Rio Ferdinand Quotes (34 Quotes)

There is a huge responsibility on all of us to get England through. It would be one of the biggest disasters in sports history if we blew it and we must make sure it does not happen.

Everyone knows we were crap against Northern Ireland. Fans sometimes accuse us of not caring, but that is absolute rubbish. We know our fans would give their right arms to play for England and we feel exactly the same. We have put our heads on the chopping block and now we have to get ourselves out of the mess.

At times, European football can be very slow but it speeds up in the final third,

I set myself high standards on the pitch and I know I have not always lived up to them this season.

You are always flattered when big clubs are interested in you.

If we are going to win something, then we'd rather other people do the talking and we just get on with doing the business.

I played against him in training every day and he used to elbow me, kick me and head-butt me,

Nobody wants to be associated with failing to qualify for the World Cup finals. I cannot imagine the shame of it,

I didn't expect to be dropped by England.

They've (Chelsea) been very consistent this season and deserve credit for that.

Four years ago maybe we thought we were inferior to Brazil, subconsciously we didn't see ourselves beating them. Now we believe in ourselves, we can be on the pitch with any team in the world and think we can win.

I've been waiting a long time and the fans have been getting on to me. It does bother me, in training the lads get on to me.

You want to come home from a tournament with a winner's medal. That's not the fans or the media putting us under pressure, that's the pressure we put ourselves under.

It doesn't matter whether you are a senior player or not, if something needs saying to a colleague it will be said,

Being dropped was a wake-up call. If I had regarded it as anything else I wouldn't deserve to be anywhere near the England squad.

When we played together at West Ham I thought we had one of the best strikers in the league in John,

In my mind, and in a lot of the lads' minds, we are still concentrating all our efforts on finishing second.

People think we don't give a toss about the game, but when I walked out of Windsor Park that night I felt lower than a snake's belly. The reality is still there.

I've heard people say it looks as if I don't care and I've certainly read that, but the way I play is natural. I don't think I can change it. I know I'm working as hard as the next man, even if it doesn't always look that way.

If we had a starting XI that no one could argue about it wouldn't say a lot for English football. We'd probably be on a downward spiral. It's good that people have different ideas about who should play.

I feel the longer he stays at United the better it is for the club. He's done so much for United you can't imagine him not being here.

We've got to get our own job done and we've managed to do that today and if other teams drop points, then so be it.

Most professional players are their own biggest critics. Some of the things you read in the papers that strike you as bang out of order will already have been thought by the players themselves.

It was wicked meeting Nelson Mandela.

No matter how much money you have or what kind of cocoon you live in, the reality is that you have lost a game of football and let England's fans down. We are bothered.

There is a hangover from a defeat like Denmark - ask any player about when they've had a bad game, it's still in there somewhere in the back of your mind.

I want a new contract. I'm happy at United and I see my future here.

If I come out at the right time, the manager says it is okay. But obviously, if I lose the ball that wouldn't be too clever.

Saturday's game is massive for us. They will obviously be trying to win the league, but it's up to us to try and delay that for as long as possible.

It is a cliche, but if you took that edge away from Wayne he wouldn't be the same player. I'd rather have the Wayne Rooney we have now than any other.

We've got to get our house in order first before we look anywhere else. It's imperative we win every game, we've got to remain consistent.

I had a chat with the manager to get a clear picture about stories in the papers about being dropped,

We're not expecting it to be the same as then at all, ... Their fans will demand more of them, urging them to get forward more. We'll have to approach the game with the right attitude.

If any player has a bad game it's there in the back of your mind in the next game. There's always a hangover. It is like a wounded animal in a way, as you want to get out there as quick as possible and rectify it.