Rio Ferdinand was booed throughout United’s 3-3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Whilst Rio has never been a popular player with Chelsea fans, given his West Ham and Leeds history, as well as the issues over the England captaincy, it was clear that Rio was singled out for special abuse yesterday thanks to John Terry’s charge for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

Ahead of Sunday’s game, there was lots of talk over whether Rio would shake Terry’s hand. When asked about this, Rio claimed he wasn’t bothered.

“I couldn’t care less if he played or not,” he said. “I just think about playing for Manchester United and winning the game. I let the media talk about it, go on about it and create the storm. We are footballers. That is where we are best. That is where we enjoy being.”

Matt Dickinson from The Times then claimed that on the basis of this interview, Rio was “determined to highlight” the rift between himself and Terry, something which our defender disputes. Dickinson implied that Rio had orchestrated the interview with BBC’s Football Focus to make sure people knew what his feelings on Terry were.

Terry allegedly called Anton Ferdinand a “black cunt” in Chelsea’s defeat against QPR. In last weekend’s Cup game between the two clubs the FA scrapped the traditional handshake ahead of kick-off after it became apparent that the QPR players would snub Terry in support of Ferdinand.

Ahead of Sunday’s game people have wondered whether Rio will also refuse to shake Terry’s hand, given that it is his brother who the Chelsea captain has supposedly racially abused.

“Rio’s been fighting the racism issue for years,” said Ferguson. “But he’s nothing to be ashamed of if he does decide to shake John Terry’s hand.”

It is hard to imagine how Rio could shake Terry’s hand following what he believes he has said to his brother.

Whilst it would be fairly sad, given Fabio Capello’s bizarre unwavering support for Terry, Rio may feel as though snubbing the handshake will mean he misses out on England’s squad for the Euros this summer. How can the two play alongside each other in the centre of defence if they can’t even shake each other’s hand? Rio hasn’t represented England at a major tournament since joining United and this will obviously be his last opportunity. He was due to captain England to the last World Cup but was injured in training ahead of the tournament.

However, what will it say about Rio’s integrity if he does choose to shake the hand of the man who his brother feels racially abused him?

In his autobiography, Rio revealed that he once overheard a well known England defender call his West Ham team mate a “black bastard” and a “coon”.

“If I name the player who came out with the most racist abuse I’ve ever heard on a football field, no one would believe it,” he said. “I guarantee you’d be astonished. Legally I couldn’t reveal the bloke’s identity because I couldn’t prove anything in a court of law, but I heard it loud and clear. It involved a black player in our side up against a very well-known opponent. Every time our player got the ball and was attacking him, the guy’s going, ‘Come on, you black bastard. Try to get past me, you coon,’ all sorts of racist stuff. I’m thinking, ‘Am I hearing this right? I can’t be hearing this right.’”

Whilst of course I’m not for one second suggesting this player is Terry, it is what Rio went on to say about this incident which is important.

“The player concerned comes over as quite a nice bloke. You wouldn’t imagine he could come out with such crap but he does. He probably reckons it’s all part of the game. Well not to me it isn’t. It’s bang out of order, our player should have reported him. Maybe I should have done something about it, but I was young at the time and didn’t want to get involved. I’m disappointed now with how I turned a blind eye to it. I’d like to think if it happened today I would make an example of him.”

Terry is innocent until proven guilty, however damning the evidence against him might be, but if Anton believes that he has been racially abused by this man, surely Rio can’t turned a blind eye to it?

For this weekend’s game, Nike have made special boots for Rio Ferdinand, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wojciech Szczęsny as part of their #makeitcount campaign.

These players have committed to “Make It Count”, pledging to make 2012 the year in which they give everything in pursuit of perfection.

This campaign was launched via Twitter on New Year’s Eve and a wide range of athletes including Rio Ferdinand, Mark Cavendish and Mo Farah united behind the #makeitcount hashtag, stating their intentions for 2012 and challenging their followers to do likewise. Rio simply stated “‘More to Learn. Plenty to teach”.

Yes, the boots do have their Twitter names stitched on…

Rio Ferdinand put in a brilliant challenge on Ben Arfa in the box only for the linesman John Flynn to flag for a penalty. Mike Jones, who was filling in for Phil Dowd, had initially rightly indicated that a corner should be awarded, before a discussion with Flynn saw him award a penalty, denying United the three points.

Nemanja Vidic obviously has a place, whilst Rio will compete with Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones for the other spot in the centre of defence. Jones and Smalling have been used at right back whilst Evans seems to be Fergie’s preferred choice in the heart of defence.

“What I explained to Rio the other day is simply this: That we have two young centre-halves coming through and I’m have very happy to have four of them, and I hope to keep the four of them for a long time,” said Ferguson. “Rio is almost 33 now and obviously he has lost a yard of pace he had five years ago. That doesn’t mean to say he can’t tailor his game in a different way. Whereas he used to rely on his pace, he doesn’t do that now, he can’t do that now, that’s obvious. We’ve all faced that deciding moment in your career when you realise you have to change your game. I did it myself as a player when I lost that real sharpness and tailored my game differently. Rio will do the same and he’ll be fine. He will still play a big part for us.”

