Manchester United players must prove Rio Ferdinand wrong after Champions League defeat

Manchester United supporters are rightly at a loss with the situation this team finds itself in.

United had moments against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday night, perhaps even more than the hosts, yet switching off twice at the end of either half saw goals shipped and left their Champions League campaign dangling by a thread. 780 miles away in north London, a bemused Rio Ferdinand thought he was experiencing Groundhog Day.

The Reds' season has been littered with capitulations throughout. From the defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion to the loss at home against Galatasaray, United have crumbled time and time again.

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Reflecting on TNT Sports, Ferdinand pinpointed what is going wrong right now at the club. "We were watching that game and I was screaming 2-0 up, Rasmus Hojlund, thinking: 'Wow, we've found a hero,' and then all of a sudden the wheels fall off, they capitulate and that just signals to me a lack of character at the moment," he explained.

"There is not enough characters in there to pull a team through when they are in a situation with a bit of adversity or under a bit of duress. They have not got enough leaders or characters to pull them through those moments and that is what you need.

"It doesn't come down to ability in those situations. I have been to Copenhagen and we got beat 1-0 but this is far too often we are seeing this happen."

It is hard to argue with Ferdinand's assessment of the current situation but the Copenhagen game had looked to be a potential turning point before Marcus Rashford's red card. The team were on top and had dominated for long spells but the intervention of VAR in the 42nd