Rio Ferdinand insists his dominant Man United team of 2008 would have BEATEN the famous 1999 side

Rio Ferdinand insists the Manchester United side in 2008 was the club’s best-ever and would have beaten the famous Treble-winning team of 1999.

United won the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup in 2008 with a squad featuring the likes of Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

The Red Devils were considered the dominant force in European football at the time but they were unable to match the achievement of the Treble winners.

Ferdinand was a key member of the United team that were the dominant force in 2008

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were beaten in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 2008 by Portsmouth, a match which denied them the chance to emulate the success of the 1999 side.

The team in 1999 secured an historic treble in dramatic fashion as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 victory in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Asked whether the 2008 team was the best in United’s history, Ferdinand, speaking on the Filthy Fellas Youtube show, replied: ‘Yeah.’

United were crowned world champions after winning the Premier League and Champions League in 2008

Ferdinand believes the 2008 side would have beaten the 1999 Treble winners

‘I reckon if we played them [the 1999 team] it’d be a tight game but… I think our team would beat them,’ Ferdinand said. 

‘I do. It’s all hypothetical, but I do really think we would.’

Ferdinand also recalled United ending the unbeaten run of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ in October 2004.

Then champions Arsenal arrived at Old Trafford needing to avoid defeat to stretch their streak to 50 matches but lost 2-0 in a feisty contest that was littered with controversy.

United beat Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ in October 2004 to end the Gunners’ unbeaten streak at 49 matches

The game at Old Trafford was an ill-tempered affair which United eventually won 2-0

With just 17 minutes to go, United were awarded a penalty which Ruud van Nistelrooy converted – banishing his demons from the same fixture the previous season, where he hit the bar from the spot in the last minute – before Rooney added a second late on. 

United legend Ferdinand said Ferguson had warned his players that Arsenal’s domination would continue if they took all three points, and told his charges to ‘get in the faces’ of Arsene Wenger’s men.

‘I remember the manager saying: “You can’t have this lot keep going on this run. You can’t let these guys go on… If they beat you, they’re going to continue doing it and dominate”, that was part of the team-talk,’ Ferdinand said.

‘Also, that game especially and then ever since that game we played with Alex Ferguson, the talk was: “Get in their face. These lot do not like it. They ain’t going to want to fight. You go in there and hustle bustle. Get in their face, don’t give them time and see how they react.” That was always the case.’