The following month, Rio was booed by fans at the Charlton game, with him still failing to put pen to paper on our latest contract offer.

“We met last week and things were going reasonably well, so hopefully it will be speeded up in the coming days,” said Rio. I do want to stay at Manchester United. I have said that from the beginning. I am happy here and I want to sign, but sometimes these things take time.”

The whole affair brings back memories of a depressing time, with United supposedly in decline, nowhere near as good as Chelsea, the Glazers days away from buying the club, and our best players apparently talking to rivals behind the club’s back.

Rio’s apparent betrayal was particularly painful, given that just the year before he had spent eight months out for failing to attend a drugs test at Carrington. The club and fans stuck by the defender yet the feeling was he was eager to leave us.

The relationship between Rio and the fans has improved since then, with him generally being a more popular figure now, although there are still plenty who haven’t forgiven or forgotten the defender for messing us around. He’s won five league titles and captained us to European Cup success in 2008, making sure his name is in our history books forever.

However, with Rio turning 33 next month, his body seems to have almost packed in and injuries are getting the better of him. A couple of years ago, the thought of this happening was fairly terrifying but now we are much better equipped to deal with his absence. Phil Jones has been incredible and is already a fans’ favourite, Chris Smalling just gets better and better and is eager for a stint in the centre of our defence and Jonny Evans has started to rediscover the form he enjoyed before last season, which was a year to forget for him.

This isn’t to say Rio doesn’t still have a part to play and I would prefer him alongside Vidic for any big game. He has the experience of playing against the best sides, against the best centre forwards, and there’s no amount of young, fresh talent that can make up for that.

Unlike so many players, Rio doesn’t take time to settle after returning from an injury. He comes back ready to play, as if he’s been in the team for weeks, meaning his frequent injuries aren’t as damaging as they could be.

However, when the press claimed this week that Chicago Fire were interested in signing Rio, I’ll admit I was intrigued to hear how much they would offer us for him. The American club has since played down the rumours, claiming that despite “admiring” our defender, “there is no substance” to reports linking him with a move to their club.

Rio’s representative, Jamie Moralee, was singing from the same hymn sheet, insisting that the only place he wanted to be is United.

“I understand the reasons why someone like Rio would be attractive to them,” he said. “There is an appeal on and off the pitch because he could help retain the global status provided by Beckham and Henry. But I must stress, these stories are nothing to do with Rio. We have never discussed anything beyond life at Manchester United because that is all he cares about.”

Rio is on £120,000 a week and if he was honest, he would have to admit that he doesn’t deserve to be up there with the likes of Wayne Rooney as our top earners. He played 19/38 league games last season and 13/38 the season before that. It would be foolish to think he will now suddenly rid himself of all injuries and return to the player who would always play 40-50 games in all competitions.

So, is it time to cash in? I think so, yes. His contract expires in 2013, meaning we would have to be negotiating a new deal between now and the summer. Now over the age of 30, he would be offered just a one year deal at a considerably lower salary than he is on now. Before asking whether the club would offer him a good deal, you should consider whether Rio would be willing to accept it. He could be offered a big money deal on a three or four year contract elsewhere, whether it was in the States or somewhere in Europe. Is he really going to stay at United, earning less, waiting to see if we will offer him another extension every summer? I doubt it and I wouldn’t really begrudge him for that.

You also have to consider whether his ego could stand being on the bench. Jones and Smalling are only going to get better and even when fit, surely it can’t be too long until he’s not first choice anymore. Would he want to spend the last years of his career winning trophies that he knew he hadn’t really contributed to? I can’t see it.

You imagine Rio would buzz off living in LA or New York for a while. Movies, magazines, clothing ranges, record labels… it would be foolish to think that football was the one, true love of his life. If the Red Bulls or Galaxy came in with a great offer would the club or player want to reject it?

Rio is a great player and can still do a job for us but I genuinely think this summer would be a good time to say goodbye, from the perspective of both the club and player. He can have his testimonial and his place in our history, but he isn’t a Giggs or a Scholes, willing to take a pay cut and job insecurity for the sake of being a United player, and why should we expect him to be? He’s been excellent but now it’s probably time for him to leave.

Channel 4′s Dispatches has today shown we have even more reasons to feel aggrieved, with 240 drugs tests being abandoned between April 2007 and August 2010 after players failed to attend. More than 20 of these tests occurred at Premier League clubs, including four failed tests at City and Everton, one at Liverpool and five at Fulham.

Not only have the FA not banned these players, they’ve swept it under the carpet. It’s hard to believe they hung Rio out to dry for committing exactly the same offence.

Just last month Sir Alex Ferguson claimed the FA treated us like “shit”. How can anyone disagree with that anymore?

