Rio Ferdinand has singled out three influential former Manchester United teammates outside of Roy Keane’s captaincy role at Old Trafford during his time as a player.
Roy Keane is widely regarded as one of the best captains in Premier League history after the 54-year-old Irish hardman’s profound impact at Old Trafford.
The iconic former Manchester United midfielder inherited the captain’s armband during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign after Eric Cantona’s sudden retirement in 1997.
Keane was widely admired for his no-nonsense approach and the Irishman famously captained Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to their famed treble win in the 1998-99 season.
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Rio Ferdinand says Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs played a different role to Roy Keane in Man Utd training
Rio Ferdinand shared the pitch with Roy Keane in the later stages of the former Manchester United captain’s legendary playing spell at Old Trafford.
Keane was axed from the United first-team squad in 2005 after his relationship with legendary former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson fractured.
Speaking on his podcast, Ferdinand admitted that the likes of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick were standout trainers at Man Utd compared with others.
“At United, it wasn’t only Roy Keane who drove sessions,” he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.
“Roy Keane would put demands on people or pull people up. But in terms of standards, ‘Scholsey’ was the best standard-setter in training in England.
“Yeah. In Man United training, ‘Scholsey’ was the best trainer most days. Giggs’ standards were always high.
“Like I can go through so [many], Michael Carrick was always high standards. Do you know what I mean?”
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Rio Ferdinand singles out Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney for the wrong reasons at Man Utd
While discussing the likes of Keane and Paul Scholes, United legend Ferdinand highlighted the difference in training with Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney.
“‘Wazza’ was a poor trainer most of the time,” he added.
“You get him [Rooney] in a game, unreal. Carlos Tevez, [he was] not great in training. Wouldn’t want him on my team.”
Ferdinand continued: “Same with ‘Wazza,’ I’d rather not be on their teams [in training].
“But them two [Rooney and Tevez] would be two of my first picks come Saturday. So, only a few people can do that.
“I couldn’t be like that. I couldn’t train below par all week and then just switch it on at the weekend.”
Ferdinand, who arrived at Old Trafford from Leeds United in 2002, lifted six Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy during his prolific spell with United.
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