Rio Ferdinand Announces his Retirement

[Orion]

Should have retired at United. He's a legend of the Premiership and he will go down as one of the best. It's a shame, ageing and injury have pushed him to mediocrity. Thought he was good enough for one more season, should have known when to quit.

 

[Toffee_Joe]

An absolutely brilliant player. I would echo those who say at one point he was the best in the world

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

Like him or not, he was still a top drawer defender for club and country.

Maybe he should have called it a day last summer, but he should be given credit for wanting to carry on playing. He certainly doesn't need the money so I don't think he can be accused of money-grabbing.

 

[thespus]

I hope he can find peace in retirement after his family tragedy.

He was world class between about 2006-2010. His partnership with Vidic was the best the PL has ever seen.

Terry and Carvalho from '04 - '05? 15 goals conceded with 25 clean sheets is otherworldly. They followed up with 22 and 24 the following two seasons. Adams/Bould and Keown managed '98 - '99 with less than 20 goals conceded also. From my knowledge, those are the only two <20 conceded seasons in PL history. Longevity wise, it might be Vidic/Ferdinand, but I don't think their peak was as brilliant as the aforementioned. Looking at the table from that era, it looks like their best was 22 conceded in the '07 - '08.

Other than playing in a foreign league that always bumps up a players reputation, what's the case for them being better at the time? Nesta won 1 league title at Milan in a much inferior league.

During a significant chunk of Nesta and Maldini's careers, Serie A was the best league on the planet. League titles are the measure of a team rather than an individual, and you're not making a very truthful argument there. Nesta has 3 Serie A Medals, 2 Champions League Medals, and 1 World Cup Medal. Plenty of smaller trophies mixed in as well and an abundance of runners-up medals during a time when he played in the best league in football. What's Ferdinand's case to be better than Nesta is a more pertinent question.

 

[Master D]

Terry and Carvalho from '04 - '05? 15 goals conceded with 25 clean sheets is otherworldly. They followed up with 22 and 24 the following two seasons. Adams/Bould and Keown managed '98 - '99 with less than 20 goals conceded also. From my knowledge, those are the only two <20 conceded seasons in PL history. Longevity wise, it might be Vidic/Ferdinand, but I don't think their peak was as brilliant as the aforementioned. Looking at the table from that era, it looks like their best was 22 conceded in the '07 - '08.

It's a good argument, Terry and Carvalho were immense in that 04-05 season, think Chelsea only lost 1 match as well as winning some cups and reaching latter stages of the Champions League during that period. Teams just could not breach them. Of course there's an argument to say they played under a more cautious manager during their peak years and with better defensive midfielders in front of them. I think the United pair were the best I've seen, it was a perfect combination for a pairing and they marshalled United to 3 consecutive titles and also 3 Champions League finals in 4 years which are amazing achievements. I believe a peak John Terry was better than a prime Vidic, both warriors but Terry read the game better and also far better in possession. But similarly a peak Rio Ferdinand was better than Carvalho. Makes you wonder why England never went further in tournaments.

 

[Layer Cake]

Easily a world class defender in his prime.

 

[Nath]

Rio was sensational in his prime.

Such a good footballer. As comfortable as anyone with the ball at his feet, strong, quick and great in the air. Him and Vida were colossal for us.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Still can't work out how England can have a centre back pairing of Rio and Terry and then Gerrard and Lampard in the same midfield and not get past a fucking quarter final. He was at Man Utd, The partnership with Vidic was class. Think it's a year or two later than it should have been though, His legs when 2/3 years ago.

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

Playing devils advocate here, but if Woodgate and King weren't so injury prone, would Rio have got the amount of caps he has?

I always preferred Woodgate over Ferdinand, he was just very unlucky with injuries.

 

[Nath]

Yeah because Rio didn't have his injury problems too.

Rubbish.

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

Ferdinand had nowhere near the injuries that King and Woodgate had though.

 

[HarvSFC]

Ledley King's become one of the most overrated players because of his injuries.

 

[G.B]

Neither Woodgate (who I rated very highly) nor King (whose injuries have, strangely, elevated him to supposed world class status) were anywhere close to a peak Rio, ever. He was legitimately one of the top 3/5 CB's in the world at his best. Vidic was such a long way behind Rio in terms of ability too. Like, absolutely fucking lightyears behind him.

 

[Livercool]

Dear god, this means his punditry career is about to begin.

 

[Mr. Scruff]

As I am posting this... it looks like my former team-mate Robin van Persieis joining Fenerbahçe.

The moment Sir Alex Ferguson told us in the changing room at Carrington that he was retiring, I looked to my left around 6 lockers where I saw a totally devastating looking RVP... he was shaking his head in shock, completely disheartened it seemed. Robin took it the worst out of the whole squad.

I, like many of the squad had been lucky enough to have played under Fergie for many years but Robin had just got to the club and part of his fairy-tale of joining was playing under Sir Alex.

We would travel to games together and he would talk about him & how he compared or was different to Wenger & ask loads of questions about the great man. He had found a place & a manager that completely got RVP - Ferguson knew RVP 's goals would get us the title back & so throughout the first 6months of the season he was drilling it home to the other players to get the ball into him or else! Imagine the confidence that would have been running through his veins after hearing his boss talk like that to a team he respected - about HIM and HIS importance to winning! And yes we went on to win the league that year and a large part of that was RVP's goals that got us there!

As a player he is so silky to watch, great touch, can hold the ball up & bring others into play, timings of his runs, skills & a dream of a left foot....oh and he can finish!
He was actually a better player than I thought he was when he arrived at Manchester United - I had played against him many times vs Arsenal, so I knew he was good but not this good. Maybe that was because he was up against me and VIDA though!! On a serious note though, I think that was the general thought through the squad too.
"We'll done boss on bringing him here "

The goal against Aston Villa FC will forever be remembered by Manchester United fans - the ball from Wayne Rooney....then the volley....oooofff stop it!!! Don’t get me started on the last minute winner away at Manchester City!!

Two players have left Manchester United this week for Fenerbahce – they both leave being a large part of the clubs recent success. Considering the prices being paid elsewhere, the club will deem both signings as a success.

Rio on facebook.

The part about Van Persies reaction to Fergusons announcenent is interesting. Clearly had a huge impact on him.

 

[Christian Slater]

RVP got stiffed by that retirement. I'd bet he would have joined City or Juve had he known.