Rio Ferdinand

choccy77

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So Rio had said that if Manchester United asked him, he would happily become a coach at the club.

This has got me thinking.

Given how bad our defending has been for years now, why haven't United reached out to Rio or Vidic even and got them in as defensive coaches?

It again seems shortsighted by the club to let such talents walk away and yet they hire a set piece coach who has a record of 100 plus set pieces and no goals.
 

arnie_ni

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Just because you're a good player doesn't mean you're a good coach.

What coaching credentials does he have?
 

tomaldinho1

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It’s probably a lot easier to say you’ll coach than actually coach. I remember he said he was going to start working towards his badges but not sure he actually did that or ever got any hands on experience anyway.
 

Josh 76

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So Rio had said that if Manchester United asked him, he would happily become a coach at the club.

This has got me thinking.

Given how bad our defending has been for years now, why haven't United reached out to Rio or Vidic even and got them in as defensive coaches?

It again seems shortsighted by the club to let such talents walk away and yet they hire a set piece coach who has a record of 100 plus set pieces and no goals.
Players like Rio had natural ability, which can’t be coached.
 

royboy16

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So Rio had said that if Manchester United asked him, he would happily become a coach at the club.

This has got me thinking.

Given how bad our defending has been for years now, why haven't United reached out to Rio or Vidic even and got them in as defensive coaches?

It again seems shortsighted by the club to let such talents walk away and yet they hire a set piece coach who has a record of 100 plus set pieces and no goals.
Lack of experience.
 

harms

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Given how bad our defending has been for years now, why haven't United reached out to Rio or Vidic even and got them in as defensive coaches?

It again seems shortsighted by the club to let such talents walk away and yet they hire a set piece coach who has a record of 100 plus set pieces and no goals.
Just because you're a good player doesn't mean you're a good coach.
And the thread is done, it only took... 1 comment.
 

Bebestation

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If United asked me, I would coach them too.
 

RUCK4444

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The closest thing to Rio we have is Varane, similar players in some respects which is why I’ve wanted Varane for so long. The others can’t learn that style of play, very hard for a good player to translate that in coaching.

I do think his mentality and example of what it takes to be a United player would be good to have around the club in some capacity though.
 

clarkydaz

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Remember we were thinking about him being our DOF around the time he wanted to be a boxer
 

youmeletsfly

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Anyone using words like "drip" and "sauce" should stay away from being in any teaching, coaching or educational position.
 

Jippy

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So Rio had said that if Manchester United asked him, he would happily become a coach at the club.

This has got me thinking.

Given how bad our defending has been for years now, why haven't United reached out to Rio or Vidic even and got them in as defensive coaches?

It again seems shortsighted by the club to let such talents walk away and yet they hire a set piece coach who has a record of 100 plus set pieces and no goals.
You could make the same argument for any top ex-player. Why not get Irwin, Evra, Stam and Pallister in too?
 

Oranges038

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Could hire Steve Bruce as a coach, although he's probably consumed his body weight in bacon since he left Newcastle. Even as a player he'd probably be better than Maguire at the minute.

The problem with the Utd defence is quite simple really.

They just don't play as a unit and that comes from a total lack of communication and awareness and understanding of each others games.
 

choccy77

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Rio hardly seems qualified if his punditry is anything to go by. He prefers a soundbite over tactical analysis.
That's rubbish.

He constantly calls out our defence for always being in the wrong positions and provides solid tactical explanations and uses his experience of working with Vidic as examples.

It would seem the usual negative brigade are out today and unable to see clearly what is presented to them.

Having a coaching badge means zero, compared to a player who has played at the top level and won everything and has experience.

Even non footballers can easily aquire a coaching badge.

Our past, recent and current coaches of last 9 to 10 years has proven this.
 

choccy77

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You could make the same argument for any top ex-player. Why not get Irwin, Evra, Stam and Pallister in too?
Have they been asked too?

That's the point.

Evra has also said he would do it, if asked.
 

RonaldoVII

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That's rubbish.

He constantly calls out our defence for always being in the wrong positions and provides solid tactical explanations and uses his experience of working with Vidic as examples.

