England captain Rio Ferdinand says hard work and dedication are behind Nani‘s turnaround in form this season.
The portuguese winger has suffered with inconsistent performances during his Manchester United career, but after returning from injury in the second half of this season he has become one of the first names on Sir Alex Ferguson‘s team sheets.
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Manchester United play Host to West Ham this evening after a crushing 3-1 defeat at the hands of Everton in their last Premier League outing.
The Champions will be hoping to bounce back in style after the disappointing result at Goodison Park, by beating a West Ham side currently just 4 points above the relegation zone.
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The foundation of any title winning team is built firmly on the shoulders of a solid centre back pairing. From the early days of Sir Alex Ferguson‘s reign it was evident that he also shared this philosophy.
Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were the foundation for much of our early Premier League successes, while Ronny Johnsen and Jaap Stam starred in the famous treble winning side of 1999. More recently, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have forged arguably the best central defensive pairing in world football, propelling Manchester United to 3 consecutive Premier League titles and back to back Champions League finals.
That foundation has been rocked this season by the losses of both Vidic and Ferdinand for sustained periods. Vidic has played a part in 13 Premier League games this season, while England captain Ferdinand has managed just 6.
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The revelations of John Terry’s affair with Vanessa Perroncel have dominated the headlines since the story broke last week and it looks like it’s far from being over, with the news of the World apparently ready to uncover more scandals this Sunday.
The Chelsea skipper has shamed the England captaincy with his antics on more than one occasion, and it could be argued he never deserved it in the first place. This isn’t the first time he’s cheated on his wife and as we told you in our catalogue of shame, cheating isn’t Terry’s only vice.
Debate has raged all week whether Terry would resign from the captaincy, face the sack by Fabio Capello or be allowed to lead England out at the World Cup this Summer. Capello answered the question yesterday by stripping Terry of the captain’s armband in a decision that shouldn’t have been needed to be made. the England captaincy is the single greatest sporting honour to aspire to in England and it has never been as disgraced as it has by Terry.
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John Terry’s recent indiscretions have rocked the football world once again. Details of his affair with the ex girlfriend of England team mate and long time friend Wayne Bridge have provoked calls for his resignation from the role of England captain.
While some ex Chelsea stars like Jason Cundy and idiots like Darren Gough have defended him, most neutral pundits and journalists seem to be in agreement that Fabio Capello should strip Terry of the captain’s armband. Of course if he had any sense of decency he’d have resigned as captain when the stories broke. The man has no shame, but that’s another debate entirely.
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When Fabio Capello took charge England he had a difficult choice to make: Should he stick with John Terry as his England captain, or appoint Rio Ferdinand or Steven Gerrard in his place.
The Italian chose the easy option and Terry was confirmed as captain, but was it the right decision?
At the time I thought the other choices would make far better captains. Rio Ferdinand had just led Manchester United to Premier League ad Champions League glory, whilst Steven Gerrard had dragged Liverpool to a Champions League win a few years earlier, albeit with a dive or two along the way.
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Rio Ferdinand was today banned for 4 matches following his charge for violent conduct.
The charge relates to the incident in the Hull City game where he swung his arm at Craig Fagan.
The incident mirrored an identical incident last month where Liverpool‘s Javier Mascherano swung an arm at a Leeds United player. No charge was brought to Mascherano.
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Sir Alex Ferguson could welcome Rio Ferdinand back into his Manchester United squad tomorrow as they take on Hull at Old Trafford.
His return will be a welcome boost for Manchester United after the major injury crisis they’ve gone through at the back.
Defensive partner Nemanja Vidic is still missing, and with Wes Brown and Jonny Evans seemingly unable to develop a competent partnership, Ferdinand will bring experience and leadership back to the defence.
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Following the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid last Summer, Manchester United received a world record transfer fee of £80 million. Of that £80 million, only around a quarter of it was reinvested into the squad.
Antonio Valencia was brought in for £16 million. Gabriel Obertan arrived from Bordeaux for £3 million. Michael Owen signed no a free transfer, while Mame Biram Diouf and Paul Poga’s fees are undisclosed, but thought to be nominal. If you assume Ferguson has been given no extra funds, that leaves around £60 million.
Sir Alex Ferguson has repeated the same mantra since last Summer, that there’s “no value” in the transfer market. But it’s a mantra that’s becoming increasingly hard to believe for many United fans.
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Manchester United defender Wes Brown admits his injury came at the wrong time this season because it coincided with so many others.
At one point United were without eight senior defenders, meaning Patrice Evra was the only recognized defender in the team for the away defeat to Fulham.
“I got injured at completely the wrong moment,” he told Sky Sports.
“There were no defenders going into Fulham, just Patrice (Evra) on his own, which was a bit disappointing to say the least.
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