Rio – Still Needs Defending?

Friday 9th August gives United fans a chance to pay tribute to Rio Ferdinand after 11 years of service to the club, as his testimonial match takes place at Old Trafford against Sevilla. For a player who as won 6 league titles, 1 European Cup, 2 League Cups and a FIFA Club World Cup, you would think fans would be unequivocal in their worship of him. Ferdinand still divides opinion on the terraces however, and despite achieving more than most players in the history of the club, it seems some still harbour a grudge over the off-field issues that have made the headlines throughout his career.

A lot of the antipathy towards Ferdinand came from the events of 2005 and the stand-off with the club when it came to signing a new contract at United. The drawn-out negotiation process followed the Daily Mirror publishing pictures of Ferdinand meeting with Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon in London. This didn’t help his relationship with the Stretford End, but it wasn’t seen as the most serious betrayal as the meeting was thought to be coincidental.

The fans and the club had stuck by Ferdinand following his eight month ban for missing a drugs test. He had been paid for eight months without kicking a football, and it now seemed he was holding the club to ransom until they paid him upwards of £100,000 a week. The issue was resolved of course but there were boos in certain sections of the ground when his name was read out in the weeks that followed. Some would argue Ferdinand got off lightly in this instance, as we are now in an era where it has almost become a trend to boo a player as special as Wayne Rooney if it is thought he is not fully committed to the cause.

The following season a struggling United edged to a 2-1 home win over Benfica at Old Trafford. The result came a matter of days after certain sections of the crowd had booed United following a 2-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers. As Ruud van Nistelrooy snatched a late winner against the Portuguese, Ferdinand was seen to display a mouthing gesture with his hand towards the Stretford End, taken as an affront to the fans that had made their feelings known three days earlier. To say the relationship between Ferdinand and the supporters was strained is an understatement, and it was now up to the player to prove his worth and win the supporters round. A last-minute winner against Liverpool later in the season was a good place to start.

What followed from here was season after season of immense consistency, not only from Ferdinand but the team as a whole. The transitional period that coincided with the more difficult moments in Ferdinand’s career was over and United regained their place as the dominant force in English football, and eventually Europe. The peak for Ferdinand came in 2008 with a Premier League and Champions League double, in which it could be said there was no finer defender in world football. His partnership with Nemanja Vidic was the bedrock for sustained success as United won three Premier League titles in a row, and gave the freedom for players like Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez to make the difference up front.

Injuries followed of course but few could argue that when Ferdinand has been fit, he is still one of the classiest footballers in the side. His remarks in interviews these days display a maturity in his character and an understanding of the United mentality. There are still question marks over his standing as a true United hero however, as some of his interests away from football detract from his phenomenal achievements on the pitch.

The fact he wore his #5 cap to the recent trophy parade in Manchester showed he still had one eye on self-promotion, even at a time when everyone came together to celebrate the achievements of the team and bid a fond farewell to Sir Alex Ferguson.

The constant updating of his movements on Twitter doesn’t always sit well with United fans who are more accustomed to the pipe-and-slippers demeanour of Paul Scholes and Sir Bobby Charlton. However, the tweets that invoke a rolling of the eyes from a lot of fans often include praise and thanks for the support the United followers have shown the team, both at home and away. That kind of acknowledgement goes a long way at a time when the Red Army can travel far and wide to watch United and receive little recognition from the players if the result hasn’t gone to plan.

The debate about the value of Ferdinand’s legacy will no doubt go on long after he has retired. It would seem though that some of the groans about Ferdinand’s character are niggling issues that will be forgotten in time. What will remain in the minds of the fans will be the commanding performances on the biggest stages, the hoisting up of the European Cup in Moscow, and the medals that define him as one of the greatest players in the history of Manchester United Football Club.

Source: MUFC Latest