Okay.

All right? So he's at edge of, about, probably about 25 yards out.

He's turned and faced me, Ronaldo, so I've come to k- engage.

He's played it into Rivaldo on the edge of the box past me, and took a step to run to goal for the one-two.

So I...

He's so quick, all I thought about, "I have to just get my head down and run towards goal." Right? "Forget the ball.

Forget the man.

Yeah

Rio Ferdinand was on the pitch that night.

Unfortunately for us, we were facing the best team in the world at that time, and arguably one of the best teams ever, with one of the best players that's ever, ever put on a pair of football boots.

It's not the best, it's like crazy.

So we were so unlucky in that sense.

Barcelona won 3-1, but for Rio, that scoreline didn't capture what it actually felt like.

They took our soul, basically.

And Messi was the main ingredient.

I remember talking to the lads after the game.

Yeah

... from the top, from the manager then.

'Cause I think the managers drive it.

I think all the clubs that I played at, the manager drove the way the team carried themself, and then they were a reflection of the manager.

And the England team, we didn't ever have real, a real identity under Sven and u- and under Capello.

It was, it was, it was just...

Our identity was, was all the wrong re- like, wrong identity type of things.

Mm.

On the way up, my legs

had gone completely, yeah? And I was walking up and thinking, rah, Alex Ferguson, like, you start thinking about what he means to football.

It's like mad.

It's like a video starts playing in your head.

And it's like these double doors open.

There's a corridor in this room and he's just sitting at the end of it.

I'm like- He must have staged this to make me feel intimidated.

So was the first bollocking a bit harder to take because you'd had this brilliant experience? No,

How do we get top five status?

I don't think it's an overnight thing.

It's a very difficult, I think, task ahead.

But I do think it's achievable.

But I think you've got to come at it multiple ways.

And I don't think there's one solution.

You 100% have to get the infrastructure right at the top.

no you can't sneeze what do you miss most about your playing days uh outside of maybe the physicality and all that but what do you sometimes reminisce my my guess would be the manchester derby is there anything else