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Rio Ferdinand has named former Manchester United teammate Owen Hargreaves as a player who had a 'hard job'. The former England defender hailed the technically gifted former midfielder for the winning mentality he brought to the club.
Hargreaves was on the books of Manchester United for four seasons during which he made just 39 appearances for the club. His time at Old Trafford was severely ravaged by injury problems.
However, Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Hargreaves made a big impact in the dressing room with his attitude and calmness. He insisted that Hargreaves' arrival in 2007 played a big role in Manchester United winning the Champions League in 2007-08.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE:
“I just thought the guy knows how to win. He was at Bayern and won everything and played with and against some of the best players. He would bring that level of control and calmness into our dressing room in the biggest moments. We were trying to win the Champions League, we couldn’t. It is no coincidence that when we won it, he was one of the main players in the team."
Ferdinand insisted that Hargreaves never grabbed the headlines and remained underrated but was pivotal behind the Red Devils' success. The ex-England defender added:
"We always talk about great players and I feel he gets left out of the conversation sometimes. Some of the traits that were his super strengths weren’t the ones that would make the headlines. He was able to retrieve the ball, cover big spaces. Being able to cover big spaces on the pitch when your team is spread out, that’s a hard job.”
Hargreaves enjoyed the best spell of his career while at Bayern Munich having come through the youth ranks of the Bavarian side. He won 10 trophies during his time at the Allianz Arena before moving to England where he featured for Manchester United and Manchester City.
Rio Ferdinand chooses between Manchester United and Arsenal defender
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has labeled Arsenal defender William Saliba as the best centre-back in world football right now. While comparing the Frenchman to his former club's star defender Lisandro Martinez, Ferdinand claimed Saliba is the better defender.
While discussing the two defenders in his YouTube podcast Vibe with Five, the former England defender said:
"No man, come on [Lisandro Martinez is not the best centre-back in the world ahead of Saliba now]. That’s bias. They would be an unreal partnership by the way. But he’s not [better than Saliba]. If you ask any centre-forward, I don’t think they’re saying Martinez over Saliba right now."
Saliba joined Arsenal from Saint-Etienne back in 2019 and spent three successive seasons on loan in Ligue 1. He finally secured his pace in Mikel Arteta's side in the 2022-23 season and has since become a key player for the Gunners.
