Rio Ferdinand may have just answered his own question on Manchester United captaincy alternatives

It cannot be sugar coated anymore, Manchester United are in a difficult position and Erik ten Hag is under the microscope.

Each week it feels as though a new area of the squad is being scrutinised. After the defeat to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, it is the position of captain.

Bruno Fernandes shows glimpses of being a good captain however his attitude on the pitch often lets him down. It was no different this weekend when he picked up a needless yellow card for arguing with the referee. This act of petulance means United will be without their captain and talisman for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday.

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Sadly, when these incidents keep cropping up, it calls into question a player's suitability for the role of leader in the dressing room. Former United captain Roy Keane has been vocal about stripping the Portuguese midfielder of the armband.

However, when he made the point, Rio Ferdinand was one person who disagreed. He asked the FIVE podcast: "Who else is there? If there was somebody jumping off the page that you go: 'Okay yeah he should actually go and get it,’ I would say: 'Okay you can consider that,’ but throwing out comments like that…"

Less than two months on, Ferdinand may have answered his question. He explained to talkSPORT why Marcus Rashford should have been hammering down Erik ten Hag's door to ask for the armband over the summer when it was unceremoniously striped off of Harry Maguire: "If I was him [Marcus Rashford], being at the club that long and with the status he’s got in the game, when the captaincy came up I’d be wanting to have that armband because