RIO FERDINAND slammed Manchester United’s “unforgivable” performance against Everton and suggested he has never seen his former team playing this bad before.
Ferdinand, 46, won a raft of silverware with United during a glittering 12-year stint at Old Trafford as he lifted six Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League trophy.
But the legendary centre-back has seen his beloved team hitting new lows this season by dropping to 15th place in the Premier League table with 12 points separating them from European qualification.
And Man Utd’s troubles continued on Saturday when the former England international watched Ruben Amorim’s side draw 2-2 at Everton after finding themselves two goals down by half-time.
Ferdinand was left fuming and didn’t hold back on his brutal post-match analysis as he stated this might be the worst United have ever been during his lifetime.
The popular pundit lambasted the players’ “embarrassing” display and lack of desire, which he found especially unacceptable.
The ex-Leeds star advised manager Amorim not to hold back on his assessment of the players and let them know how disappointing they were once more in the dressing room.
Ferdinand told TNT Sports: “I’m sitting here and I don’t know if I have seen a United team this bad. It has been embarrassing in all different facets of the game.
“Yes, we can talk about quality, you talk about talent, but one thing which is unforgivable is a lack of desire.
“There’s instances in this game where Man Utd need to look at this Everton team and take examples from it. It’s embarrassing to sit here and watch it.
“We said they were going to have to come out and roll their sleeves up, because Everton would come out fighting.
“Man Utd haven’t done that. They’ve been pressed, they’ve been harried. They haven’t been able to deal with the press at all.
“They have chance after chance to clear the ball. Zero conviction, no-one taking over the situation.
“You’ve got to fight. You don’t come to Everton at this place, whatever form they’re in, and think you can roll them over easily. Man Utd have not understood that assignment from the first whistle.
“I hope [Amorim] went absolutely ballistic at the players. They were out-run, out-fought, out-jumped, every single department of the game. They were second best.”
Read the full article here
