"I guarantee he is sitting there amazed" - Rio Ferdinand says Ten Hag would sell entire Manchester United team if he could after nightmare start
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes Erik ten Hag would happily trade his whole starting XI for better players if he could.
Despite a promising pre-season at Manchester United, the Ten Hag era in the Premier League has got off to a disastrous start as they lie at the bottom of the table after two games. United lost their opening fixture 2-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion. They then fell to a new low over the weekend as they were hammered 4-0 by Brentford.
Ferdinand was mortified by his old side's performance at the Brentford Community Stadium as he gave a damning assessment of the current crop of players.
We are bottom….I’m going off grid
The former England centre-back said on Vibe with FIVE podcast (as quoted by The Manchester Evening News):
"He's definitely coming in here and I guarantee he is sitting there amazed. 'Like what is this? This isn't what I expected to come back into.' I reckon Ten Hag is walking in thinking 'I didn’t know it was this bad.' Is it irretrievable?"
He added:
"Does it need an absolute mass turnover where all you aren't good enough and we’ll get rid of all of you?. You can’t do that. I think that’s the dream scenario. If Erik ten Hag could say: 'I'll get rid of all these players and start with another 11' - he would. I think he actually would."
Erik ten Hag wanted to make Man Utd players run 13.8 kilometres during extra training session today because Brentford players ran 13.8 kilometres more than them yesterday
🚨 Erik ten Hag wanted to make Man Utd players run 13.8 kilometres during extra training session today because Brentford players ran 13.8 kilometres more than them yesterday https://t.co/G1RyOZA1mx
Rio Ferdinand urges Erik ten Hag to start Manchester United's youth team prospects
The former England centre-half believes that Manchester United's youngsters should be given a chance in the first team as their more experienced stars haven't earned the right.
The pundit believes the likes of Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage, and James Garner should all be given a go in the team.
Ferdinand proclaimed (as per The Mail):
"Do you know what? Throw the kids in, I would. You know why? When you don't get effort, you don't deserve to get the shirt. When you don't get the right application, you don't deserve to get the shirt.
He continued:
"When you don't have the balls to play, you don't deserve to get the shirt. When you're not working, when you're not running yourself into the ground, you don't deserve to wear the shirt."
If Erik Ten Hag walks away from Manchester United I'd stand up and applaud him. He's been lied to, deceived and undermined at every turn and he's only been in the job two months. I'd quit too if I was in that situation
The former defender added:
"There are young kids in there, Jimmy Garner, Charlie Savage, Zidane [Iqbal], all these other kids, whether they’re good enough in terms of whether they’re good players, in the long run, is not the point for me. I think it’s beyond that, you need to send a message to people and say you aren’t just going to keep getting the shirt."
Manchester United will host Liverpool next at Old Trafford on Monday.