Rio names ‘problem’ that stopped Veron succeeding at Man Utd
Rio Ferdinand thinks Juan Sebastian Veron could have succeeded at Manchester United if it wasn’t for the presence of Roy Keane.
The former Argentina international arrived at Old Trafford from Lazio in 2001 for a £28.1million fee.
However, his time at Man Utd only lasted two years and 51 Premier League appearances before an even less fruitful spell at Chelsea.
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When asked to choose between Veron and Real Madrid legend Guti, Ferdinand told a Q&A on Instagram: “Oh what a good question. Veron or Guti… For the older listeners, older viewers out here, Veron, Sebastian Veron, scored one of the best goals I’ve ever seen in training.
“The little rabona thing, bang from the halfway line, the whole training session shut down, stopped. ‘Did you just see that, what Juan Sebastian’s just done there?’
“He was an unbelievable player, great passer. The only thing I think that killed him was Roy Keane was probably a bit more of a dominant personality and was picking the ball up in his positions.
“You have to remember Veron came from Lazio, Parma where he was the main man, the whole game went through him. He came to United, that’s what Roy Keane did.
“Keane came and got it off the defenders, passed it through to the midfielders and attackers, and got in positions and was very vocal, like ‘Yeah, give me the ball! Give me the ball!’
“And out of respect probably Seba just said, ‘I’ll let Roy keep doing that’. But Seba was an amazing talent. I honestly think without Roy Keane there he might have flourished in a Man United shirt.
“I think Roy Keane was his problem. And it wasn’t Roy Keane’s fault, it’s just that his personality was bigger and more overpowering.”
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