'I SCREAMED AT EDWIN VAN DER SAR AND HE PULLED ME OFF PITCH – WHAT HE SAID SUMMED HIM UP'

Rio Ferdinand has recalled how ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar kept calm after the defender lost his cool screaming at the Dutchman during a match.

On Ferdinand's YouTube channel, he was joined by fellow United star Owen Hargreaves as they discussed the downfall of their former club off the back of Sunday's 3-0 defeat at home to Liverpool.

The pair were questioning if the current United players demand anything from their team-mates, and Ferdinand was reminded of a situation between himself and goalkeeper Van der Sar.

The former United centre-half explained how he had once been constantly berating Van der Sar for not defending properly during the game, even screaming at him – something that many might think would anger the keeper.

However, Ferdinand claimed that this wasn't the case, as he said: "This story always stays with me. Edwin van der Sar, who was super experienced, older than me etc. – during the game, maybe five or six games in total, things were happening that I wasn’t happy with.

"I was screaming at him, going crazy if we conceded the goal, or almost conceded or something like that. I was screaming at him on the pitch."

The 45-year-old then claimed that the goalkeeper, who's widely regarded in the football world as a proper gentleman, pulled him to one side at training, and instead of having a go back, he explained things very calmly.

Ferdinand continued: "He pulled me off the pitch one day in training and said, 'Rio, can I have a word please?' I said yeah what’s wrong, and he said, 'Rio, you’re shouting at me a lot every game, my family are here, it’s not cool, what do you need from me, what do you want?'

"We had a conversation, I told him what I needed – and we never had a raised word between us ever since that point."

Having highlighted Van der Sar's professionalism in how he didn't need to raise his voice to get his point across, Ferdinand added: "He did exactly what I was saying to him, we came to a common ground, and I was doing what he wanted and it was fine. He wasn’t throwing his toys out the pram – deep down all I’m thinking is he speaking to me from a place of wanting us to do better or is it just like his own personal ego?

"If it was his own personal ego, then I’m going over him again. But I’m sure that’s why with Edwin, he understood that it wasn’t a personal thing."

Ferdinand and Van der Sar formed a good relationship as part of Sir Alex Ferguson's starting defence, winning various trophies at Old Trafford.

The Dutch shot-stopper retired at the end of the 2010/11 Premier League season after six years with the club – winning the Premier League four times and the Champions League too.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

2024-09-03T11:12:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd