UTD Unscripted: Proud to be half of a pair
When I signed, Ferguson didn’t say at that time that he wanted to partner me with Rio, but he was clear that he was counting on me, expecting me to adapt fast and do what I do the best. In the beginning it wasn’t like everything was going really smoothly for me, but after five or six months I started performing on a level that everyone at the club was expecting from me.
Mikael was a France international, Wes was a great player but as we all know he was so unlucky with injuries, especially earlier in his career. He could also play different positions, as we saw in 2007/08 when he was at right-back and played a big part in us winning the Champions League. I believe at the time I joined, the boss wasn’t thinking of me and Rio as a great combination, he just wanted to have four central defenders he could switch, and that would play a big part in developing a strong defence. It’s not just two players because as we know in the Premier League, there are so many injuries.
When I got to train with Rio, I could see all the attributes which made him so good. He was very fast, strong and technically one of the best defenders of the time. The main strengths for him are the speed, reading of the game and ability on the ball. I think those are his biggest abilities, but in general, he was just an all-round top player. He had everything. Maybe most important of all, maybe the main thing about him, was his love for football, and he showed that every day in training when he stayed doing extra work. He would do anything and everything that helped him to be better than he had been the previous day, and I liked that about him; I like that mentality.
He was also a really good guy, I quickly discovered. And a busy guy! He always has been, but in a good way. He was always interested in many things; music, investing… his mind is always working. I like that about him because I could talk with him about different things. I have to say also that he helped me when I came. He was the first one who gave me a hand, showing me around the place. Especially in the first few months, he helped me to settle and I think it was then that our partnership began because I could see straight away that this was a guy I could trust. At the end of the day we are different characters, if you look at us, but we got on well together. I think that difference we maybe had in our way of viewing things actually helped us complement each other.
We worked on our relationship on the pitch. We got on well together off the pitch as well, which was to our benefit, because that trust was nurtured and became rock solid. I think it’s important for defenders that you trust your team-mate playing next to you, especially when you’re a central defender because I think those two are the defenders who really depend on each other. I think we knew that from the beginning, we worked on our relationship and that’s maybe why we were successful.
