3 weeks ago
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RIO FERDINAND has slammed Erik ten Hag’s kamikaze football and questioned his claim about Manchester United’s style of play.
The former Red Devils star criticised United following their 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
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AFPFerdinand was alarmed at United’s lack of control in that clash, with Ten Hag’s side conceding 28 shots.
They allowed Chelsea the same number of shots last week and 31 against Brentford in the match prior to that, yet almost won both games.
Ferdinand, 45, labelled United’s football as “kamikaze” and suggested he has yet to see a style of play implemented, despite Ten Hag’s claim.
He said on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel: “The manager came out before and was saying ‘if anyone can’t see the style of play then I don’t know what you’re looking at’ and basically ‘we have got a style of play’.
“For the life of me I give him the benefit of the doubt every time and am looking at him thinking every time ‘what is it’?
“I said after the game [vs Liverpool] if kamikaze, open sesame, no control of the game football is what we’re looking for, he has it nailed on and is doing a great job at it because that’s what we’re playing.
“You can put that down to injuries, we have a load of injuries but a lot of teams have injuries and they still play a style of football they are trying to achieve.
“I don’t think Ten Hag’s style is this kamikaze chaos football.”
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Willy Kambwala wants to become rock at the back for Man Utd... but Erik ten Hag probably won't be around to see it
By Ken Lawrence
ERIK TEN HAG insists he is still the right man to take Manchester United forward.
The Dutchman believes he can recapture their former glories, despite escaping for the second time in a row what could have been humiliation by Liverpool at the weekend.
And teen Willy Kambwala revealed his “passion” is to become a rock at the heart of United’s defence after making just his second start of the season against their bitter rivals.
United trailed 1-0 at half-time on Sunday but fought back to take a 2-1 lead before Mo Salah’s 84th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot.
Ten Hag was pleased with the second-half performance, declaring it “another signal and message for the future,” before adding, “the team and squad have high potential.”
Yet the Old Trafford chief sounds more and more like he has his finger stuck in a leaky dyke and does not think it is going to hold.
Comeback or not, United still threw away a lead for the third time in eight days following their 4-3 defeat to Chelsea and 1-1 draw with Brentford — both deep into injury time.
And his body language suggests he expects to be crossing it to go back to Holland with his P45 this summer
Click here to read Ken Lawrence’s comment piece in full.
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Ferdinand continued his criticism by claiming Ten Hag’s style is bringing the worst out of some United stars, including Casemiro.
He added: “That type of football leads to seeing players at their worst at times, for instance Casemiro for all he has won and the great player he has been, he will look a worse player when the tactics are the way they are.
“Open transition football with big spaces around him, in that midfield at times another midfielder is 20 yards away.
“That never happened at Real Madrid so you don’t see his worst traits which is his mobility, same with Kobbie Mainoo, so you do things with a structure so you don’t see that.
“We are doing things where you are going to see exactly their worst trait so it makes them look worse at times. You look at Hojlund, how many balls did we get in the box for him, balls for him to run onto, don’t seem to be playing to his strengths.
“Then you have a 19-year-old centre-back [Kwambala], zero protection in front of him.
“The amount of times Liverpool threaded the ball from the back straight to an attacking midfield player, that’s why I say he has had a magnificent performance as he has had to deal with things a structured team wouldn’t have to deal with as much.
“There’s a lot of thing going on in the team where we aren’t seeing the best of our players and that’s because of the way the team is set up.”
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