It would seem the usual negative brigade are out today and unable to see clearly what is presented to them.

Having a coaching badge means zero, compared to a player who has played at the top level and won everything and has experience.

Even non footballers can easily aquire a coaching badge.

Our past, recent and current coaches of last 9 to 10 years has proven this.
Given that we're meant to be (one of) the biggest club(s) in the world, should we not be requiring both? Anyone on here can give tactical analysis. Rio would fit in well here with the amount of shite he chats.
 

Tom Cato

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Remember we were thinking about him being our DOF around the time he wanted to be a boxer
A solemn reminder that outside of the title and "broad strokes", very few has any idea what a DOF actually does or how he can do it well. Then again forums is a place for generalized discussion
 

Smores

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I wouldn't want to fill the staff with ex-players but i do think he'd add value working with our defenders. I'm surprised we don't utilise some of them more in a consultancy role every now and again.
 

Jippy

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Have they been asked too?

That's the point.

Evra has also said he would do it, if asked.
Who knows? Given every top club could presumably tap up their top players in every position to stay on as coaches and only a very small percentage do, there must be a good reason for that.

Rip was a world class defender but maybe he's not great at articulating that as a coach. Maybe a lot are too rich to be interested, too dim or they just want fresh outside thinking in.

Just seems a weird thing to criticise the club about.
 

Jackal981

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Bring him back to the pitch to replace Maguire. Surely cant be worse :lol:
 

VanDeBank

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That's rubbish.

He constantly calls out our defence for always being in the wrong positions and provides solid tactical explanations and uses his experience of working with Vidic as examples.

It would seem the usual negative brigade are out today and unable to see clearly what is presented to them.

Having a coaching badge means zero, compared to a player who has played at the top level and won everything and has experience.

Even non footballers can easily aquire a coaching badge.

Our past, recent and current coaches of last 9 to 10 years has proven this.
Wait you think Rio or random ex footballers make better coaches than LVG or Mourinho? I kinda think Ole disproves your point since he bottled knockouts and left without a trophy.

Appointing ex managers was all the rage a couple of years back here in Holland. They were all shite, including Stam. Interestingly enough Stam was too dumb/too lazy to sit through his classes to acquire his badge. The FA had to lower the bar and babysit him through it. It's no coincidence he was the worst of the bunch.
 

sullydnl

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So Rio had said that if Manchester United asked him, he would happily become a coach at the club.

This has got me thinking.

Given how bad our defending has been for years now, why haven't United reached out to Rio or Vidic even and got them in as defensive coaches?

It again seems shortsighted by the club to let such talents walk away and yet they hire a set piece coach who has a record of 100 plus set pieces and no goals.
Because being a very good player has little relevance on how good a coach you are. Great players can make terrible coaches, terrible players can make great coaches. Hiring players based on how good a footballer they were is only one step up from appointing them by lottery. You have no idea from the outside if they're suited to coaching in any way shape or form.

If we have issues with our defensive coaching then we should hire better actual coaches, not random ex-players.
 

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re. The topic,

Rio was an exceptional organiser and instructor of a backline and inferior players who relied on his input to see out games intact. He always, always points out flaws in positioning and awareness, so any talk of him being a pure natural incapable of conveying or instructing others is incongruent with the entirety of his career at United once he became an established, world class centre-back.

Rio is easily one of very few you can see being a quality coach because he gets his ideas across in every conceivable manner and if you're doing down on him because you don't like his vernacular, you are not even trying to pay attention to what he says and how he says it. He doesn't go into much detail about other areas of the pitch, but when asked about defending, he's clear, concise and exacting as he immediately states what the issues are with authority and the remedies, too.

He's got the lot to be a good defensive coach; he did that job for us on the pitch for triple digits worth of games and has shown his chops in studio at every juncture when talking specifically about defending. He is not "tree", "ball", "kick it" in the slightest.
 

MrSingh2002

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Of course he should be a defensive coach for us.

I have no idea why the club wouldn't have approached him over the years.

He'd be perfect. Very likeable too so sure he would be a big hit in the management team with the players.
 

