Rio: Dressing Room Behaviour After Milan Was Weird

Rio Ferdinand has claimed that the dressing room atmosphere didn’t match what someone might perceive a dressing room to look like after beating AC Milan 4-0.

He says the mentality at United requires you to always look forward to the next game and how this attitude is different to that of other clubs he’s played for.

“It was weird,” said Ferdinand. “We were ­sitting there and, if someone had come in with a camera, you wouldn’t have thought we had ­beaten AC Milan 4-0. And I think that speaks volumes as to where we are at as a team. The ­clinical mentality sets in when you play for United. At West Ham we were not vying to win anything. At Leeds, we were ­trying to get into the top three but we didn’t really get ­anywhere in the cup competitions. But, coming here, you get involved in that winning ­ ­mentality and it kind of grows on you. We don’t sit and dwell on individual victories. We look to win trophies and look to the bigger picture. We are motivated by wanting to win ­trophies. This season we are in a decent position in the league and in the next round of the Champions League. But we don’t jump around and harp on about what we have just achieved in this game. Respect to Milan, they are a good side, and we move on. It wasn’t ­subdued in the ­dressing room. There was a sense of achievement, yes, but not something we were jumping and dancing about. We are happy to be in the next round and we look ­forward with anticipation. We were delighted to get the kind of result we did. Milan are an experienced side with some quality ­players who can open you up in a second but we coped well with them.”