“Have a reality check and know your place” – Rio Ferdinand mocks Unai Emery after Manchester United beat Aston Villa
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has taken a dig at Unai Emery after the Red Devils defeated Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, April 30. He wants the Spaniard to 'know his place' after their 10-match unbeaten streak came to an end.
Manchester United needed just one goal from Bruno Fernandes to seal the 1-0 win at Old Trafford. The three points saw the Red Devils cement their place in the top four and are now all-but guaranteed UEFA Champions League football next season.
Speaking on his FIVE podcast, Ferdinand did not waste time mocking Emery. He called for the Spaniard to 'sit down' and 'know his place'. He was quoted by Metro as saying:
"We stopped their 10-game unbeaten run. Unai Emery was producing miracles, and who steps up to stop him? Bruno. Sit back down, Unai. Have a reality check and know your place."
Emery joined Aston Villa in October 2022 after Steven Gerrard's sacking. He has taken a relegation-battling side to seventh place in the Premier League table.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, meanwhile, admitted that the Red Devils were caught surprised by Aston Villa when the sides first met in November. However, the Dutchman added that they learned a lot from the match and bounced back to win the next two meetings. He said:
"We met him the first game and he surprised us. We were low energy levels so we have to avoid that, but he surprised us with the system. Three days after we learnt a lot from that game and we bounced back and had a good win over them."
Aston Villa beat the Red Devils 3-1 in Emery's first game in charge of the game. United, however, defeated Villa 4-2 in the League Cup in November and 1-0 on Sunday in the Premier League.
Rio Ferdinand backs Bruno Fernandes to be the next Manchester United captain
Rio Ferdinand has backed Bruno Fernandes to become the new captain of Manchester United. He believes that the Portuguese midfielder has been giving it his all since joining and said on the FIVE Podcast:
"We deserved to win the game. Did you see Bruno's numbers? Wow. The guy… it's remarkable what he is doing. If he was at Arsenal he'd probably have a statue now at the Emirates with the numbers he has done! Does Bruno take the captaincy next year? 100 per cent, I think he does."
He added:
"Since Bruno signed [for Man Utd] he has been the most impactful player we have had. He's wearing the armband while Maguire doesn't play. I think it is natural progression for him to be captain next season."
Fernandes joined Manchester United from Sporting CP in January 2020. He has since scored 61 goals and provided 53 assists in 168 games for the club.
While Harry Maguire is the club captain, him being benched leads to Fernandes donning the armband.