Man Utd flops begged Rio Ferdinand to not criticise – ‘I ain’t saying sorry for information’
Rio Ferdinand once claimed agents of Manchester United players begged him to ease off on criticising their clients.
The United legend, who turned 46 on Thursday (November 7), has not held back when assessing the performances of the current crop of players at the club over the years. The former defender made 455 appearances during his time at Old Trafford, winning six Ex-Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson following his controversial move from rivals Leeds United.
Right now, United sit 13th in the Premier League, and are waiting on the arrival of Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim, who is set to take over next week after the sacking of Erik ten Hag. Performances have been poor so far this term, as they have been for two of the last three seasons at Old Trafford.
While Ten Hag’s first season in charge of United was a success, winning the Carabao Cup and guiding the club to a third place finish in the Premier League, the two campaign’s prior were disastrous. Last term, United finished eighth a whopping 31 points behind title winners Manchester City.
Back during the 2021/22 season, the year before Ten Hag took charge, they finished sixth, seeing out the season with Ralf Rangnick in charge. In March that season, they were resoundingly beaten 4-1 by City at the Etihad, which led to the likes of Ferdinand, and fellow former United stars Paul Scholes and Roy Keane slamming the players.
And the defeat prompted Ferdinand to reveal some agents had been calling the ex-United star, asking him to tone down his criticism of them. Speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast, Ferdinand said: “I really, really hope these players are walking in the next day and are going, ‘I’m embarrassed, my pride and ego has taken a battering and I’m really embarrassed about it, I’ve got to make this right, you get me on that training field and give me every task you want to get this right’.
“I hope that’s the attitude, I hope that’s what’s in there, I don’t know if it is. I bet there’s a lot of finger pointing. I bet you any money there’s a lot of, ‘he’s done this, he’s ain’t this, he ain’t that’. The amount of phone calls I get from agents, ‘oh, can you not say this, why are you criticising so and so’, do me a favour.”
He continued: “If I was being vindictive and personal and saying bad things personally about these people I’d get it, I’d take the call and say sorry.
(Image: Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE/Youtube)
“But I ain’t saying sorry for stating facts. I ain’t saying sorry for tactically looking at the way people are playing and highlighting situations where you think you could do better there. You [the player] should be saying, ‘you know what, I know that, I understand, I know, you ain’t got to tell me, I will do better’. It’s not, ‘oh, you’re digging me out in public’.
“You should be your biggest critic, you shouldn’t be thinking about what I’m saying, this is my job, I’m paid to do this. Go on the training field and work, don’t worry about me, I’m going to be sitting here talking, my career’s done. When I’m highlighting the positives no one’s calling then, no one’s going, ‘thanks for that, you’ve done us a favour.’ You don’t get that so don’t call me when I’m talking negatively about your player, I’m talking from a tactical standpoint.”
