Fergie not worried about Rio’s form
Sir Alex Ferguson has backed his under-fire defender Rio Ferdinand to come out of his dip in form. The United manager reacted fiercely to criticism of Rio in a press conference last week, and his reaction to similar questions this time around was very similar, if not quite as aggressive.
Graham Taylor has questioned Rio’s long term future with both Manchester united and England, stating that “his legs have gone”. But Sir Alex has defended Rio, insisting his quality has not been diminished by injuries.
“In my time here, we have always had one of our star players finding he gets criticised when he has a little blip,” he said.
“It seems to be part and parcel of being a player at Manchester United. We are all aware of that.
“No player likes to be criticised. We all like to be loved and want arms around our shoulders at times.
“But he will come out of it – there is no question about that.
“There is no discernible depreciation in his qualities – none at all.”
Rio has insisted he needs a run of games to find his form, and that’s an opinion Sir Alex wholeheartedly agrees with. Unfortunately time seems to be running out in the race to be fit for Sunday’s clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, as both Rio and Nemanja Vidic are expected to miss tomorrow’s Champions League group game against CSKA Moscow.
“Playing with injury is not the easiest thing to do, and we are trying to get it right,” said Ferguson.
“Calf injuries can be troublesome.
“If you don’t arrest it and give it proper treatment then you can end up the way we are now, and playing in games when you are not 100% fit.
“It is difficult to say about the weekend. He is doing some good work, and we hope we will see improvement in the two of them.”
It’s not all negative though. Sir Alex has Wes Brown back in the frame after a prolonged period of injury.
“The great thing for Wes Brown is that he has remained fit this year,” said Ferguson.
“Last season, he had a terrible run of injuries. But the previous year, he made the most appearances and played in the final in Moscow.
“When he is fit and we bring him in there is no better defender in the country. He is a real true defender.
“I have no worries about Sunday in terms of Brown and Evans – absolutely no worries at all.”
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Everyone has a blip in form every once in a while. The key to being a world class player is how you bounce back from your errors. He's not the only player out of form anyway, Vidic isn't exactly playing his best stuff at the moment so they both need to get their acts together when thy're fit.
Agreed. both are top lass defenders and you don't become shit overnight. they've clearly been playing with injurie and will look a lot sharper when they're back fit and healthy.