Rio out for up to six weeks

RIO FERDINAND is out for six weeks after finally admitting defeat with a back injury.

The Manchester United centre-back will miss Sunday's big Premier League clash at Chelsea and team-mate Wes Brown revealed Ferdinand has been playing through the problem for months.
Brown said: "He's been getting a lot of pain for a long time so he's sorting it out now."
Centre-back Ferdinand, 30, has been criticised for a number of poor displays.
Brown added: "When he comes back he'll be a lot stronger. If you're not fit and want to play it's very hard. Believe me."

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0VwKnbfIH

can't say i'm shocked. he's been struggling for ages. Worrying thing is though, why didn't this get sorted out in the summer?

What exactly is the problem? Can it be fixed with an operation or what?

rio needs to take a good bit of time out and seriously concentrate on getting fit, something i don't think he did before. evans is a more than able replacement when he's on his game - in fact, i'm half-relieved this has happened really.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0VwKnbfIH

The Sun says?.

Originally Posted by Alan

6 weeks well that's about two.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

can't say i'm shocked. he's been struggling for ages. Worrying thing is though, why didn't this get sorted out in the summer?

What exactly is the problem? Can it be fixed with an operation or what?

Dunno. I'm happier that Rio has been playing with an injury rather than him being out of form. We can fix him up easier than replace him. We need him back to his best and he'll be refreshed when he comes back. I just hope we don't lose whilst he's out.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Dunno. I'm happier that Rio has been playing with an injury rather than him being out of form. We can fix him up easier than replace him. We need him back to his best and he'll be refreshed when he comes back. I just hope we don't lose whilst he's out.

to be fair mate, he's had this back injury for £#%&!ing ages and a 9 week break in the summer couldn't sort it out.

Shame but it'll be nice to see what little Johnny is made of over the coming weeks.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

to be fair mate, he's had this back injury for £#%&!ing ages and a 9 week break in the summer couldn't sort it out.

This is what I don't get. It was known he had the problem last season, and it hasn't gone away over the summer.

He probably needs an operation to sort it, but as is typical with United's piss poor medical team, they've stuck their heads in the sand and hoped it would go away.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

to be fair mate, he's had this back injury for £#%&!ing ages and a 9 week break in the summer couldn't sort it out.

Alessandro Nesta has suffered from recurring back injuries too. He ended up missing all of last season to clear it up properly. However, by all accounts, he's finally playing like his old self for Milan this season

Originally Posted by The Watcher

Alessandro Nesta has suffered from recurring back injuries too. He ended up missing all of last season to clear it up properly. However, by all accounts, he's finally playing like his old self for Milan this season

Tremendous.

Seriously though, this is something that should have been addressed properly in the summer. I find it baffling that all the sports scientists and top notch doctors the club must employ cannot identify the problem and an effective solution.

Schmeichel was plagued by bad back problems. It was his reason for leaving.

time to plan without him in mind

fletchers at it as well

'I have had an injection to clear it up but eventually it is going to need to be cleaned out. There has been a build-up of fluid as well. I will have to get something done but the injection will see me through a few months.
'It should be OK to the end of the season. That is the plan - to get me through to the summer.
'Striking a ball or bending the ankle in a flexed position or pushing off hurts. It got to the point where it was too sore to train and play so something had to be done and I had the injection.'

Originally Posted by Sloane

time to plan without him in mind

fletchers at it as well

'I have had an injection to clear it up but eventually it is going to need to be cleaned out. There has been a build-up of fluid as well. I will have to get something done but the injection will see me through a few months.
'It should be OK to the end of the season. That is the plan - to get me through to the summer.
'Striking a ball or bending the ankle in a flexed position or pushing off hurts. It got to the point where it was too sore to train and play so something had to be done and I had the injection.'

There's a reason no team has done 4 in a row, it seems constantly playing in big games is starting to take its toll on the squad.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

There's a reason no team has done 4 in a row, it seems constantly playing in big games is starting to take its toll on the squad.

we can still do it, with the african nations and romans obession with the champions league we should just go all out for the 4th

Originally Posted by Sloane

we can still do it, with the african nations and romans obession with the champions league we should just go all out for the 4th

Would you support SAF sacrificing the champions league for a league title? If he started dropping players and treated it like the Carling Cup. Bloody good opportunity to get the kids some valuable experience. Personally I'd be happy to just win the league this year. I'd love us to close the gap on the scousers European record though. They'd have nothing left to thrown at us (apart from their bowel movements).

He obviously hasnt been playing well, not as bad as the press and some fans have been making out. Didnt help that he had an out of form Vidic next to him.

Having a bad back doesnt excuse the pass against city, or the mis judge for england. But maybe it does excuse him for that pathetic Sprint when chasing bellamy.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Would you support SAF sacrificing the champions league for a league title? If he started dropping players and treated it like the Carling Cup. Bloody good opportunity to get the kids some valuable experience. Personally I'd be happy to just win the league this year. I'd love us to close the gap on the scousers European record though. They'd have nothing left to thrown at us (apart from their bowel movements).

i know it's not what you meant but that sounds really spoilt. i'd be happy to 'just win' the league in any year, and not just because i think the champions league is a piece of crap. winning the league is a big achievement, and would be all the more so this year as we adjust to a new era, do 4 in a row etc.

fwiw i don't think the champs league is particularly onerous. most of the group stages we are playing weakened teams any way and there aren't too many knockout games.

we've come through a tough start to the season (some hard games out of the way) and we've had some bad injury problems (vds, rio, vidic, fletcher, carrick). chelsea have had no injuries other than the one to joe cole and have had an easier fixture list so far. i'd say we're in pretty good shape for november.

I take everyone posting that "the medical staff don't know what they are doing" are experts in skeleto-muscular problems.

....Or more likely have never had any problems with their own back, and have no idea that even with proper treatment, one small issue can take years to clear up (if at all) as the body compensates by over-using other muscles wich lead to other problems.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Would you support SAF sacrificing the champions league for a league title? If he started dropping players and treated it like the Carling Cup. Bloody good opportunity to get the kids some valuable experience. Personally I'd be happy to just win the league this year. I'd love us to close the gap on the scousers European record though. They'd have nothing left to thrown at us (apart from their bowel movements).

I don't think the club treat the CL that lightly. All the talk from Neville and Fergie was about "how United should have won it more times after 99, how they need to win more to catch up with the likes of Madrid and Milan".

Not to mention the financial implications - it's about £3m a game in gate revenue and as much again from UEFA for each round they get past. The difference in prize money between winning the Premier league and being relegated isn't that much, and the cups barely shell out £1m to the winners.