Rio Ferdinand wondered ‘what is Manchester United under Erik ten Hag’ as the club legend slammed his former side’s ‘terrible’ performance against Tottenham.
United’s legendary centre-back has never been far from developments at his former club and was outraged to see Ten Hag’s side comfortably defeated 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
After a dismal performance, Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke all scored without reply as United slumped to a third defeat of the new Premier League season.
United captain Bruno Fernandes was also sent off for a rash challenge when the score was just 1–0, but many pundits and ex-professionals believe the direct red should have just been yellow instead.
The defeat leaves the club 12th in the standings and already eight points behind leaders Liverpool, who continue to make significant progress under their new boss Arne Slot.
Rio Ferdinand wondered ‘what the hell is Manchester United after Sunday’s defeat to Spurs
The pressure on Erik ten Hag continues to increase after another torrid performance
Ferdinand criticized Bruno Fernandes’ (centre left) send-off against Spurs as ‘p*** poor’
Analyzing United’s torrid performance, Ferdinand criticized his former employers’ defense as they allowed Spurs defender Micky van de Ven to run almost the entire pitch before pulling the ball back for Johnson to score the first goal.
Ferdinand was shocked by the team’s overall play and wondered ‘what on earth’ United are under Ten Hag.
“We’ll get to the red card in a moment, but Van de Ven has gone through the entire team and I’m looking at it, it also happened in the middle of the week,” Ferdinand said in a video on X.
‘Where is the proud man? I just don’t know. That fight doesn’t seem where it should be. I also think Bruno’s red card is poor. I think it’s a bad red card.
‘That should be a red card in no time. A straight red card? No way, I can’t have it,” he added.
“But don’t let that distract from the fact that we were terrible. We were a disgrace today. The red card should not be an excuse for anyone at Man Utd now. It should not be an excuse for anyone at the football club,” he added.
Ferdinand was left furious as United were easily beaten by Tottenham at Old Trafford
Tottenham ran out convincing 3-0 winners at Old Trafford after Dominic Solanke’s (right) goal
Ferdinand branded United’s performance against Spurs ‘terrible’ after another poor display
‘We were terrible. We were horrible to watch. It was a terrible representation of who we are and what we are now.
‘Constantly giving the ball away. I’m here ranting, but I can’t help it. I was watching the game and I thought, what the hell are we doing?’ Ferdinand continued cooking.
Meanwhile, United are expected to appeal Fernandes’ red card, with the club captain giving his marching orders for a rash challenge on midfielder James Maddison.
Fernandes appeared to slip as he made the challenge, only catching the Tottenham star on the shin rather than the knee as previously suggested.