Rio Ferdinand

More to the point, not a few of Rio's performances in major tournaments were some of the best I've seen from a defender. Top class. Typically craven decision by the FA, typically average thinking from an average manager.
 
Rio alongside Lescott would have been fantastic in my opinion.
 
Fergie has said that he has lost some pace.

Phil Jones provides better cover at right back. Cahill is younger and experienced playing alongside Terry for Chelsea.

For me the only question is Lescott or Rio, and I'm willing to defer to the manager's judgment here although I feel sorry for Rio.

I don't think you will see the incredulity among United fans for Rio's absence like you do for Carrick's (or Richards or Lennon or Sturridge in my opinion).
 
LLMU said:
I am glad Rio is not in the squad. That means he gets the summer off
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You are ultimately correct although I now have less interest in the euros knowing that racist cnut has been picked over Saint Rio of Peckham.

Mr. Roy has blown it before a ball's been kicked.
 
Don't see why he's only taking 7 defenders if one of the midfielders he's bringing is Downing.
 
Rio has been much better than Terry this season. Footballing reasons indeed.
 
Name Changed said:
I'm not surprised Rio wasn't picked. Once Roy had decided to bring Terry, it was a done deal. I can only guess that the injury worries would be the main reason.

I don't get this "footballing reasons" excuse though. Rio is clearly still one of the top 4 English centre backs.
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According to Roy he is not even top 5, Jagielka is backup Rio can't even make that.


Nothing more annoying to me than someone blatantly lying to you.
 
Going to the Euros is a lifetime dream for most footballers. Rio in particular is gutted, because a world class footballer he is, never played in the Euros.

From United point of view, maybe it's better he doesn't go. He can now have a few days rest and to be fair, he needs them. His back doesn't allow him to play 2-3 days in between.
 
Rio was a far superior defender to Terry at his peak, and he's proved he still is this season. Rediculous decision, had high hopes for Hodgson but I'm hoping for a group knockout now.
 
The Racists have won yet again.

Seriously though, Rio has proven this season that he is a) Still a top class defender and b) Better then John Terry.

His back is a problem, but if Hodgson had managed him well, he could have certainly got the best out of him for the biggest games.
 
DFreshKing said:
According to Roy he is not even top 5, Jagielka is backup Rio can't even make that.


Nothing more annoying to me than someone blatantly lying to you.
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That's a bit of a malicious interpretation. I'm sure Hodgson doesn't believe Jagielka is a better defender than Rio but for someone of Ferdinand's caliber, being on standby would be sort of an insult.

Having said that, his "footballing reasons" excuse does not wash because of all English centre-backs Rio had the best season and it's hard to believe that anyone seriously thinks either Cahill or Jagielka is better than him. The fitness issue is a realistic problem but Hodgson himself admitted that wasn't the main reason.

The most nonsensical take on it is that of the otherwise usually reliably good Martin Samuel.

And, as was discovered yesterday, for all his high-falutin’ reading and consideration of matters philosophical, deep down Roy Hodgson is all about the 4-4-2. So when required to choose one senior presence in the heart of his defence at the European Championship, he simply asked: who do I want in my back four against France, who is the best centre half in the country? And the answer came back: John Terry.
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So, Hodgson is all about the 4-4-2 therefore he decided to ditch the defender who plays the majority of his club games in that formation, in favour of the one whose experience of 4-4-2 consists of a handful of games for England as his club hasn't played it for over a decade.

And why not take the two best centre-backs in the country, as opposed to "the best" and a few other decent ones?
 
Siorac said:
So, Hodgson is all about the 4-4-2 therefore he decided to ditch the defender who plays the majority of his club games in that formation, in favour of the one whose experience of 4-4-2 consists of a handful of games for England as his club hasn't played it for over a decade.

And why not take the two best centre-backs in the country, as opposed to "the best" and a few other decent ones?
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The fact that he's only taken 2 proper central midfielders, and named Gerrard as captain, would tell me that he's highly unlikely to play a 4-4-2.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
The fact that he's only taken 2 proper central midfielders, and named Gerrard as captain, would tell me that he's highly unlikely to play a 4-4-2.
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I agree, I don't really understand what Samuel's on about. Normally he's much more sensible.
 
Siorac said:
That's a bit of a malicious interpretation. I'm sure Hodgson doesn't believe Jagielka is a better defender than Rio but for someone of Ferdinand's caliber, being on standby would be sort of an insult.

Having said that, his "footballing reasons" excuse does not wash because of all English centre-backs Rio had the best season and it's hard to believe that anyone seriously thinks either Cahill or Jagielka is better than him. The fitness issue is a realistic problem but Hodgson himself admitted that wasn't the main reason.

