Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has shed light on his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s stint at the club. Ferguson is regarded as the most successful manager in the history of both United as well as the English top flight, after leading the Red Devils to a massive 13 league titles. Ferdinand enjoyed a stellar spell under the Scot as he rose to prominence while plying his trade at United only.
The center-back has now talked about how Sir Alex Ferguson delivered his fiery dressing room speeches, while recalling one incident during a clash against Arsenal. While United and Arsenal were already traditional rivals, Arsene Wenger’s arrival at Highbury in 1996 and his tussle with Ferguson changed the face of the rivalry, which became deadly.
Rio Ferdinand recalls Sir Alex Ferguson down-talking the Gunners by mocking them as ‘babies’
Ferguson and Wenger took their teams to a new level where even a draw was looked upon as a defeat. The two had mastered the art of winning and inflicted the same in their teams. Ferdinand, who was signed by Ferguson from Leeds in 2002 for £41 million had become a pillar of United’s backline alongside John O’Shea. The England international commanded the Red Devils’ defense and later went on to captain the club as well.
Speaking on William Hill’s Stripped Podcast, Ferdinand regathered many of his former boss’ team talks where he would absolutely down talk the opponent that the United players went all out. Be it Arsenal or Liverpool, the defender says Ferguson always had iconic speeches to to give in the dressing room which filled the players with utter rage to attack their rivals. He revealed:
“Something Sir Alex Ferguson used to say about Arsenal during his team talks was, ‘Get in their faces. They don’t like it, they can’t deal with it. They’re babies. Get right up against them and you’ll win this game. Rio, you’ll overrun them, you’ll overpower them’.
“The most iconic team talk Sir Alex Ferguson ever gave at Manchester United was when we played Liverpool at Anfield once and he just said, ‘I don’t even need to talk to you, really. It’s the worst Liverpool team I’ve ever seen on a team sheet’. That was it. And then yeah, we won that day.”
Arsenal and Manchester United were at the peak of their powers as they won the Premier League title on eight consecutive seasons following Wenger’s appointment as the Gunners’ manager in September 1996. It clearly seems however that Ferguson’s team talks worked, as United clinched five titles to Arsenal’s three. But it were the North Londoners who accomplished the famous ‘invincible’ run, winning the Premier League in 2003/04 without losing a single game [26 wins and 12 draws].
Rio Ferdinand too enjoyed immense success under Sir Alex Ferguson making 432 appearances in all competitions under him, winning 11 major honors including 6 Premier League titles and a Champions League. He quit Old Trafford in 2014, after playing 455 games for 20-time Premier League champions for QPR, as Ferguson too had called it a day in 2013.