Rio Ferdinand reveals 'only criticism' of Erik ten Hag as Manchester United pressure grows

Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand believes the only criticism which can be levelled at Erik ten Hag is that he has failed to establish a style of play this season.

United's boss is under increased pressure this campaign as the season enters its last fortnight for the Reds. MEN Sport understands Sir Jim Ratcliffe is unconvinced by the Dutchman and has yet to decide whether he will opt for a change in the hot seat in the summer.

Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel is reportedly interested in the job at Old Trafford and Ferdinand attempted to persuade him to join last week before the Champions League semi-final in Madrid. Brentford boss Thomas Frank is the latest name to be linked to the job should Ten Hag leave but the TNT Sports pundit struggled to find too many faults with the current incumbent.

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He told Chris Moyles' breakfast show on Radio X: "He’s right about one thing: they’ve got a lot of injuries. A huge amount of injuries.

"Centre-back partnerships, I think they’ve had the most changes that I can remember. But the point you made about making it hard for ourselves… Arsenal have taken six points off us this season and that shows how far we’ve fallen.

"I’m of the mind that it does happen in cycles, there are cycles in this game, and you’ve just got to accept sometimes that we are in our cycle of mediocrity or even below at this moment in time. But it’s about how you then change it.

"It’s taken 30 years for Liverpool to win a Premier League or an elite title. Hopefully, we don’t take that long but you’ve got to look at the examples around.

"Manchester City have come out