Too early to write off Rio
Mon Oct 12 12:41PM
It was unsurprising to see Rio Ferdinand struggling during England's defeat to Ukraine, but calls for his head are premature.
The Manchester United defender was horribly at fault when he failed to deal with a long ball early on in England's penultimate World Cup qualifier, leading to the incident which led to Robert Green's sending off and Andriy Shevchenko's missed penalty.
It was just the latest in a number of high-profile errors, coming after a weak back pass that allowed Dirk Kuyt to net in the international friendly against Holland back in August and his arrogant attempted chip over Martin Petrov that resulted in Craig Bellamy's dramatic late goal in the Manchester derby.
Clearly lay-offs through injury have not helped his form, but Rio has always been prone to drifting off and making errors when not entirely on form.
He is not a natural-born defender, like a John Terry or a Gary Neville. He started out life as a midfielder before being turned into a centre-back and sometimes he fails to sniff out danger.
Instead he relies on his pace to get him out of trouble and, in fairness, more often than not it serves him well enough.
But when his fitness is not entirely up to standard and is lacking that yard of pace, he can be caught out, especially at international level.
Couple that with a poor attitude at the weekend - he went into the game doubting his own fitness and questioning his place in Fabio Capello's squad - and his performance was hardly surprising.
Indeed, Capello cannot have been impressed by the player's negativity before the game. He almost admitted defeat by making excuses before a ball had even been kicked.
It all comes at a bad time for Rio, who knows that Capello is a ruthless manager. He does not stand on ceremony and will not pander to a big star's ego or reputation. He will have no compunction in axing a player he feels is not playing well enough. Just look at Ferdinand's club-mate Michael Owen for proof.
From here on in, Rio will surely have to work to keep his place in the team, but I do not think it is time to hit the panic button just yet.
Rio still has plenty of time to regain full fitness, get some games under his belt, both with United and England, and regain his composure before Capello names his squad for South Africa.
Fitness is very much related to form, and once Rio has the former, the latter will follow.
Of course, Capello is entitled to consider other players, but I can't see the likes of Gary Cahill, for example, translating his club form on to the international stage between now and next summer. Very rarely does that happen to a previously uncapped player.
Far better to back Rio, get him back to full fitness and playing well, and that way continuity can be kept which I am sure will serve England better in the long run.
- - -
I was disappointed to hear that Emile Heskey is considering a move away from Aston Villa in a bid to secure his place in the England squad.
It shows a total lack of fight on the part of a man who, given his build, looks like he should be full of it.
Instead of jumping ship in January and going for the easy option, he should be instead throwing the gauntlet down to his fellow Villa strikers by telling them: 'your position is not safe'.
He probably thinks Capello will be impressed by his desire to play for his country, but I'm not sure if his comments will go the other way; a desire to stay and battle for a place in the Villa line-up could be perceived as an equally, if not more, desirable quality to possess.
One man sure to be unhappy at Heskey's comments is Martin O'Neill. The Villa boss is fiercely loyal to his players and he expects the same compliment to be returned. In this case, it has not.
Considering the fallout from Gareth Barry's public admission he wanted to leave the club, it will now be interesting to see how O'Neill, and the Villa fans, react.
As panic sets in amongst the England soccer team sparked by the flares in Ukraine, finally everyone has woken up to the fact that most of the England team is of pensionable age and ought to be playing for Luton Town FC and certainly not a World Cup soccer squad
From arttidesco on Mon Oct 12 12:53PMAs panic sets in amongst the England soccer team sparked by the flares in Ukraine, finally everyone has woken up to the fact that most of the England team is of pensionable age and ought to be playing for Luton Town FC and certainly not a World Cup soccer squad
From arttidesco on Mon Oct 12 12:54PMAs panic sets in amongst the England soccer team sparked by the flares in Ukraine, finally everyone has woken up to the fact that most of the England team is of pensionable age and ought to be playing for Luton Town FC and certainly not a World Cup soccer squad
From arttidesco on Mon Oct 12 12:55PMExcellent Article once again Paul.. You're on a Hot Streak
From venkatzizu on Mon Oct 12 12:55PMI agree with this comment as I usually do with Paul Parker
I would not write Ferdinand off but I would rather watch a stopper and purely a defender than a footballing Centre Half
Footballing defenders to me always look likely to give the ball away.From rblackhurst2004 on Mon Oct 12 12:57PMRio was the best english defender in Germany.
From m_sow on Mon Oct 12 12:58PMExcellent article parker. You are definitely getting better. Well thought arguments.
From ambepat on Mon Oct 12 12:58PMI wonder how much Ayatollah Ferguson paid our correspondent to write this piece, did he get a one off payment or does he get a cut when Rio is deemed surplus to requirements at the pantomime of dreams ?
Portsmouth allegedly could do with a couple of players not too far past their sell by date
From arttidesco on Mon Oct 12 12:59PMIn the end this game was a friendly. It was probably a blessing in disguise that England lost as it brings them back down to Earth. Capello himself was talking about England winning the world which brought back memories of Eriksson. There is absolutely no need to think about anything but the next game in international football. Ferdinand is a world class defender and will be right for the big games. One meaningless defeat is certainly nothing to worry about.
From monsieur_lozenge on Mon Oct 12 01:01PMWell, maybe you should first realize that Ferdinand is a rubbish defender.
