'They can't do it' – Rio Ferdinand on the issue undermining Erik ten Hag's Manchester United team

Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United’s players cannot play a pressing game over long periods, highlighting a damning statistic from this season. Erik ten Hag’s sides have historically been renowned for their pressing tactics, but Ferdinand feels United have failed to replicate this in the majority of their games this term. Ad In Ajax’s 2021/22 title-winning campaign, Ten Hag’s side ranked first in 'possession won in the final third per 90 minutes' — 7.6 times in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Premier League'Slowly erasing scars' — Ferdinand insists future is bright at Arsenal under Arteta01/10/2022 AT 14:51 That impressive statistic was backed up in the Champions League, as the Amsterdam outfit were ranked second, winning possession eight times per 90 minutes. Meanwhile, United sit much lower down in the Premier League rankings using the same statistic, sitting down in 14th out of 20 teams. “One of the big talking points in this [United] team is that ten Hag’s Ajax team were the best at pressing and winning the ball in the final third.

Here in the Premier League they're 14th,” Ferdinand told BT Sport ahead of United’s match away at Everton. The records Haaland has already broken — and those he is primed to smash Saka stars as Arsenal beat Liverpool in five-goal thriller to return to top ‘Not too many surprises’ – Southgate on facing Italy again in Euro 2024 qualifiers “In pre-season, he [Ten Hag] saw something. I heard something about the coaches saying how impressed they were with the front players, and that they were great talents.

But when you go into a season, you see the minerals of the players, and what happens when the going gets tough. “These players have proven they can't do it [pressing] over long periods. They can