Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Joshua Zirkzee, Harry Maguire, Rasmus Hojlund and Matthijs de Ligt are not dynamic or athletic enough to slot into Ruben Amorim’s preferred style of play.
Ferdinand spoke on TNT Sports after United beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.
The Red Devils started off terribly with Patrick Dorgu and Andre Onana getting involved in a calamitous mix-up which allowed Jaden Philogene to tap into an open goal.
Amorim’s men responded well, restoring parity as Sam Morsy turned in an excellent free-kick delivery from Bruno Fernandes. United would go on to take the lead courtesy of De Ligt, who scored from close range.
The game threatened to be turned sour for United after Dorgu was given his marching orders for a reckless tackle on Omari Hutchinson, only for Philogene to equalise just moments afterwards.
However, Maguire came up with the goods almost immediately after the break, heading in home Fernandes’ corner.
Despite being pleased with the result, Ferdinand admitted that the fans are yet to see what they expected when Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag in November last year.
Ferdinand said on TNT Sports, “‘I think if we’re being brutally honest, there hasn’t been the progress that we all anticipated.”
“Where he came from, how successful he had been and the silverware he brought to Sporting, the anticipation of him coming was like, ‘Wow! What an opportunity we’ve got now with this young manager’, and it hasn’t transferred here.”
“I sat with him the other day and you can see there’s a desire, there’s a work ethic behind the scenes and he’s nipping at everything to try and get this right and turn it around, but things haven’t been smooth for him and he hasn’t managed to get it to where he wants to at this point in time.”
Ferdinand added, “I think he needs to just get to the end of the season, really regroup and then start building again, building the team and coaching the team because right now they’ve been stuttering along and that’s probably being polite.”
“I watched Sporting a few times, in Europe especially. They were an athletic, dynamic team. That was one of the staples of that team, the hallmarks of that good team that was winning things.” He continued, “This team aren’t a mobile, dynamic team. If you look through the heartbeat of this team they have other qualities but being physical, having the ability to overrun teams physically – they don’t have that capacity.”
Asked whether Zirkzee is the type of player that suits Amorim, Ferdinand answered, “o… De Ligt, Maguire, Hojlund, it’s not their game. So I think he needs to find those type of players with the capabilities of carrying out not only tactically what he wants, but the physicality is equally important.”
During the match, Ferdinand and Robbie Savage also tore into Onana, blaming him for not communicating with Dorgu in the build-up to Philogene’s first strike.
Savage said on commentary [via Daily Mail], “Wow. Dorgu has tracked the run and the communication between Onana and Dorgu must be non-existent. Credit to Jaden Philogene, the desire… he’s onside. But I’ve got no idea why Onana is running out to that position. Dorgu has got it under control, no problem at all. He shouldn’t come there, Onana!”
“I might be completely wrong but stay. The defender has got it under control so stay in your six-yard box. Credit to Philogene. What a start from Ipswich.”
Savage went on, “The defender has got it under control. I don’t think there is a reason why Onana comes out there. You should be talking, lay it back to him on his right foot and then he can clear it. I don’t know why he’s come. The defender is in control… Onana, stay in your goal.”
Ferdinand was equally critical, further stating, “A terrible start. I don’t think Dorgu, at any moment, looks up to see where Onana is. Onana doesn’t need to come in. The full-back is in complete control and he can just hold his ground and let him play it back to him.”
“But Dorgu doesn’t look, the awareness isn’t there and it’s pounced on. Ipswich took a deserved lead for pouncing on that lack of communication.”
The result saw United climb up just one point, to 14th place in the Premier League table.
The Reds are back in action on Sunday when they welcome Fulham to Old Trafford in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Kick-off is at 16:30 GMT.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
