Rio Ferdinand feels Manchester United are ready to stuff Jose Mourinho’s opening fusillade back down the Chelsea manager’s throat.
Mourinho’s view that neither United nor Manchester City were “terrific” champions over the past two seasons added the first dash of intrigue before next Monday’s grudge match at Old Trafford.
But after playing his part as doubles from Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck gave David Moyes the perfect start to life at United with an away win over Swansea, Ferdinand suggested it was time the champions were given some credit.
Ferdinand said: “That was his first soundbite of the season, wasn’t it? I think we expected it.
“A lot of teams envying for the championship are going to be struggling for points at Swansea, so it was a good result.
“I’m looking forward to Chelsea. We are really looking forward to it. Now we can start playing for something.
“We are professional people and want to win. You don’t appreciate it when people don’t put you in the position you should be.
“Being champions you warrant maybe a little bit more but every next person is tipping someone else to win the league and putting us in third or fourth place.
“It seemed people thought we should have come away with zero points and there would have been a lot of noise if we’d lost.
“The vibe all week was people wanted it.
“So it was nice to go there – especially in the gaffer’s first real competitive game – and to win convincingly as we did.”
Ferdinand’s view that it still felt odd to see Moyes occupying the dug-out role synonymous with Sir Alex Ferguson’s was echoed by Michael Carrick.
“It was a bit strange,” said the England midfielder. “But as a team, more than anything, we’re used to playing together. Nothing changes too much.
“We’ve still got the same expectations and pressure that we put on ourselves and it was great to get the first win for the manager on the back of last week. Hopefully that will continue.”
No comments:
Post a Comment