Varun Pai
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand recalls when Sir Alex Ferguson ripped into Ruud van Nistelrooy after derby defeat to Man City
Speaking on his YouTube channel (h/t The Metro), Rio Ferdinand recalled an incident from when Sir Alex Ferguson ripped into former Manchester United star Ruud van Nistelrooy after a defeat to Man City in the derby.
The Red Devils are not too fond of Man City and never have been. The Citizens are on top of English football currently but they won big games even before they became cash-rich.
Rio Ferdinand played in one of the legendary sides under Ferguson and recently revealed a telling incident from a derby. The young defender had just signed in the summer of 2002 and faced Man City in November.
They lost the game 3-1, and star striker Van Nistelrooy failed to score but exchanged shirts with the opposition. This did not go down well with the Scottish legend, and he ripped into the Dutchman in the dressing room.
‘We walked in, and the manager shut the door. It was quiet, and then all of a sudden, he just erupted…He destroyed him saying “if I ever see any of you walking with a City shirt ever again, you’ll never play for this club.”
‘That’s how he was, he was just mad. That’s when I sat there and thought “this is a big game, isn’t it?. I didn’t realise before that game, and ever since then, whether you win more or less, I knew that week leading up to a derby was all or nothing.’
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Cross-city rivalries are one of the fiercest in the game, and local tradition is evidence of that. Ferguson rarely lost the big games, and even if he did, he made sure to win the next one. Ferdinand would have surely understood the importance of a derby after that game.
The winning culture at United was ripe during those days, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could learn from that now. His side have been humiliated by their arch-enemies in recent weeks and it is perhaps time to return stronger than ever and lead the Red Devils back to their glory days.
