DESPITE THE FACT he was being interviewed by ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, it was almost inevitable that Rio Ferdinand would be asked about Roy Keane during his appearance at the 2014 Web Summit in the RDS today.
However, despite his former captain recently criticising the defender in his book for missing a drug test and costing Manchester United points because of his resulting suspension, Ferdinand had nothing but praise.
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Even if they didn’t get off to the best of starts.
“One of my first training sessions, I got the ball and passed it to Gary Neville, who was on my team,” said Ferdinand.
“In a normal world, that was a good ball; you pass to your team-mate, then you go up the pitch. Keaney turned round and started going ‘pass it forward, take risks. You’re not at Leeds or West Ham now, you’re at Man United.
“I stood there and thought ‘this guy is crazy’. Pass it to a team-mate, that’s what you’re taught as a kid. I got home and thought ‘this guy is nuts, how am I going to deal with him on a daily basis?’”
However, when he reflected on it further, he figured out what message Keane was trying to get across.
“I realised you do have to take chances and that’s how I ended playing for the rest of my career, not just giving the simple ball to Neville or whoever but trying to get the ball in to the strikers’ feet – Rooney, Van Nistelrooy or Ronaldo – so they could turn and get at the other team’s back four.”
Rio Ferdinand's first thoughts on Roy Keane - 'this guy is crazy'
DESPITE THE FACT he was being interviewed by ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, it was almost inevitable that Rio Ferdinand would be asked about Roy Keane during his appearance at the 2014 Web Summit in the RDS today.
However, despite his former captain recently criticising the defender in his book for missing a drug test and costing Manchester United points because of his resulting suspension, Ferdinand had nothing but praise.
Even if they didn’t get off to the best of starts.
“One of my first training sessions, I got the ball and passed it to Gary Neville, who was on my team,” said Ferdinand.
“In a normal world, that was a good ball; you pass to your team-mate, then you go up the pitch. Keaney turned round and started going ‘pass it forward, take risks. You’re not at Leeds or West Ham now, you’re at Man United.
However, when he reflected on it further, he figured out what message Keane was trying to get across.
“I realised you do have to take chances and that’s how I ended playing for the rest of my career, not just giving the simple ball to Neville or whoever but trying to get the ball in to the strikers’ feet – Rooney, Van Nistelrooy or Ronaldo – so they could turn and get at the other team’s back four.”
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