Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has expressed his view on manager Ruben Amorim’s tactical decisions during what was a disappointing UEFA Europa League final defeat.
It was a highly frustrating match for loyal fans, with Man United struggling to show any attacking threat throughout the encounter.
Mason Mount was unable to have any impact on the match, spending most of the match in the background before being taken off late in the second half.
Rasmus Hojlund continued to disappoint, proving that he does not have the ability to be the striker that United desperately need.
In fact, club captain Bruno Fernandes felt that every United player need to do careful self-reflection following what was a crushing defeat.
But regardless of individual players’ errors, Ferdinand felt that Amorim made some crucial managerial errors.
On his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast this morning, the United legend was asked whether he thought that Amorim took too long to make substitutions, knowing that his team was underperforming.
“I thought he did. I was sitting there with Gareth Bale, with Scholesy, with Glenn Hoddle, Robbie Savage, all of us sitting there going, ‘when is he gonna change it?’”, Ferdinand admitted.
“I just thought the game needed a spark, it needed a reference point. Rasmus wasn’t getting any balls. Mason Mount wasn’t getting high enough to really affect the game, Amad in the second half wasn’t really doing what he was doing in the first half. We had no cutting edge, no cutthroat football at all.”
“We just looked flat,” Ferdinand admitted. “And I know we started putting them on the back foot and putting balls into areas but the keeper’s made one save today. He’s made one save. A good save, but he’s made one save. You go into a final and you say the opposition goalkeeper is gonna make one save, you don’t deserve to win a football match.”
It was a scathing assessment by the retired centre-back, who has a solid understanding of what it takes to win the biggest tournament finals there are.
Although Amorim might be safe in his position despite the crushing defeat, he will need to do some serious introspection so as to improve his team’s form next season and regain the trust of the United faithful.
Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images
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Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
