Rio Ferdinand tells Man Utd to follow Arsenal example with Erik ten Hag

Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United must give their new manager the time and backing to turn the faltering club around.

United are set to appoint Ajax boss Erik ten Hag as their fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down at Old Trafford back in 2013.

Former Red Devils defender Ferdinand believes his old club must trust Ten Hag, just as Arsenal have done with Mikel Arteta, if they are to have any chance of getting back to the top. Ferdinand told William Hill: “ Manchester United are obviously now looking for a new manager, and hopefully things at the club will change.

“If you look at Arsenal, they've found the manager, they trust in him and they've allowed him to do some things where a lot of people have probably doubted it. Such as with the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang situation, where people thought he’s a big player and you have to keep him. But now Arteta has done what he wanted and Arsenal are on a good run at the moment.

“You have to trust in the manager and trust in the process and, fingers crossed, United will do that. When you're a professional, you have to apply yourself right every single day. The culture, with the environment that you're in, has to be structured and put together for you to be the best you can be as an individual, but in our sport, as a collective as well. Up until over the last few years, United has not been set up like that.”

Ferdinand said United, who finished second in the Premier League last season and are currently seventh, must accept where they currently are and undertake a major rebuild. He explained: “You can’t lie, you can’t try and sugar-coat it and dress it up as something that it isn’t. The league table doesn’t lie. The league table tells you where you’re