The most nonsensical take on it is that of the otherwise usually reliably good Martin Samuel.



So, Hodgson is all about the 4-4-2 therefore he decided to ditch the defender who plays the majority of his club games in that formation, in favour of the one whose experience of 4-4-2 consists of a handful of games for England as his club hasn't played it for over a decade.

And why not take the two best centre-backs in the country, as opposed to "the best" and a few other decent ones?
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It's not malicious (assume you do not fully understand the term) and insult being on the backup is stupid, if Rio does think that then maybe Roy is right on this one.

Fact of the matter is 5 centre backs have been listed in the squad and backup - Rio is not one of them.

If he refused the backup then he is not the patriotic Englishman I thought so fair do's.

If he has just been dropped then it's plain silly.

You should pick the best players for the team as England manager, then if players want to moan or refuse their position then deal with it accordingly.
 
DFreshKing said:
It's not malicious (assume you do not fully understand the term) and insult being on the backup is stupid, if Rio does think that then maybe Roy is right on this one.

Fact of the matter is 5 centre backs have been listed in the squad and backup - Rio is not one of them.

If he refused the backup then he is not the patriotic Englishman I thought so fair do's.

If he has just been dropped then it's plain silly.

You should pick the best players for the team as England manager, then if players want to moan or refuse their position then deal with it accordingly.
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Well, malicious as in you intend to cause further harm to Hodgson's reputation by suggesting he regards even Phil fecking Jagielka as a better CB than Ferdinand.

We all know what happened here though; he chickened out of the challenge of trying to convince both Rio and Terry to play together as it would have been a bit of a tricky thing. Therefore he chose the "blood and thunder, wears his heart on his sleeve, England's brave hero" defender as opposed to the somewhat laid-back, composed, classy one. No surprises there, he's an old school manager who's not so bright anyway.
 
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12016/7772697/Rio-Euro-snub-baffles-Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo believes Roy Hodgson has made a mistake by not picking his former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand for Euro 2012.

"Rio is the best centre-back in England and still one of the best in the world. I don't understand why he is not in the national team"
Ronaldo on Ferdinand
Quotes of the week
Portugal forward Ronaldo spent six years at Old Trafford and would like to have seen Ferdinand in Ukraine and Poland.

Ronaldo said: "Rio is the best centre-back in England and still one of the best in the world. I don't understand why he is not in the national team.

"Maybe the coach has justifications and we have to respect those. But I have to be honest, I love Rio.

"He's a great player, great man and he should be in the national team because he would help England do well... maybe to win the tournament," Ronaldo told The Sun.

Despite the absence of Ferdinand there is still a good chance of success for England this summer, according to Ronaldo.

"I always expect England to win a big tournament," he added. "England have some of the best players in the world and are always tough opponents for any team.

"I hope England do well in the Euros because I have a lot of friends there. It is a country I like a lot. I expect big things for England, the new coach and the country."
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Why do people underrate this guy?

Last year we had the second best defensive record in the league despite our best defender being out for the majority of the season, our left back forgetting that he is a defender, our first choice right back injured for a significant time of the season and having to play two young center backs at the right back position. Heck, we even played Antonio Valencia at right back and Michael Carrick at center back and still managed the second best record. A lot that down to the brilliance of Rio and Evans.
 
I made a thread in the Newbs questioning whether Rio was underrated or not, particularly in comparison to JT. The consensus was no, I disagreed.
 
puNANI said:
I think most football fans outside of United ones rate Terry over Rio. Don't know if we overrate Rio or he is underrated by outsiders.
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Underrated in England, like Scholes but on a lesser level, mind you some people are finally seeing the light about Scholes.
 
Most English fans and media love blood and thunder and don't appreciate natural talent and subtle techniques.
 
Rio is as 'world class' as it gets by any definition as a centerback. He oozes class both on the ball and positionaly. Most would agree that he makes it look easy at times.

In my opinion, the reason that he is seemingly under-rated by people is his lack of goals from set pieces. I realize that sounds trivial, but to the casual 'fan', when the center backs come forward on set pieces they are meant to be dangerous. If there is a weakness to his game, that's the only one. However, it's also the one that makes the highlights..
 
ArmchairCritic said:
Underrated in England, like Scholes but on a lesser level, mind you some people are finally seeing the light about Scholes.
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Finally seeing the light? He won 3rd best player in the Premier League back in 2007. I'm sure the majority opinion has always been kind towards him. Erikson on the other hand...

RedDevilCanuck said:
Most English fans and media love blood and thunder and don't appreciate natural talent and subtle techniques.
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Uh huh.
 