From meiling_bedard on Mon Oct 12 01:02PMDOG S**T
From leedane76 on Mon Oct 12 01:11PMI didn't even know anyone WAS writing off Rio! How pathetic! Al lengthy injury lay-off, hardly any games for Man U, and a bloke who has a history of coasting in unimportant games - Ukraine away in a meaningless fixture was hardly going to bring the best out of him! On his game he's one of the best in the world, and he'll be there next year, have no doubt.
The thing is, he's a type of player we love to hate in this country: he's flash, high-profile, brain-not-brawn, very rich, and plays for Man U. But if you've just drawn Germany in the semis, you'd want him there, I promise you!
From pauljwitts on Mon Oct 12 01:13PM1 word for rio dog s**t and a soft one at that the fookin t*t
From leedane76 on Mon Oct 12 01:13PMGood read
From gerry_afc on Mon Oct 12 01:13PMarttidesco SHUT THE FU*K UP! and the rest of you are all talking @#$%.
From unclefesta_32 on Mon Oct 12 01:19PMarttidesco are you insane? aging team lmfao when italy won the world cup did anyone care about there age no. England are not past it... far from it
From spennylad on Mon Oct 12 01:20PMrio and ferdinand just dont live up to it.
From orngmnstr on Mon Oct 12 01:31PMEver since Rio was torn to shreds by the pace of Mighty Northern Ireland's David Healey and Warren Feeney (neither of whom are good enough for the Premiership, let's be honest) he has been looking increasingly flaky. Face it - he turns like a battleship and England are not exactly short of choices at centre back, so time to look elsewhere methinks. His defensive partners have been carrying him for too long, for both club and country.
Capello's biggest error on Saturday was not taking the players off and insisting the area behind the goal was cleared when the flares were thrown. It is not worth risking the career (lives?) of professional footballers over a meaningless (to us) game. It would also have made FIFA address the problem - if it had happened in England we'd already have been thrown out of the competition.
From runnymede98 on Mon Oct 12 01:35PMRio Ferdinand is a bloody fraud; the only people who think differently are the Man U fans. How many blunders has this joker made over the years; tons of them. He is a liability get him out of the squad nevermind the team; Rio is not alone however; can you imagine the likes of Johnson; Bridge; Barry; Heskey; Carrick as world cup winners??? not on your life; their all frauds being carried by their teammates. Yes England have got some of the worlds best players; results prove that but we also have some laughable dross like the useless jokers already mentioned. C'mon they are @#$%!!!
From markdmaguire on Mon Oct 12 01:36PMPhil Jagielka, when fit should start
From jontyking64 on Mon Oct 12 01:49PMFerdinand has been making mistakes lately alright. Why is that NOT a good reason to axe him and give someone else a chance? All your arguments - started out in midfield, pace rescues him often but deserts him only when off-form - are exactly the kind of things Capello hates (that's a good thing). He doesn't like players making excuses for bad performances. If you went up to Capello and said Ferdinand shouldn't be axed because he started out in midfield and he needs to get his form back to get pace, Capello will spit at you.
You said it yourself - he's not one to stand on ceremony. If Rio needs form to get pace, that's what his club is for. The club has 38 games to win the league, and it doesn't matter if they lose a few. But at the World Cup, if you lose once, you're finished for 4 years. There are very few risks that can be taken in the knockouts of the WC, so axing underperformers, no matter what their reputation, is completely justified. This is what Sven and McClaren never did, and what Capello needs to do to ail 44 years of hurt.
From akilesh_radhakrishnan on Mon Oct 12 01:50PMDoes anyone else think its a bit of a coinsidence that Ukrain won and now look ike they may put Croatia out?
On the topic of Ferdinand he has been past his best for about 3 seasons and if it wasnt for Vidic covering him Ferguson would have shipped him out by now. Upson even if im not his greatest fan looks alot more assured in centre back for England and Rio should be used as back up at bestFrom danswaste on Mon Oct 12 01:56PMHe play's for man u,so ive written him off already!!!!
From irmcraut480 on Mon Oct 12 02:02PMIts a good thing Rio depends on his pace and not his memory, the forgetful wideboy. Parker, do you blog for ManU tv? if not, perhaps you should...
From goonerforlyfesmate on Mon Oct 12 02:03PMI dont think Ferdinand is finished but he clearly shouldnt have played against Ukraine as he looks far from fit and has hardly played for Man Utd this season because of his back problem, i see Capello is saying the ref nearly get it wrong and sent Ferdinand off instead of Green, he should have let him send Ferdinand off then and it might have saved all the hassle!
From segmentrecords on Mon Oct 12 02:05PMRio who?
From johnhannon on Mon Oct 12 02:05PMMore often than not when the ball comes to him I panic and the same goes for 'calamity' James, but new blood in the squad seems to be doing the trick nicely, Carlton Cole, Milner etc. Heskey,'Lump'ard and co. just leave us pulling teeth, more experimentation please Mr. Capello
From stepchild2004 on Mon Oct 12 02:09PMWell done Parker , not bad
From captainsexy71 on Mon Oct 12 02:36PMhahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahah stop blushing, Rio is the best CB in the world...stop pumping you soundless horn....
From godlisten2002 on Mon Oct 12 02:40PMrio has been injured...now hes back and getting up to speed....and hes still better than terry, cole lampard and gerrard if he was still on crutches!
From stuartxland on Mon Oct 12 02:48PM
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