Rio takes dig at disunited City

Rio Ferdinand claims Alex Ferguson’s side are Manchester’s truly united team.

United, top of the Premier League and in the semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup, have the club’s 1999 Treble haul in their sights.

Unlike Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final opponents Manchester City, whose season has been marred by in-fighting and public shows of dissent from players, Ferdinand hailed United’s collective spirit.

James Milner was the latest City player to show his dismay, shaking his head in disbelief at his substitution during Monday’s 3-0 defeat at Liverpool.

But Ferdinand said such public displays of anger would never be allowed to happen at United under Sir Alex Ferguson.

“You don’t see anyone come off the pitch shaking their head or being disgruntled or sitting on the bench in a sulk at this club,” said Rio.

“That’s because everyone is delighted to play for this club and they all want to be here.

“The moment you show a bit of dissent like that, the manager pulls rank, and rightly so.

“It keeps people on their toes. People want to play here, they don’t want to be part of any other squad, and that’s the way it is at United.

“It comes out of respect for the manager, the club itself and the people who are here before you and present as well.

“There’s an unwritten rule here. You see it in the changing-room before games - there are no cliques.

“Players are wishing each other well before games, even if someone else is playing in your position. That’s just the way we are.”

Ferdinand believes United, who have won their last seven games in all competitions, have the momentum at a crucial stage of the season and will be hard to beat as a result.

“I’ve said, from probably 10 or 15 games in this season, that there’s a resilience about this side,” said Ferdinand.

“We’re not getting beaten that often, we’ve got a never-say-die attitude and all the championship-winning sides I’ve played in here have had that mark about them.

“This side has got that too. we’ve not won anything yet, but who knows? The manager has said it’s all about momentum at this stage of the season and we all know that.

“But you can be knocked off your stride quite easily if you don’t apply yourselves right and don’t perform on any given day. So it’s all about concentration and making sure we go about things in the right way.”

While City go into Saturday’s Wembley clash on a low after their Anfield nightmare, United are on a high after beating Chelsea to reach the last four of the Champions League.

Ferdinand said: “That’s true but that can easily change with one bad result. So we need to make sure we put the bad result they had against Liverpool out of the equation and treat it like any other game.

“City have invested heavily in a lot of players so they’ve got a lot of talented players to come in [if Carlos Tevez is injured]. You don’t spent ¬£27million on a player who is average.

“Edin Dzeko is a good player, he’s played Champions League football for a few years, he’s won the league in Germany, so he’s a good player. We won’t be underestimating City.”