Rio Ferdinand Presents

Asamoah Gyan sits down for a special episode of Rio Presents exploring how he became one of the highest paid players in the world and the pitfalls that come with money and fame in such quantities. Both Gyan and Rio are strident in their belief that AFCON should be treated in the same way as other major continental tournaments (Euros and Copa America) rather than being played during the European domestic football season. Gyan reveals how confidence helped build him into the most recognised face in Ghana along with the struggles he faces when dealing with that level of fame. He also reveals the pressure a letter from Nelson Mandela added to his Ghanaian team during the first World Cup to be held in Africa and discusses why players from the continent aren’t respected in the same way as their European or South American counterparts.

Ste Howson and Joel Beya join Rio in the aftermath of a torrid Manchester United performance against Brighton and an amazing El Clasico in Saudi Arabia. There’s analysis of what Rio’s former team mate, Michael Carrick needs to bring to the role after he’s expected to be named interim manager until the end of the season and Rio analyses what Shea Lacey has shown in his limited first team appearances that separates him from his team mates.There’s a call for senior people like Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada to speak about the decisions they've taken and become more visible for the fans and Rio lays out an argument for appointing Roberto De Zerbi in the summer.With all the signs pointing to a change in formation away from Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 - Rio and Ste look at two players they think will thrive in a 4-2-3-1 system along with how best to use Bruno Fernandes.Rio shares his experience of being on the training ground with Liam Rosenior, the importance of the new Chelsea manager getting better performances from Cole Palmer and Ste shares the footballing journey of Macclesfield’s Isaac Buckley-Ricketts who played for him at Stretford Paddock after winning tournaments with England Under 19s before climbing back up the football Pyramid and scoring in the biggest FA Cup shock in history as his side beat the holders Crystal Palace.

As the dust is slowly settling following the departure of manager Ruben Amorim, Rio and Joel get together to look at the immediate future for everyone involved at Manchester United

Ruben Amorim has been SACKED by Manchester United! Join Rio Ferdinand, Joel Beya and Ste Howson as they react live to this huge breaking Man Utd news

The boys get back together to analyse Arsenal’s season so far as well as looking ahead to what they could achieve come the end of the campaign.They analyse the biggest strengths of Mikel Arteta's side and pose the question about what the manager’s future looks like should he fail to win the league.Rio and Joel discuss the importance of Declan Rice for both club and country and Rio names him as the second most influential player in both the Premier League and in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad.Joel and Rio make their predictions for the remainder of the season and there’s two areas that they earmark for improvement - specifically from Arteta - the inclusion of youth players and allowing players to play with more risk.

Whilst everyone else is tucking into the final chocolates and leftover turkey, Rio, Ste and Joel review Manchester United’s season so far. They analyse the biggest weakness of Amorim’s side and specifically praise the duo of Senne Lammens and Matthijs De Ligt.When discussing the priorities for the January transfer window, Rio compares Kobbie Mainoo to Gerard Pique as the England midfielder searches for more game time and how Benjamin Sesko plays an integral role for the team which often goes un-noticed and underrated.Ste and Rio make their predictions for the remainder of the season and there’s a debate around how successful Ruben Amorim has done relative to pre-season predictions and comparisons to the last campaign.