Rio Ferdinand has suggested that some Manchester United players cannot handle the ‘burden’ of playing for the club on the heels of their 4-1 Premier League defeat by Newcastle on Sunday.
The drubbing at St James’ Park confirmed that Ruben Amorim‘s side are condemned to the club’s worst-ever Premier League finish at the end of the season, regardless of fixtures to come.
United will finish on 56 points come mid-May if they win their last six league games, but that would leave the team shy of the 58 points they ended on in 2021/22, their worst points total in the competition to date.
Although silverware remains in play via the Europa League, the Red Devils have it all to do at Old Trafford on Thursday after letting a 2-1 league against Lyon slip in the dying minutes of last week’s first-leg quarter-final tie.
Club legend Roy Keane was among those to dub Amorim’s players ‘physically and mentally weak’ as things unspooled in the north east to see Man United claim their 14th Premier League loss of the season.
And another of Keane’s former team-mates has joined the debate on why Man United have been wide of the mark this season, with Ferdinand adding that he would be ’embarrassed to show his face’ in the wake of the defeat by Newcastle.
Manchester United were handed a 4-1 defeat by Newcastle in Sunday’s Premier League action
United’s squad have struggled to find consistency against the backdrop of a challenging season for a number of key players
Former United man Rio Ferdinand was straightforward on the struggles players can face at his old club
‘You find out a lot about players when the pressure is on,’ Ferdinand said on his podcast Rio Presents. ‘And the pressure is like no other club in the Premier League at Man United.
‘People won’t like hear that, but it’s a fact. There’s a big responsibility on your shoulders given the history, the history is big, and some of these players don’t look like they’re ready to shoulder that and carry that.
‘It’s become a burden for those players, rather than a privilege. They’ve got to get away from that. That’s got to be their focus, their fire, because of the circumstances at the club.’
Ferdinand joined Man United from Leeds in 2002 in the thick of former manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s period of unprecedented league success, and was quick to admit that the differences in the two circumstances was very different.
‘I feel for them, I do feel sorry for them,’ Ferdinand continued. ‘I was very lucky, I came into a great culture, a winning mentality, a winning club.
‘I ran into Mason Mount’s dad, and said, ‘it’s a big club isn’t it?’ I know, (they) grew up with Chelsea – and he went, you know you see someone and he went (imitates awe), ‘yeah, wow, it’s a massive club.’
‘It’s hard to put it into words how big and heavy and how much responsibility goes into playing for this club. And that’s not an excuse for these players, you just know what it’s like.’
Ferdinand also noted that at present, hard work from the squad is not enough, when reminded of the fact that centre forwards Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have scored just six goals in their combined 59 Premier League appearances.
‘I wouldn’t be able to show my face (if that was the case for me). I wouldn’t be able to come out of the house,’ he added.
‘The way I used to feel about just losing or drawing a game, I would be really embarrassed.
Head coach Ruben Amorim is focused on Thursday’s crucial Europa League clash with Lyon
‘I’d be working hard and I know they are. I speak to guys at the club, they’re working really hard but at the moment that ain’t enough and I don’t know what they have to do.’
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s match, Amorim insisted that he ‘did not care’ about criticism and that he was only looking forward to Thursday’s tie, and the Champions League football next season that hangs in the balance.
‘I understand the criticism; I don’t care,’ The Portuguese manager said. ‘Nothing is worse than losing games.
‘People can say whatever they want to say. I don’t want to defend myself as if you look at our position in the table, it says it all. Thursday is really important so I don’t care what people say. Losing games is the hardest part of this job
‘We have a chance to get Champions League, but it’s going to be really hard. We need to focus on that.
‘We have had a season of difficult losses, so it’s usual for us to get up. We can do that on Thursday. It’s a different game in front of our fans.’
