We know it’s unfair to pick on those who might be a tad…slow…but we have to question Rio Ferdinand’s grasp of all things logical.
After failing to come to terms with the nuances of appointments and mandatory drug tests, the Manchester United centre back has revealed he just could not get his head around why he was dropped against Austria,
“It was a shock to find myself on the bench for the Austria game. Nobody wants to be on the bench and nobody is happy about it. You can ask any footballer and they would say the same.”
So he’s “shocked”and astounded to be dropped even though he was utter toss leading up to the match and were perhaps the first centre back we can remember to be subbed off for playing so poorly (in the 4-1 drubbing by Middlesbrough). Keepers are dropped for one howler let alone a dozen or so matches of mistake-laden mediocrity.
It’s strange, before this season Rio was a class defender who was getting a bit of stick for forgetting to piss in a bottle. But after dragging contract talks on for ages, irritating manager and fans alike, because “his agent” felt that £100,000 a week wasn’t enough for poor Rio to make ends meet – the £29 million defender was on thin ice. To then follow up with such lacklustre displays on the pitch has rightly left him less than popular with the United faithful.
We can only hope that someone explains to Rio that you cannot be paid in more in a week than most make in a year, not bother to turn up for drugs tests leading to your club losing their then-key defender for 8 months, perform terribly when actually on the pitch upon your return, and STILL expect to start for your country.