“Time’s up now”: Rio Ferdinand calls on Carrick to make big decision on United star after Bournemouth draw

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has made a plea to former teammate and current caretaker boss Michael Carrick over Benjamin Sesko. This comes after United were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw by Bournemouth on Friday evening. United falter United dropped points against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, although under controversial circumstances. The Red Devils twice led through a Bruno Fernandes penalty and James Hill’s own goal, but they were pegged back on both occasions by the Cherries. Bournemouth’s goals were contentious ones. Ryan Christie bagged the first just 25 seconds after United felt they were due a penalty for Adrien Truffert’s foul on Amad inside the area. The referee refused to give the decision, only to award Bournemouth one for a similar-looking incident, which also saw Harry Maguire sent off. Junior Kroupi converted the spot-kick to ensure the spoils were shared at the Vitality Stadium. Fernandes was raging at the puzzling referee calls, as was Carrick in his post-match press conference. But the result wasn’t too consequential for United. They remain third in the table, four points above Aston Villa in fourth. At present, United are still firmly on course to secure Champions League qualification. Ferdinand’s Sesko appeal In yet another game, Sesko was named on the bench despite his terrific goalscoring form. Carrick opted for Bryan Mbeumo to lead the line. The Cameroonian’s performances have declined in recent weeks and he struggled against Andoni Iraola’s men. Mbeumo was only taken off in the 70th minute and replaced by Sesko. Sesko has started only two games since Carrick’s arrival, yet he has made a significant impact from the bench, scoring four goals in his last six substitute appearances. Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Ferdinand argued that it is time to give Sesko a run of starts. “I think with Sesko now, he has five goals in nine games, most of them coming off the bench, and you’re looking at him thinking, you’re scoring that amount of goals, when’s he actually going to get a start?” “Because he’s come on again, but you can’t always save the day. It’s not always gonna happen where you come on and continue to just keep saving the day and keep getting your goals like that. I think he’ll be sitting there now kind of thinking, ‘right, okay, come on, time’s up now give me the starts that I require now to put myself in a good place.’” On United’s Champions League hopes, Ferdinand remarked, “We’re still sitting nice, I still think Aston Villa are going to drop away because I think the European football is going to hurt Villa in the long run.” “The more games they’ve got, the more injuries they probably pick up. I think a lot of people are going, ‘Can they get top four?’ Man United, I think they’re a certainty now for top four. As I said, that’s the type of game that under the previous regime, Man Utd lose that game. They go one-nil up, then they’re pegged back, they go two-one up, then they’re pegged back and a red card. The momentum shift is massive and I don’t think they would be able to work with that.” The six-time Premier League winner continued, “Man United today, they got rocked in that moment but they weathered the storm and came out of a 2-2 draw on the end of it.” “I think if you’re going to take anything out of the game, that’s a step forward and it’s a bit more positivity given that I really believe that we would have probably lost that game earlier in the season or last season.” “So that’s a positive if you’re gonna take anything from it but we’re third so you’ve got to be happy with that.” United return to action on April 13 when they host Leeds United at Old Trafford. Featured image Warren Little via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social