Featured Image Credit: ESPN
Topics: Michael Carrick, Manchester United, Rio Ferdinand, Football, Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd, West Ham
Luke Davies
Topics: Michael Carrick, Manchester United, Rio Ferdinand, Football, Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd, West Ham
Former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick did not name Cristiano Ronaldo when revealing the worst loser he played alongside during his career.
Carrick, 43, was an unsung hero during his time at Man United between 2006 and 2018.
During his time with the Red Devils and the England national team, he shared a dressing room with world-class operators such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Ronaldo.
Of course, United often found themselves lifting silverware at the end of Premier League campaigns, but this was not always the case.
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And the likes of Rooney, 39, manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Ronaldo, 40, were among the Red Devils stars often dubbed as ‘bad losers’ by opposition fans but Carrick revealed that it was another former United star who was the ‘worst’ loser of them all.
Carrick named former United and West Ham teammate Rio Ferdinand as the worst loser he’s ever seen.
“Although Frank [Lampard] was my first inspiration, as I got older, Rio [Ferdinand] became stronger,” Carrick said in his 2018 book titled ‘Michael Carrick: Between the Lines’.
“It’s easy to warm to Rio because of his personality; he’s very loud and assured, and he always seems to be enjoying himself.
“The game was so easy for him, he was so confident on the ball and noisy with it. He had a passion for nutmegging people and shouting about it.
“I loved his fearlessness, and when he first got in the West Ham team, he’d come out with the ball from the back doing all sorts of different skills and tricks.
“Yes, he got caught out a few times, but loads of others still in the youth team were in awe. Rio was inspirational.”
Carrick added: “Not many centre halves have Rio’s quality on the ball and that was to be nurtured, not beaten out of him. Luckily, West Ham was the place for it. One other thing about Rio Ferdinand that people never appreciated… was that he was probably the worst loser I’ve come across. Whether it was head tennis, video games or football, he was very competitive, always shouting and screaming.
“You’d want him alongside you every day of the week.”