At the beginning of this youthful, swaggering start to the season was a tired old sight. United are at the Hawthorns and are struggling to dispatch a spirited West Brom side. Rio Ferdinand takes off in pursuit of the ball. As he has done in his near ten years at United, he elegantly eats up the ground before doing what he has been doing in his last two years at the club; pulling up.
Rio’s latest hamstring trouble came immediately after Nemanja Vidic suffered a rare injury. But while only a season ago the loss of United’s premier centre-backs would have been seen as catastrophic, reds barely raised an eyebrow as first the rejuvenated Jonny Evans was summoned and then £16.5m of Phil Jones arrived.
All this while Chris Smalling who had the most stellar of debut seasons last season, was filling in at right back. United now have five outstanding candidates for centre-back. It must be assumed that when Vidic is fit he walks back in, but is it is no longer the case that Ferdinand is an automatic starter when fit?
Such a question may seem ridiculous when his overall United career is evaluated. A very strong argument could be made for the Londoner as the greatest defender in United’s history, or certaintly the one who had the greatest season. For all of Cristiano Ronaldo’s pyrotechnics in the double winning season of 07-08 it was the calm brilliance of Ferdinand in which the silverware was based.
That was him in his majestic pomp, swatting aside the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Fernando Torres as if they were mere Sunday league fodder. In the nine games from the round of sixteen all the way to extra-time in the final, United conceded two goals. Ferdinand was the architect behind that.
Sir Alex once waxed lyrical about Paulo Maldini after the great Italian had shut out Bayern Munich “ He gave a performance against Bayern where he didn’t make a tackle the whole night, it was art” How often do you see Ferdinand off his feet? How often do you see him frantically sliding to recover his position? How often is he booked? How often does he scythe down his opponent? All of these are rare things for Ferdinand because he comes from the Maldini school of defending like it is art.
Injuries however, ravage even the thoroughbreds. There was a stark contrast to the Ferdinand who destroyed Fernando Torres in a foot race in 07, to the one who was destroyed by the same player in the same situation in 09. His brutal back problems have forced him to miss nearly 60% of games these past two seasons and when a player develops that kind of record into his thirties, the dye is usually cast.
Stories of him standing upright for a flight to Porto in 2009 highlights the chronic nature of the problem but his performance the same night highlights the silver lining for Ferdinand. United went into the game after a goalless draw at Old Trafford and while it was Ronaldo again who stole the show, Ferdinand fitted straight in and played as if he was never injured.
His performances against Chelsea in the back end of last season came under similar circumstances. His pure natural ability means he can come in even after a lengthy spell out and deliver outstanding performances. When Antonio Valencia was pitched in at right-back for the last twenty minutes in the champions league tie at Stanford Bridge, it was Ferdinand who directed the rookie, cajoled him and when needed, covered him.
Ferdinand’s quality has never been in question, nor for me has his attitude. Roy Keane once took him apart in that infamous MUTV rant for believing his own hype because he played well for twenty minutes against Tottenham, but like a few of Roy rants it was wide of the mark.
He has of course, made some major mistakes. The missed drugs test cost him eight months and arguably cost United a title. A not so clandestine meeting with Peter Kenyon brought a visit to his house from a section of United support and those chants at Valley Parade. He did sign the deal. He got his head down and became a fantastic Manchester United player. The drugs test was mere stupidity, the contract negotiations especially in light of more recent scouse ones, were really no big deal.
He is one of only three who have captained United to a European Cup. He has last minute Stretford end winners against them and has that other rocket to boot. He goes proper mental whenever United score a big goal, he class in stepping aside for Giggs to collect the trophy at Wigan was just that; class. Yet some will never take to him. He isn’t United to those who project a more militant edge to their support. His name will never be sung like it is with Vidic or it was with Brown but next year will see Rio mark his tenth season at United.
Or will it? Is it conceivable that Fergie may call time on him? The excitement around Phil Jones at the moment has reason behind it. The kid is a monster. Quick, purposeful and with some genuine balls too. He will make mistakes, but his level of performance in Rio’s absence may dictate that he stays in the team.
Ironically it may be Rio’s transfer history that ensured Fergie moved for Jones. The Israel super-agent Pini Zahavi offered Rio to United before he moved to Leeds. Fergie admired the player but felt that in Wes Brown he had a better prospect. He soon realised his mistake and eventually had to pay Leeds £30m for a player who would have cost half of that had he moved sooner. He was lucky that Ferdinand went to Leeds originally and not to a club who weren’t in such a dire financial position.
Jones’s buy-out clause was well documented but with the posse of clubs waiting for him Fergie had to move now or lose any chance at ever getting him.
There were a lot of variables that swung our way last year on the way to number 19 but a major one was luck with injuries particularly with Vidic and Smalling. That horrid game at Craven Cottage the previous year, where United set out with Ritchie De Leat, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher as a back three was the low point that convinced Fergie that more depth was needed to avoid any such repeat. In paying for that depth though, he may be calling time on one of his greats.
During a training session in Washington during the summer Ferguson approached Ferdinand. He put his arm around him and spoke to him for a couple of minutes. The next day as the team-sheets were past around we realised why. He was on the bench. A new sight for him but as the season progresses it may become an old one.
This article first appeared in Red News fanzine: http://www.rednews.co.uk/
