Rio Ferdinand Quotes
Being dropped was a wake-up call. If I had regarded it as anything else I wouldn`t deserve to be anywhere near the England squad.
If any player has a bad game it`s there in the back of your mind in the next game. There`s always a hangover. It is like a wounded animal in a way, as you want to get out there as quick as possible and rectify it.
I set myself high standards on the pitch and I know I have not always lived up to them this season.
I didn`t expect to be dropped by England.
Most professional players are their own biggest critics. Some of the things you read in the papers that strike you as bang out of order will already have been thought by the players themselves.
You are always flattered when big clubs are interested in you.
It is a cliche, but if you took that edge away from Wayne he wouldn`t be the same player. I`d rather have the Wayne Rooney we have now than any other.
We don`t like the criticism and after the Austria and Poland games we want to be able to go outside with our chests out and our heads held high.
It was wicked meeting Nelson Mandela.
If we had a starting XI that no one could argue about it wouldn`t say a lot for English football. We`d probably be on a downward spiral. It`s good that people have different ideas about who should play.
We`ve got to get our house in order first before we look anywhere else. It`s imperative we win every game, we`ve got to remain consistent.
Four years ago maybe we thought we were inferior to Brazil, subconsciously we didn`t see ourselves beating them. Now we believe in ourselves, we can be on the pitch with any team in the world and think we can win.
There is a hangover from a defeat like Denmark - ask any player about when they`ve had a bad game, it`s still in there somewhere in the back of your mind.
I want a new contract. I`m happy at United and I see my future here.
You want to come home from a tournament with a winner`s medal. That`s not the fans or the media putting us under pressure, that`s the pressure we put ourselves under.
I`ve heard people say it looks as if I don`t care and I`ve certainly read that, but the way I play is natural. I don`t think I can change it. I know I`m working as hard as the next man, even if it doesn`t always look that way.
People think we don`t give a toss about the game, but when I walked out of Windsor Park that night I felt lower than a snake`s belly. The reality is still there.
There is a huge responsibility on all of us to get England through. It would be one of the biggest disasters in sports history if we blew it and we must make sure it does not happen.
No matter how much money you have or what kind of cocoon you live in, the reality is that you have lost a game of football and let England`s fans down. We are bothered.
