Rio Ferdinand tries to lighten the mood prior to Manchester United - Arsenal match
Manchester United's veteran defender, Rio Ferdinand is currently in a desperate race to try and be fit for the clash against Arsenal on Monday night. The player is hoping to face the Gunners, but insists that contrary to popular belief, the players
at United have now started to respect Arsenal.
The thirty one year old is currently recovering from a hamstring injury and will have to pass a late medical if he hopes to prove his fitness to Alex Ferguson prior to the match.
Despite saying he respects the team, the defender hopes to pull some inspiration from the previous victories that United have over Arsenal prior to the match, in hopes that United will go on to beat the Gunners and reclaim top spot in the league. He
then went on to mention the 2005 FA Cup final, where United hammered Arsenal.
"The 2005 FA Cup final, when we battered them but lost on penalties, was one of the worst moments of my career" said Ferdinand.
"But then we have had some very good times against them. They have had us when we would have beaten anyone in the world, like in the 2008 Champions League semi-final [when United beat Barcelona].
"There used to be a genuine rivalry bordering on dislike between us. You saw that when we had a couple of fracas in the tunnel. Now it is more respect."
However the player then managed to turn things away from the fixture and turned to more personal matters, as he went ahead and stated that he would like to end his career at Old Trafford. The player stated that he had two years left on his contract
with the team and that he has every intention of seeing out the remainder of that very contract at the club. He said it would be something of a miracle if he is handed a contract extension then, but he still hopes that Alex Ferguson will want to retain his
services, despite the fact that he would then be in his mid thirties.
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