being 'lazy' back when he was playing, but it was just because he was a rival team's player. Probably the most cultured defender England has ever produced. His sheer talent alongside Terry's leadership and drive was a pretty special combination, I wish we could have seen it at club level (at Chelsea ).

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

He was great for us, but I never felt safe when he was on the ball. In all honesty, he could be a bit of a donkey.. You see where Jones gets it from.

Part of great teams with great belief in my opinion. Not as solid as Vidic, but a leader.

One of most bizarre posts I've ever seen on these boards.

 

[Paxi]

Rio was better then Blanc ever was. The only 2 defenders I can think off who were as good or slightly better then Rio were Baresi and Maldini

I'm not comparing Blanc just saying that it's hard to remember seeing him play for United even though I clearly did.

 

[devilish]

That's got naff all to do with where somebody comes from. I prefer Rio to Vidic and Terry, but all three were brilliant and there is nothing particularly controversial about preferring one of the others.

That's the thing, there's enough difference between Rio and the other two, not to be any form of debate whatsoever. Vidic and Terry were world class articles. They were solid at the back, good in air and they rarely ever done any mistakes whatsoever. Rio, on the other hand, took it to another level. He was as solid as the Vidic/Terry but he was quicker, he was more technically gifted, he was more comfortable with the ball and he had great positioning. He's the only defender I've ever seen who could go toe to toe with Maldini in terms of being the complete package.

Same thing can be said about this silly comparision between Paul Scholes and frigging Gerrard/Lampard. You should see Henry's Scholes vs Gerrard comments. It basically summarise what most non UK neutrals think and react to such silly debates. The difference between talent is so obvious that no one dares debating it. Its like debating who was the best player between Baggio or Zola or Van Basten and RVN.

 

[MUFC OK]

Best defender I've seen at United in my opinion. What was so effective though was his partnership with Vidic; guile and steel, a ball player and a destroyer, they were formidable and its no coincidence the success we had with the two playing together. He's as good as anyone from his generation for me.

His composure was his best asset, Fergie's defences would play under pressure and every pass was to a team mate, it was a staple of how we played. In Smalling and Rojo we have the opposite. Still good defenders but under pressure they crack and look to hoof the ball up-field; and they generally aren't very good at it (see Smalling v Boro and Rojo every game he plays).

We need at least one world class central defender this summer to get back to where we aspire to be.

 

[devilish]

I'm not comparing Blanc just saying that it's hard to remember seeing him play for United even though I clearly did.

No worries mate. Im just giving you my opinion since I've followed them both at their prime.

Blanc is the closest thing there was to Rio. Unfortunately he lacked one crucial asset ie pace.

 

[red4ever 79]

Rolls Royce of defenders

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Rio was a complete defender, strong, quick, smart, great tackler and dominant in the air. I'd still take a prime Vidic over him mainly because Vidic's intensity over 90 minutes was something Rio could never muster consistently and he had tendencies to switch off when he felt the attacker wasn't a superstar of his caliber to worry about.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Him and Vidic were calmness personified. You never felt under any threat with them in there. Rio as @Phil Jones 79 said was a Rolls Royce and a big personality which is what's been missing over the last couple of years.

 

[Paxi]

No worries mate. Im just giving you my opinion since I've followed them both at their prime.

Blanc is the closest thing there was to Rio. Unfortunately he lacked one crucial asset ie pace.

Shame about Rio as well with his injuries, having to play with injections in his back.

 

[devilish]

Anyone who want to judge Rio should analyse how the defense played prior signing him, after we signed him, when he got suspended and after he came back. The man was a one man defense

 

[Ballache]

Peak Rio for me is up there with Nesta as the best CBs of that period between 2006-2011. Easily the best CB I have seen play for us, he was immense at times.

 

[BorisDeLeFora]

Rio was class, he benefited hugely from the fact that he had a partnership with a player who perfectly complimented his skillset, but that is the point of a team game.

As a reactive/covering type centre back, certainly in the top 5 I've watched.

 

[Giant Midget]

We're talking about Rio Ferdinand here mate not Anton. He was one of the best defenders with the ball at his feet i've ever seen.

tbh he did seem to lose his ballplaying ability towards the end of his career. But up until his back injuries, he was quite good at playing the ball out of defence, so much so that Fergie tried him in CM once.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

From 4:45

 

[Kag]

That's the thing, there's enough difference between Rio and the other two, not to be any form of debate whatsoever. Vidic and Terry were world class articles. They were solid at the back, good in air and they rarely ever done any mistakes whatsoever. Rio, on the other hand, took it to another level. He was as solid as the Vidic/Terry but he was quicker, he was more technically gifted, he was more comfortable with the ball and he had great positioning. He's the only defender I've ever seen who could go toe to toe with Maldini in terms of being the complete package.

