Legendary Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand spent more than a decade strutting his stuff under Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United, but has come clean and made a forthright admission about Pep Guardiola and rivals Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Ferdinand has bluntly revealed in full candor that if he could have worked under one other manager in the world, it would undoubtedly have been Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n
The former United defender spent 12 years at Old Trafford working with Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes, winning six Premier League titles as well as two League Cups, one Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
Despite these glittering achievements, Ferdinand believes he would have been an ideal fit in Guardiola\u2019s style, which has taken the man whom many regard as the quintessential coach and manager in the world from Barcelona and Bayern Munich to Manchester City.<\/p>\n
“Pep Guardiola,” Ferdinand replied unhesitantly when asked by Robbie Savage on 606 about who he would like to have worked under.<\/p>\n
“The way that he coaches would have suited me perfectly. I would have loved to have played under him in a way that you start the attacks.<\/p>\n
“I used to come off the pitch sometimes and me and (Nemanja) Vidic would have been walking down the tunnel and we\u2019ve won three or four nil and I\u2019m fuming.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s asking me what\u2019s wrong and I\u2019m saying I hadn\u2019t touched the ball. He\u2019d say: \u2018Rio, we\u2019ve won, what are you talking about, we\u2019re happy, we\u2019ve had nothing to do\u2019. I\u2019ve come to play football, mate, I don\u2019t want to just stand there.\u201d<\/p>\n
“So in Pep\u2019s team, it\u2019s all about building from the back, dominating possession and having loads of the ball. I would have loved to sit in the changing room as a fly on the wall and just listen to him.”<\/p>\n
That\u2019s as good and fitting a tribute as any that any top flight player could pay to a coach!<\/p>\n
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