——–
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Jonny Evans is one of several United players who this description fits very well. For the two seasons before last, after a £10m offer from Sunderland was rejected, Evans was very impressive when filling in for the injured Nemanja Vidic or Rio Ferdinand. As a 20/21-year-old then, who comes from a family of reds, he was being hailed by some (including me) as a future captain, whose solid performances, particularly against top opposition, left many of us ranting and raving about what a player he was going to be.

“Sometimes playing against bigger teams is a bit easier,” said Evans. “You are playing against better players and it raises your concentration levels. But I also know there are plenty of things I need to add to my game before I even think about becoming a top-class centre back at United.”

At the end of that season, Evans was given a well deserved new contract which would keep him at the club until he was 25.

“I am delighted to have signed a new contract,” he said. “I’ve supported Manchester United all my life and it’s a great honour to be able to continue to wear the badge of this great club.”

However, last season, Evans struggled when he was given an opportunity in the team, so much so, the inexperienced Smalling was often preferred to him. Too often he didn’t deal with balls in to the box and too often the finger was pointed at him when goals were conceded.

At the end of the season, when it was rumoured that Sunderland were interested in some of our players, plenty of reds claimed they would be happy to see Evans go. We should have kept Pique anyway…

On the opening day of this season, both Vidic and Rio picked up injuries and were subbed off. Smalling and Evans were their replacements, with Phil Jones joining them in the starting line-up for our next game against Spurs. All three of them put in impressive performances and again we get to sing the praises of our players.

Jones and Smalling, England U-21 team mates over the summer, have done nothing but impress during the pre-season and start of the season. Smalling scored against City in the Community Shield whilst Gary Neville has repeatedly claimed Jones looks like a future United captain. For such young lads, they play with composure and confidence beyond their years and are already both very popular amongst our fans.

However, when Vidic and Rio return from their injury, would our fans want these youngsters to keep their places in the team? The manager has today suggested this is a possibility.

“Rio and Nemanja are aware of the abilities of the young players, there is no question about that,” said Ferguson. “When they are both fit, or one of them is, I will have a decision to make.”

Essentially, United need to strike the right balance. Rio’s reoccurring injuries haven’t had a noticeable negative effect on his form and there is no way you could ever leave Vidic, our captain, out of the starting team if he was available. He is the first name on the team sheet. These two are like a brick wall. It’s hard to name many better defensive pairings, not just at United, or in England, or in Europe, but of all time.

Whilst I would to see the likes of Evans, Smalling and Jones in the team as much as possible, I think we need to be wary of getting carried away. By building them up, you’re only increasing the potential to set them up for a fall, and that would be a terrible shame. It’s probably totally impossible but it would be nice to keep them cocooned for as long as possible. Give them the opportunities in the team against easier opposition or in the cups, without throwing them in at the deep end. They’ve got years ahead of them yet, why rush it? Rio doesn’t have long left, in reality, this is probably his last season as a guaranteed starter, so why not make the most of that?

But, as always, Fergie knows best, and either way, this is a nice dilemma to be presented with.

Speaking with CNN World Sport, Vidic has shrugged off talk of him being a hard man, claiming the song helps his reputation, but is aware of how tough you have to be to succeed in this league.

“When you are playing football, it’s important – you want fans to love you because you play football for the fans,” he said. “When they are signing the song in the game, you feel very excited, and you do even more than you really can. I dunno. You let other players talk about it, but I think the song helps a bit. I think I learn in England, if you want to play, you have to be tough, especially as a defender you know, because the league is really tough, strong, physical, and I have to say in the beginning when I came, I had really hard time like I said, because of these things it’s so physical. I try to prepare myself for the years that come. I work so much in the gym, and obviously now, I have some benefits from that.”

Rio Ferdinand helps form the best defensive partnership in the league and one of, if not the best, in Europe. Vidic reckons the secret behind their success is the length of time they’ve been playing alongside each other, claiming it now comes as instinct.

“After six years, I think there’s nothing new really to know about each other,” he explained. “Now we play by instinct, it’s coming naturally. I have to say in the beginning we worked really hard to know each other, to understand each other, which is very important obviously and the success we have had has helped. We have a good partnership.”

Smalling had a great début season at the club, whilst big money has been forked out for Jones who has been assured of playing time by the manager.

With Rio not getting any younger and his injuries ruling him out for chunks of every season, it would be reasonable to guess he would be the one to make way for these younger players. However, Ferdinand insists he’s not ready to step aside yet.

“I remember what I was like when I was young,” said Ferdinand. “I remember looking up at Slaven Bilic, Marc Rieper, Alvin Martin and Steve Potts at West Ham. I was only a kid but I used to sit on the bench and think I should be playing. I am sure these guys think the same thing. If they have got anything about them they should. They are all talented footballers and, I believe, Manchester United players. At some point I am sure they will take over the reins. But I am competitive and I don’t want to be giving up my position to anybody. My task is to prove I am hungrier than them.”