1 week Ago By [email protected] (Samuel Meade)
Rio Ferdinand claimed Noni Madueke should've been hit with a two-week fine for storming down the tunnel. The Chelsea winger was fuming that he was hauled off during Sunday's draw with Arsenal and opted against taking a seat on the bench. Instead the newly capped England star walked straight down the tunnel as he made his displeasure known.
His show of emotion made his feelings clear for everyone watching and Ferdinand insists the optics do no one any good. He referenced his own time at Manchester United and claimed none of the younger individual he played with would ever have acted in such a way. Chelsea have a cluster of young players in their squad and very few senior pros to keep them in line - something the ex-United man cited as an issue.
He said on Rio Ferdinand Presents : "You think (Danny) Welbeck or Tom Cleverly or Nani are going to storm off the pitch and throw their dummy out? It’s disrespectful to your teammates as well. It’s a young team. Who are the experienced players who are going to go in there and say, 'Woah, we don’t accept that here'.
"And I understand his thinking but at the same time, I don’t understand why you are doing that." Enzo Maresca was willing to defend his player, who has enjoyed a blistering start to the season, and admitted that no individual will be happy to be hauled off. "The problem is when you change a player, they are never happy," he said.
Ferdinand was stunned that the Chelsea boss chose to deflect attention from Madueke's tantrum as he almost justified his actions. He joked that was why he could never be a manager, saying the right things in front of the media, and instead would gone straight in with a fine. He added: "That’s where the manager comes in.
I think the manager protecting him is mad. And that’s why I couldn’t be in there [as a manager] because I couldn’t come out and play the game where you say, 'Yeah he was in the wrong but [he’s a good kid]'. Fined, that’s a two-week fine.
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