Ferdinand: City are worthy champions
Despite being unsuccessful in the title charge, Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand is satisfied with his contributions this season.
By ESPNSTAR.com staff
Team-mate Wayne Rooney's goal-scoring heroics have drawn attention away from good performances put on by the Manchester United defenders. While being reliable at the back is expected of a player with Ferdinand's experience, the Englishman has broken a record of his own this season. As a result of the loss of captain Nemanja Vidic to injury, Ferdinand has been forced to start almost every match for the Red Devils this year, registering his highest number of appearances in all competitions since the 2008/09 campaign.
While the central defender admits to being disappointed at missing out on Roy Hodgson's squad for the upcoming European Championships, Ferdinand believes his ability to perform consistently throughout the gruelling campaign is a testament to his fitness.
"I feel good. I’m just pleased to have played a number of games back to back," he shared with the club's official website.
"For the last couple of years, that’s all I’ve been praying for. To have a few games on the bounce and I’ll be able to find my way back to playing well and playing consistently. This season I thought I’d done that."
The former West Ham player is still coming to terms with narrowly missing out the title on goal-difference to Manchester City, but that did not stop him from being gracious in defeat.
"You only want to be a part of something like that when you’ve won and we haven’t, coming second is no consolation and there’s no prize for coming second," Ferdinand stated.
"In another season, that tally of points would have won the league. City spent a lot of money but you have to give them credit. Anyone who wins the league in this country are worthy champions because it’s a tough league to win."
Ferdinand believes United can be proud of their showing this season despite failing to retain the Premier League trophy.
"We’ve had a lot of problems with our squad in terms of injuries. No excuses at all but to deal with the amount of injuries and disruption we’ve had in our squad this season, to get to where we did, is testament to the depth of squad we’ve got," he said.