Donut

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Does anyone know what Vidić has been up to these days? He kind of vanished.
 

davidmichael

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I think Scholesy found out it isn’t as easy as just going in and coaching from his Oldham stint, to be honest would Rio be any worse than whoever is coaching our defence right now ?
 

11101

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That's rubbish.

He constantly calls out our defence for always being in the wrong positions and provides solid tactical explanations and uses his experience of working with Vidic as examples.

It would seem the usual negative brigade are out today and unable to see clearly what is presented to them.

Having a coaching badge means zero, compared to a player who has played at the top level and won everything and has experience.

Even non footballers can easily aquire a coaching badge.

Our past, recent and current coaches of last 9 to 10 years has proven this.
I think Rio will suffer from ex-Fergie-itis, parroting what he was told without understanding why he was told it.

He knows Ferguson told him to stand in a certain place in a situation but he doesn't know why, and he doesn't know how a player without his talent and instinct should do it differently.

All our ex players suffer from this as far as I can tell and Rio whilst being a good pundit doesnt sound like hes an exceptional mind likely to break the mould.
 

Sandikan

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An older fan I know constantly goes on about getting Rio in.

But surely if there's one thing we've learnt this last few years is stop with the old boys obsession.
Get people in who are at the top of their current profession, not top of their original one.

If you want to be at United you have to earn your corn elsewhere and earn the chance.
 

Sandikan

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Of course he should be a defensive coach for us.

I have no idea why the club wouldn't have approached him over the years.

He'd be perfect. Very likeable too so sure he would be a big hit in the management team with the players.
Why would he be perfect out of interest?
Or do you think every top player makes a top coach?
 

Fortitude

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I think Rio will suffer from ex-Fergie-itis, parroting what he was told without understanding why he was told it.

He knows Ferguson told him to stand in a certain place in a situation but he doesn't know why, and he doesn't know how a player without his talent and instinct should do it differently.

All our ex players suffer from this as far as I can tell and Rio whilst being a good pundit doesnt sound like hes an exceptional mind likely to break the mould.
Ridiculous. Rio commanded our backline for the majority of his career instructing inferior players on what to do and where to be etc. in near every game. He makes clear what errors other defenders are making whenever asked on BT sport.

He doesn't have to be an exceptional mind - he just needs to convey what needs to be done for each player (except Varane) to be better at what they do than they currently are.

I'd be curious to see what part of coaching Rio would fail at. He is consummate in what he did as a player, and what he says now when speaking about defending. No heart and passion nonsense, rather, clear, concise instructions and conveyance of thought.
 

glazed

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I reckon the best person to coach and organise a successful premier league defense is probably someone who has already coached and organised a successful premier league defense. Otherwise you're just making appointments out of sentimentality.
 

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I reckon the best person to coach and organise a successful premier league defense is probably someone who has already coached and organised a successful premier league defense. Otherwise you're just making appointments out of sentimentality.
so you're saying get Rene back?
 

James Peril

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Jesus christ, we’ve hired everyone from Ole Solskjær to Nicky Butt and Darren Fletcher, don’t you see the alarm bells going off? Being a great defender does not in any way mean you are suddenly a great coach. In fact, what’s easy for you might be incredibly hard to put down on paper and describe to others. Rio does not strike me as the kind of person to focus and settle down as a coach, he likes the life outside to much. Coaching would be too boring.
 

11101

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Ridiculous. Rio commanded our backline for the majority of his career instructing inferior players on what to do and where to be etc. in near every game. He makes clear what errors other defenders are making whenever asked on BT sport.

He doesn't have to be an exceptional mind - he just needs to convey what needs to be done for each player (except Varane) to be better at what they do than they currently are.

I'd be curious to see what part of coaching Rio would fail at. He is consummate in what he did as a player, and what he says now when speaking about defending. No heart and passion nonsense, rather, clear, concise instructions and conveyance of thought.
All those things you say are true of Scholes, Keane, and all our other failed managers.

It's because he is so clear in what he would do in a situation that I doubt he has the flexibility to adapt to a player who is not him, or a tactical style he wasn't coached in. Down to the details of how close to get to an attacker when defending, which is not going to be the same for every defender. He might want to be touch tight but another player might need 5 yards. Does he see that?
 
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