Gerard Piqué reveals how he benefited from multiple senior professionals during his four years at Manchester United, despite being unable to break into Sir Alex Ferguson’s team.
After signing for Manchester United in 2004, Gerard Piqué impressed enough to make over 20 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson.
It was an unfortunate position for any young defender — regardless of their talent – because Ferguson was in the process of building another team to win the Champions League.
The unbreakable partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic meant Piqué would leave Old Trafford to return to Barcelona, where he went on to win it all.
There is no denying that United helped with Piqué’s development as he went on to become one of the best defenders of the modern era. He owes a lot to those who helped him during the early days at United.
Gerard Piqué learned directly from Rio Ferdinand
Ferguson filled his dressing room with big characters and talent.
Piqué was surrounded by world-class players from a young age at United, and it helped him as his career went on to become a key player during the most successful period in Barcelona’s history.
Appearing on the Podpah podcast, Piqué revealed how Ferdinand helped him a lot during his earlier days. He also mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers.
“Ferdinand helped me a lot and because his style was similar to mine, he played out with the ball, being tall, he had good ball play and there were many people who helped me.
“Cristiano we had a very good relationship because he also did not speak much English and we spoke Portuguese a little, with Tévez we spoke Spanish. Patrice I remember also helped a lot. There were there were many very good players. Then there were the English group, there was Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, the Neville brothers.”
One way to look at it is that the best defender in Barcelona’s recent history learned from the best defender in Premier League history.
That is why it would be silly to overlook the important role Ferdinand had in Piqué’s career.
Gerard Piqué trophy list
As one of the most decorated footballers in history, Piqué won over 30 major trophies for club and country, having won the Treble twice.
Piqué was part of United’s team in 2008 that won the double (Premier League & Champions League), despite not playing a key role.
In 2010, he lifted the World Cup with Spain and won the European Championship two years later.
Piqué also won nine La Liga titles and the Champions League three times.
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