Same thing can be said about this silly comparision between Paul Scholes and frigging Gerrard/Lampard. You should see Henry's Scholes vs Gerrard comments. It basically summarise what most non UK neutrals think and react to such silly debates. The difference between talent is so obvious that no one dares debating it. Its like debating who was the best player between Baggio or Zola or Van Basten and RVN.

You're waffling. Borders on snobbery. I think Rio was better than the other two but I think you're confusing technical ability with all round contribution to a team. Terry was also great, as was Vidic. Scholes was a brilliant midfielder, as was Gerrard, as was Lampard. We all have our preferences, and there was a little more sophistication to Scholes' game, but the suggestion that one is considerably better than the other just flies in the face of everything I've been watching for the best part of twenty years.

Being from the UK has nothing to do with any of this. You're essentially generalising a country of 70 million people and assuming they lack some abstract nous or thinking that they clearly aren't capable of showing. And all because they think that Vidic was better than Ferdinand, or Gerrard better than Scholes. Give over.

 

[POF]

Until I joined this forum I really had no idea that people genuinely considered Rio "world class". Sure, the English media labelled him as such but I took it as seriously as the other better players from the "Golden Generation". Rio emerged at a time when English football had been yearning for a "ball playing centre back" for many years and I think his ability on the ball left many overrating his defensive ability.

Probably the time when I saw less full 90 minutes of United games was 2006/07 which many label as his peak. Maybe I missed his best years but I always saw him as incredibly talented (certainly more talented than Vidic) but ultimately unreliable.

The acid test of a defender is how safe they make you feel when in the team. Vidic was so reliable that he and Evans with Kuszczak behind came across as a solid unit despite two of them being rubbish. With Rio, there was always the looming possibility of a mistake, a loss of concentration or that he would get bullied by a physical striker.

Very good defender, one of the best at United over the last 30 years but I think world class is a step too far. Vidic and Stam were both comfortably better defenders.

Oh fully agree that Carvalho is the best defender we've had. I'd probably put Ashley Cole 2nd, Desailly 3rd, Terry 4th.

I may be misguided here but weren't United significantly better with Vidic there absent Rio rather than vice versa? I'm not suggesting that Rio wasn't world class but I always thought Vidic got less credit from the press. I didn't follow United as closely though so I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong!

You're not wrong.

I could have sworn I saw a comparison in points won and the difference was pretty stark, but perhaps I'm way off base. Thanks for the clarification though, it's entirely possible I'm just remembering some highlight matches!

I'm not a stats guy but I would be very surprised if those stats weren't heavily in Vidic's favour. When Vidic picked up serious injury that ruled him out for longer periods (Basel stands out) it was a devastating blow for the season. I never got the same feeling with Rio.

 

[devilish]

You're waffling. Borders on snobbery. I think Rio was better than the other two but I think you're confusing technical ability with all round contribution to a team. Terry was also great, as was Vidic. Scholes was a brilliant midfielder, as was Gerrard, as was Lampard. We all have our preferences, and there was a little more sophistication to Scholes' game, but the suggestion that one is considerably better than the other just flies in the face of everything I've been watching for the best part of twenty years.

Being from the UK has nothing to do with any of this. You're essentially generalising a country of 70 million people and assuming they lack some abstract nous or thinking that they clearly aren't capable of showing. And all because they think that Vidic was better than Ferdinand, or Gerrard better than Scholes. Give over.

There's no doubt that Vidic, Terry, Lampard and Gerrard were world class players. However the gap between Scholes/Rio and them is pretty obvious. For non UK EPL fans the fact that such a thing is debated on credible media is baffling. Its also baffling seeing a top quality player like Carrick being underutilized by the national team. What's wrong with these people?

I am aware that such questions are uncomfortable to ask but it might explain why time and time again England fails to do well in tournaments. It might also explain why there haven't been a top quality English manager in decades.

If you ask me, England is stuck to a football mentality that is obsolete. Players do not necessarily need to be tough and hardworking to be top quality, some are so good that they let the ball to the work. That's something UK football fail to comprehend.

The same thing happened to Italians few decades ago when total football made the catenacchio obsolete wiping away decades of knowledge and certainities in a matter of years. Its very difficult for a proud football nation to accept that a style of football that served them well is now obsolete and rewire themselves to something new.

 

[POF]

Anyone who want to judge Rio should analyse how the defense played prior signing him, after we signed him, when he got suspended and after he came back. The man was a one man defense

The United defense was terrible before they signed Vidic. Rio and Silvestre, Rio and Wes were unreliable and error prone combinations.

Ironically, your basis for proving Rio's worth demonstrates Vidic was better.