Rio: Fergie Wouldn't Allow Us To Play Like City Did

Following City’s poor home showing in the derby on Wednesday, Rio Ferdinand has confirmed what we all knew, that Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t allow a team of his to play like that home.

The press rightly pointed out City’s inferior mentality, despite their false claims of a power shift, with the blues playing like a midtable team would do against United, not a side that is supposed to be aspiring for silverware and a top four finish.

“With City being at home, we expected them to come out and want to play against us,” said Rio. “But they just sat there and waited for us to come to them. Our manager wouldn’t allow us to play that way. That’s why he’s achieved what he has. He wouldn’t allow us to play at home and not attack and express ourselves. That’s what the boss always says to us before every game: ‘go out there, express yourselves and enjoy playing football’, which is what we always try to do. Everyone’s got their own style. Roberto Mancini is obviously Italian and has got his own way of thinking. If he thinks that’s the way he’s going to be successful at City then good for him. I can only speak as a United player and we would definitely never go out at Old Trafford and play defensively like that. It just doesn’t happen. City have got flair players like David Silva, Adam Johnson and Carlos Tevez, so it was surprising they played the way they did. But the game against City was probably our most solid, collective performance of the season. we controlled the game, defended well and passed the ball well in a pressurised situation away from home.”