SteveJ said:
More to the point, not a few of Rio's performances in major tournaments were some of the best I've seen from a defender. Top class. Typically craven decision by the FA, typically average thinking from an average manager.
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Rio hasn't played in a major tournament since 2006. He's played for England 9 times since the end of 2008 and only once since the end of 2010. Essentially he hasn't been in the team for the last 18 months. What has changed? Hodgson decided to go with three CBs in the original squad and that's what he's gone back to after the replacements. If he'd decided to replace Cahill with a CB I might be able to see an argument for Rio, but he didn't. He went for a backup RB instead leaving Jones to cover the CBs as was the case in the original squad.
 
ravelston said:
Rio hasn't played in a major tournament since 2006. He's played for England 9 times since the end of 2008 and only once since the end of 2010. Essentially he hasn't been in the team for the last 18 months. What has changed? Hodgson decided to go with three CBs in the original squad and that's what he's gone back to after the replacements. If he'd decided to replace Cahill with a CB I might be able to see an argument for Rio, but he didn't. He went for a backup RB instead leaving Jones to cover the CBs as was the case in the original squad.
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His fitness and him being the best of the lot? You can't see an argument for Rio or do you also subscribe the the belief that Terry, Cahill, Lescott, Jones and Jagielka are all superior to him?

He only missed the 2010 WC because that fecking lump Heskey crippled him in training and we didn't make 2008 so that's a bit misleading.
 
Zen86 said:
Rio was a far superior defender to Terry at his peak, and he's proved he still is this season. Rediculous decision, had high hopes for Hodgson but I'm hoping for a group knockout now.
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Me too. With dire defensive performances. Especially form Terry, Lescott, & Kelly. Not so much Cole as I still think he's world class.
 
Why are people arguing over his footballing/fitness abilities? It's clear this was a non football decision taken to try and maintain some semblance of squad harmony. It is not as simple as Rio vs Terry either. None of us know what it's like behind the scenes in the England squad and who are part of the Terry faction. Maybe Terry has more support in the camp compared to Rio? Which would make sense considering he's featured a lot more recently.
 
Honestly, you'd have to be mental to think Terry was a superior player to Rio at their respective peaks. Rio, at his very best, was one of the best defenders I've seen. Terry was a very good player but ultimately not in the same class.
 
Rio is being a tit about this whole situation. He didnt get picked. Which is a good thing for United. I am sure Fergie prefers Rio does not play in the Euros.

Rio should accept he is on the decline and the best thing for him is to concentrate on his club career. Scholes retired early because he did not like the way he was being picked and played in different positions for England. He showed class in his decision - something Rio could learn about.
 
Ferdinand is the best CB I've seen in the top flight of English football. Terry really only had two very good seasons in 2005 & 2006 when he was playing behind Makelele, he's not as good as a whole crew of CBs including Campbell, Adams, McGrath, O'Leary and others.
 
Commadus said:
Rio is being a tit about this whole situation. He didnt get picked. Which is a good thing for United. I am sure Fergie prefers Rio does not play in the Euros.

Rio should accept he is on the decline and the best thing for him is to concentrate on his club career. Scholes retired early because he did not like the way he was being picked and played in different positions for England. He showed class in his decision - something Rio could learn about.
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So scholes retired because he didn't like how he was being used and rio is upset because he's unjustifiably been left out and would be happy to just come in as a squad player? And Rio's the one who's lacking class.

I love scholes but that doesn't quite add up. Anyway scholes has said himself he retired because he didn't think he was contributing enough.

If rio wants to keep playing for England then that's his prerogative. He played better than most of them last season and tbh England need more players like him. He's been screwed over a couple of times by the FA and still happy to turn up. This is probably his last tournament and he's missing it through no fault of his other than being the brother of someone claiming to have been racially abused by another member of the squad.
 
The FA have made an error by letting Terry continue playing for England whilst he is waiting for his court appearance. JT is innocent until proven guilty but it would be prudent to have not let him continue playing for England until this matter is sorted out.

Once they made this decision Hodgson was bound to pick him over Rio because of Fergie mentioning Rio ability to play 2 games in 4 days.

So for Rio he has been left out partly due to football reasons and partly due to the Jt situation. It's Hodgson's call but Rio should accept it and move on. It might not be fair but moaning about it will not remedy the situation.
 
Yeah but look at it from Rio's point of view. This is probably his last chance of representing England at an international tournament. He got left out with the excuse being football reasons. And he didn't say anything. Now ita become evident that it wasn't for football reasons and what Rio is just meant to stomach that? He'a been passed over for someone who hasn't had a good season, has been involved in numerous situations with England causing disharmony including cheating with a team mates partner, his interview at the world cup and now is currently due in court over racially abusing someone. Rio has every right to feel annoyed.
 
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