‘I confronted one in all world’s finest strikers at Man Utd – Sir Alex gave me this recommendation’
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand revealed the advice Sir Alex Ferguson gave him to handle goal-machine Luis Suarez during his Anfield peak.
Suarez was a scoring sensation during his short three-season Premier League stint, netting a whopping 82 goals in just 133 games for Liverpool. Even for a seasoned pro like Ferdinand, keeping Suarez at bay was a Herculean task.
The 45-year-old was nearing the end of his illustrious spell at United just as Suarez started making waves in the English top-flight, leaving for QPR shortly after the Uruguayan’s big-money transfer to Barcelona in 2014 and retiring the following year.
Ferdinand has now confessed that during his extensive career at Old Trafford, Ferguson hardly ever coached him in the art of defending, except for one golden nugget of wisdom on how to tackle the formidable Suarez, reports the Mirror.
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“There’s maybe a couple of things in my 12/13 years I was at the club he showed me as a defender,” Ferdinand revealed on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel.
“He never spoke to me about defending – never coached me on defending. He was a manager. He did give me a couple of tips, one great tip he gave me with Luis Suarez.
(Image: The FA via Getty Images)
“I remember Luis Suarez was in crazy form when he was at Liverpool, one of the best strikers on the planet at the time, so obviously that was a detail we needed to address.
“He said to me: ‘When you get him, he will get you one versus one because that’s what he’s good at. Isolating defenders somewhere – you will get that at some point. Do not nibble, do not go in and try nibble the ball, make him have to beat you. So, wait, delay, say come on now you make a decision.’
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(Image: Getty)
“More times than not, he got the ball, and then turned out and then played to someone. Whereas if I went to nibble, he’s a bit like Nani; they were reactive dribblers. He would react to you nibbling, to then go and take your weakness from there. He was brilliant, and the ricochets he would get, he was brilliant at it.”
Ferguson’s advice to Ferdinand seemed to pay off when considering Suarez’s record against United. The Uruguayan first faced the Red Devils during the 2010/11 season as a relatively unknown player, having joined Liverpool that January as part of a £22.8m deal with Ajax.
Suarez notched a pair of assists, helping Liverpool defeat Ferguson’s side 3-1, and went on to lift his new team from 12th to sixth to finish off his first half-season. However, Ferguson seemingly figured him out after that initial loss, and the following season, Suarez did score his first goal against the club – but it came as part of a 2-1 away defeat after having drawn 1-1 in the home fixture.
The 2012/13 campaign saw Suarez fail to score at all when facing Ferguson, with both matches ending 2-1 to United as they stormed to a 13th league title under the Scottish manager.
Suarez’s final Premier League season saw him net his second goal against United in a remarkable 3-0 victory, despite a 1-0 defeat in the League Cup. Considering Suarez’s talent, scoring only twice in seven games against United isn’t particularly noteworthy, suggesting that Ferguson’s strategy he imparted on Ferdinand may have been somewhat effective.
