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Rio Ferdinand has revealed that legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once described Arsenal as 'babies' and branded one of Liverpool's starting XIs as their worst ever.
Manchester United's rivalry during the major part of Sir Alex Ferguson's career was with Arsenal, their title rivals at that point, and Liverpool, whose 18 top flight titles record they were chasing. The legendary manager was then challenged by Chelsea after their takeover by Roman Abramovich.
Speaking on William Hill's Stripped Podcast, Ferdinand revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson gave his players simple advice on how to beat their biggest rivals. He recalled the incident of the Scottish manager labeling one of the Arsenal side as babies and said, as quoted by GOAL:
"Something Sir Alex Ferguson used to say about Arsenal during his team talks was, 'Get in their faces. They don't like it, they can't deal with it. They're babies. Get right up against them and you'll win this game. Rio, you'll overrun them, you'll overpower them."
Going on to talk about Liverpool, he added:
"The most iconic team talk Sir Alex Ferguson ever gave at Manchester United was when we played Liverpool at Anfield once and he just said, 'I don't even need to talk to you, really. It's the worst Liverpool team I've ever seen on a team sheet'. That was it. And then yeah, we won that day."
Peak of Manchester United's rivalry with Arsenal
The peak of Manchester United's rivalry with Arsenal came when the Red Devils ended the Gunners' 49-match unbeaten run. Cesc Fabregas ended up throwing a pizza slice at Sir Alex Ferguson in a controversial game and Rio Ferdinand recalled the incident.
Speaking on Vibe with FIVE podcast earlier this year, the former defender said:
"I don't think he (Fabregas) meant to throw it at the gaffer, I think he just dashed it out the door and the gaffer was walking past. It did hit him, the lasting memory for me was a security guard was having to hold him back from trying to get into the changing room. That's what I remember. You know what he's like, if his head went that was it."
Fabregas confirmed that he was the player who threw the pizza slice a couple of years back on a game show.
