'FRAGILE EGOS!' Former England teammates Ferdinand and Terry trade barbs as the defender debate heats up.
Rio Ferdinand and John Terry have been feuding on Twitter, with Chelsea legend Terry upset that ex-Manchester United stalwart Ferdinand named him only the fifth-best center-back in Premier League history.
Rio Ferdinand and John Terry have traded blows in an ugly debate over Terry's place among the Premier League's greatest defenders.
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand ranked Terry fifth on a recent episode of Between the Lines featuring Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk, naming himself, his guest, Jaap Stam, and Nemanja Vidic ahead of the Stamford Bridge hero. Terry responded to Ferdinand's selection on social media by boasting about his career accomplishments, prompting a response from his former England teammate.
"The moment one has to start pushing their own records and stats, it's really time to begin addressing the fragile ego," Ferdinand, who confidently ranked himself first on the list, tweeted shortly before midnight on Thursday evening. "You're lucky, I even put you in the top five after the racism case with my brother, so be thankful you made it."
Terry responded 14 minutes later on Twitter, wasting no time in the early hours of Friday morning: "Putting yourself first is a sign of a fragile ego. Thank you for including me in your top five."
His first response to Ferdinand was far more detailed. On his Instagram story, the Blues behemoth posted a series of images and graphs containing a slew of statistics and records to highlight his stellar career, which included 492 Premier League appearances, five Premier League titles, one Champions League winner's medal, and three UEFA Defender of the Year awards.
One graph displayed the captains with the most Premier League titles, while another displayed the centre-backs with the highest win percentage in the division's history. Terry also displayed the top ten players who have received the most nominations for the FIFPRO World XI.
When it came to centre-backs, Terry topped all three, captioning the post, "opinions are great, but the stats don't lie," alongside another list of the top-scoring center-backs in history, which included him.
When explaining his rankings to Van Djik, who finished third, behind Vidic and ahead of Stam, Ferdinand waxed lyrical about Terry. The former Manchester United player claimed that Terry, who was praised for his longevity at Chelsea, was also a "much better footballer" than people gave him credit for and "could play off his left and right foot."
Meanwhile, Van Dijk named Terry fourth-best in his selection, omitting himself in humility. The Liverpool star placed Ferdinand first, with Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany second, fellow Dutchman and former United rock Stam third, and ex-Anfield ace Sami Hyypia fifth.
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