Rio Is Back
Eleven hours of European and Premiership action and United have yet to concede a goal.
The team may have lived by its nerves in the closing 15 minutes of the midweek victory over a Roma side which was unable to convert two excellent chances. Nevertheless, United’s defence should be rightly proud of the shut outs which have allowed the team to zoom from second bottom to second top of the Premiership and to take an early command of its Champions League group.
It should not be forgotten that United were dazzling against Reading in the opening match and very good in the first half against Portsmouth. In the match against City, Ferguson’s team set up camp in the home side’s half. From the available nine points, United took away just two!
All of the defenders can take a bow for this ‘un-United’ steeliness. Edwin van der Sar has made chumps of all of those who thought his United career was going south. The capable Dutchman’s good work has been continued by understudy Tomasz Kuszczak. One near post save in the second half against Birmingham advertised the Pole’s reputation as a tremendous shot stopper.
Patrice Evra has made the United left-back position his own and looks as confident in his defending as when assisting Ronaldo in attack. Serbian monster Nemanja Vidic wins applause for his no nonsense style but his bravery attracts much praise too as demonstrated by the manner in which he flung himself to be first to a corner kick and power United to a one nil win at Everton.
Perhaps, worthy of a special mention in dispatches is Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand. Brown knows he is living on borrowed time and understands the influence of Gary Neville’s doctor on the first team composition. Yet, he is growing into the role of rightback. His superb cross which allowed Ronaldo to claim a silent victory in Lisbon in the Champions League match was evidence enough of his improvement as a fullback. Yes, he was given a chasing by Benjani at Portsmouth and fouls a little too often but for a player tipped within these pages for a move last summer, Brown’s form has been something of a surprise.
There should be little wonder in the manner in which Rio Ferdinand has come to the fore. The defender took a pasting after England were defeated by Germany last month and was dismissed as a player in the comfort zone who had failed to live up to his potential. Worse, his replacement was already in the team and operating temporarily at right back.
The Telegraph’s Henry Winter wrote : “Some of England’s most ardent supporters are not overly enamoured with the London-born Manchester United defender, whom they perceive as being languid bordering on lackadaisical at times.”
West Ham defender and Ferdinand’s brother Anton, spoke of his frustration at the treatment meted out to Rio.
He said: “Last season he played some of the best football of his career and won the title with United. But then you have one bad game for England and people jump on your back. That might be the reason why the England team is not doing so well at the moment.”
Ferdinand the Elder did his talking on the pitch. He did all that was asked of him against Israel and scored a killer ‘middle finger’ goal in the rout of Russia.
At club level, the defender has continued the form of last season and excelled against Everton, Chelsea and Roma.
His form has attracted praise from Steve Bruce, the doyen of United defenders over the last 20 years.
“Defensively United are rock solid,” the former United captain said. “Ferdinand and Vidic are a really good pairing.
“It would be wrong for me to make comparisons to me and Pally - I will let everyone else do that - but you can see they are two excellent players.”
Ferdinand is clearly enjoying his professional life. “There’s no better feeling than coming off the park than we’ve won especially with a clean sheet,” he told the Manchester evening News . “The longer we continue to do that, the better chance we’ve got of winning things.”
Yet despite the acclaim, the defender hankers after the rush of blood to the head football for which United are famed.
“We’re winning games, but we’re not entertaining the fans,” Ferdinand told the Times. “The whole heritage of Manchester United is based on attacking football, free-flowing football.”
United may be “winning ugly” but Ferguson will know that his miserly defence is keeping the team competitive whilst he fine tunes the attack. That is no small achievement. Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez and certainly Martin Jol at Spurs, would hand over fortunes right now to claim such defensive composure for their respective teams.
