Rio Ferdinand demands Man Utd players start to lead as Ten Hag hits out at ‘rumours’

Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand says now is not the time for excuses and the senior players have to step up and be leaders on the pitch.

United slumped to a 1-0 defeat against relegation battlers Everton on Saturday. The defeat leaves their Champions League hopes dangling by a thread. They remain six points behind Tottenham who currently sit in fourth spot.

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Ferdinand said rival teams would be “bouncing” after seeing the United result. Spurs proved him right as they romped to a 4-0 win at Aston Villa later in the day.

Arsenal lost at home to Brighton but Ferdinand says United need to focus on themselves. Going in to the game the former defender feared United would not get a result and that is how it turned out.

Everton went in to the game on the back of a disastrous 3-2 loss to relegation rivals Burnley. They had lost three of the last four games but came out fighting to get the win.

“How bad Everton have been in terms of results and the position they are in, I still wasn’t sure that Man Utd would not get a result today,” he told BT Sport.

“And that tells you a lot about where Man Utd are. Very unpredictable and you don’t know what you are going to get out of them. Individually or as a collective team. It is not a good place to be especially when you are trying to qualify for the Champions League.”

There still remains plenty of uncertainty around the club. The appointment of a new manager appears to be no nearer a conclusion. And