Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Ruben Amorim must be on the same wavelength as one former Manchester United manager after the defeat to Newcastle.
Newcastle travelled to Old Trafford on Monday evening and Eddie Howe’s men walked away with all three Premier League points on the night.
The Magpies exposed Manchester United in the first half and Newcastle took the lead in only the fourth minute thanks to Alexander Isak.
Eddie Howe’s side built on their momentum at Old Trafford and Joelinton doubled Newcastle’s advantage in the 19th minute.
Ruben Amorim was left facing an uphill battle and the United manager was unable to turn the tide back in his favour, with the Red Devils losing 2-0 at home.
The 39-year-old Portuguese manager has now watched United lose four consecutive matches across all competitions since his arrival from Sporting CP in November.
United are winless since their 2-1 comeback win against Manchester City at the Etihad in December 2024 and have lost their last three Premier League matches.
Ferdinand on Newcastle result vs Man Utd
Manchester United now languish in 14th place in the Premier League table and the Red Devils now face the real threat of falling into the relegation zone.
The Red Devils are only seven points above 17th-place Ipswich Town and United have only won six of their 19 Premier League matches this season.
Ruben Amorim’s men will kick off their first match of 2025 with a Premier League showdown against Premier League rivals Liverpool at Anfield.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Rio Ferdinand admitted that United showed “no understanding” of how to press after their performance against Newcastle.
“You look at Man United yesterday, wow,” he said.
“It was an absolute disgrace, in terms of the ability of the opposition team Newcastle to play the ball in straight lines or in one or two, three passes, right through our team and to be right up against our back three or five.
“It shows you there is no understanding or an idea in this team of how to press.”
Ferdinand’s eye-opener on former Man Utd manager
Ferdinand added that the Newcastle result brought him back to the poignant words of Ralf Rangnick when the Austria manager was at Old Trafford.
Ralf Rangnick served as interim manager at United after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked and saw out the remainder of the 2021-22 season for the Red Devils.
The 66-year-old German was expected to take up a consultancy role after his interim spell, but then Rangnick took up his current role with Austria instead.
Rangnick famously claimed that United needed an “open-heart operation” in 2022 after Liverpool thumped the Red Devils 4-0 and ahead of Erik ten Hag’s arrival.
“It just flips me back to Rangnick,” Ferdinand said.
“Ralf Rangnick said this needed open-heart surgery, not a quick fix, open-heart surgery it needs. He weren’t wrong; how true are those words ringing now?
“He was so right, and I think Amorim is sitting there behind closed doors and be saying the same thing, and he said, ‘Our club needs a shock.’
“He didn’t go as far as saying open-heart surgery, but he went, ‘Our club needs a shock.’”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/wP7X0ki