Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand slammed the current crop of players, following their limp defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
A Jeane-Philippe Mateta second-half brace condemned United to a fifth home league defeat in six.
The result also left the Red Devils languishing in 13th place in the Premier League, with just 29 points gained from a possible 72.
In his post-match presser, Ruben Amorim was asked why his players struggle to beat teams in front of their own supporters. The Portuguese coach admitted the issue but noted some slight improvements, though they were overshadowed by the nature of their defeat to the Eagles.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after the match, Ferdinand insisted that Old Trafford is no longer the feared fortress it used to be.
The former defender also said, “Is anyone really surprised? I think this is just where we are right now. I’m not sitting here in complete shock – it’s so weird to think that I’ve just come to expect that we could lose this game.”
“Man United, we lose again today at home. Teams are now going to Old Trafford with no respect, man. No respect whatsoever.”
“The manager needs to find a way of getting his team through this period. He needs to find a way of finding some positives in some games. The team don’t seem to be able to play football properly with the ball. We’ve got no real idea or patterns at the moment since the manager’s come in.”
One of the major talking points from the game was Amorim’s decision to drop both Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund in favour of deploying Kobbie Mainoo in the false nine role.
The tactic only worked for the first 15 minutes or so, with Mainoo getting into some good positions and even striking the post. However, Palace became more comfortable and Mainoo’s influence on the game waned.
Reacting to this, Ferdinand remarked, “Kobbie playing up front, another new variation of tactics from the manager.”
“There’s two strikers – where does that leave Zirkzee and Hojlund? I see that we’re in the market for the young Bayern Munich striker (Tel) now. He’s a great talent but do we need another young one?”
“Maybe we do, the manager maybe sees that we’re in the market to get him. But when you play Kobbie so high, Bruno has to play even deeper. Then we lack that real threat. We weren’t really a threat today.”
Up next for the Red Devils is an FA Cup fourth-round clash against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City on Friday.
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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!
