RIO FERDINAND has revealed the advice that Sir Alex Ferguson gave to him on how to beat Luis Suarez.
The Manchester United defender and Liverpool ace faced off with each other in five matches when at the respective clubs.
XRio Ferdinand revealed advice he was given to deal with Luis Suarez[/caption]
Getty Images – GettyHe revealed how Sir Alex Ferguson told him what to do against the Liverpool ace[/caption]
EPAFerdinand allowed just one goal when starting a game for Man Utd against Suarez at Liverpool[/caption]
Suarez, who now stars alongside Lionel Messi for Inter Miami, became one of the world’s best strikers with the Reds.
He endured a slow start to his time in England with 15 league goals in his first season and a half, but he soon began terrorising opponents, scoring 54 league goals in his final two seasons.
Legendary manager Ferguson recognised the danger of facing the Uruguayan and handed out special advice to Ferdinand to try and deal with him.
Speaking on FIVE, Ferdinand said: “There’s maybe a couple things in my 12-13 years at the club, [that] he showed me as a defender.
“I remember Luis Suarez was in crazy form when he was at Liverpool, one of the best strikers on the planet at the time, so obviously that was a detail we needed to address.
“And he just said to me, when you get him he get you one v one because that’s what he’s good at, getting an isolated defender somewhere, you’ll get that at some point. Do not nibble.
“Do not go in and try and nibble the ball, make him have to beat you. So wait, delay, say come on now you make a decision.
“And more times than not he got the ball and turned out and played to someone.
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“Whereas if I went to nibble – he’s a bit like Nani, they were reactive dribblers – he’d react to you nibbling to then go on your weakness from there and he was brilliant and the ricochets he would get.
“He was brilliant”.
Ferguson’s advice to Ferdinand seemed to work for the most part, with Suarez starting matches against the centre-back on four occasions and conceding just one goal from him.
Suarez never won a game for Liverpool with Ferdinand in the starting XI, with three defeats and one draw.
His first goal against Ferdinand came in the 2011/12 season in a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
One game in 2012 saw Suarez leave Ferdinand red faced as he caused him to collide with team-mate Patrice Evra while marking him, something fans pointed out.
It came during the first meeting of the teams after the Suarez-Evra racism storm, which saw Suarez banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 before refusing to shake Evra’s hand.
Ferdinand reflected on that incident last year, saying: “That Suarez one wasn’t Suarez. It was Evra! Evra absolutely mangled him!
“We got into the game and I said to Pat as the game started ‘Stay calm, Pat, stay calm’ and the guy tried to f***ing kill me, bruv, he tried to take me out and nearly snapped me in half.
“All of a sudden, I’m chasing and going along with Suarez and all of a sudden out the corner of my eye I see a red shirt thinking ‘he ain’t coming to me, Suarez is going to be in a sandwich right now’, and he missed Suarez and took me out bruv, I couldn’t believe it.
“And then when I looked at the picture after, no wonder my back was in trouble for the next five years, I took L4 and L5 right out.
“My lumbar spine is in all sorts of bother. I needed yoga, pilates, the lot straight after, it was unbelievable.
“But that’s how upset Patrice was. He was so upset, Patrice, so I understand it and at the end, I said ‘You know what I’ll let you off, but you almost ended my career man, but I understand why’.”
In the 2013/14 season – after Ferguson had left and Ferdinand was in his final year at United – Suarez led Liverpool to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford as the 81-cap England star played three minutes off the bench.
Man Utd player ratings vs Liverpool
MANCHESTER UNITED had a horror show against Liverpool as they lost 3-0.
Casemiro was so bad he was taken off at half-time.
But were there any positive performances at Old Trafford?
Andre Onana – 5
Nothing he could do about any of Liverpool’s goals and made a few saves to prevent the scoreline from getting worse.
Noussair Mazraoui – 5
Came close to scoring in the first half and looked solid enough against Diaz although he did push up too high before Liverpool’s opener.
Matthijs de Ligt – 4
Left Diaz and Domink Szobozslai in acres of space for the opening goal but was left in a tricky spot thanks to Casemiro’s error.
Booked for a shocking late tackle on Diaz.
Lisandro Martinez – 3
Lost Diaz for the second goal which meant the Colombian was able to score unmarked from the penalty spot.
Also guilty of giving away the ball too easily and was not tight enough with his marking.
Diogo Dalot – 4
Was caught out pushing up too quickly for the first goal and did not do enough to stop Mo Salah’s cross in the build-up to Liverpool’s second.
Looked dangerous in attack at times but too infrequently as he had plenty of defensive work to do since Rashford did not track Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Casemiro – 2
A horror show in the first half as he gave the ball away in the lead up to both of Liverpool’s goals.
He was caught on the ball for the second after a shocking misplaced pass left his defence vulnerable for the opening goal. Hooked at half-time.
Kobbie Mainoo – 4
Fell victim to the Casemiro curse as he was shrugged off the ball in a terrible position, allowing Liverpool to add a third with ease.
Bruno Fernandes – 5
Was United’s most creative spark but that is not saying much. Tried to get his side going in the first half but looked short of ideas and inspiration after the break.
Alejandro Garnacho – 4
Still appears to be a little rusty and is yet to hit the heights he reached last season.
Marcus Rashford – 3
Nothing came off for the out-of-sorts forward who must be running out of chances before he is dropped.
Joshua Zirkzee – 4
Quiet up-front and had little influence on the wing as well, but missed a clear-cut chance with his head and should have turned in Rashford’s cross which he met at the far post.
Subs
Toby Collyer (for Casemiro, HT) – 5
A difficult game for the youngster to make his Premier League debut but he put himself about and won a few tackles.
Harry Maguire (for De Ligt, 69mins) – 5
Shored things up at the back as Liverpool took their foot off the pedal.
Amad (for Garnacho, 69mins) – 5
Provided a spark on the right and looked more lively than Garnacho.
Christian Eriksen (for Zirkzee, 86mins) – N/A
Not on long enough to make an impact.
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