Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has indicated that his former side have plunged back into crisis mode after their devastating 4-3 defeat against FC Copenhagen.
United scored two goals in the opening 45 minutes courtesy of Rasmus Hojlund who grabbed a brace.
Erik ten Hag’s men looked to be comfortable and in control, until a Marcus Rashford red card turned the game on its head. Copenhagen quickly scored two goals to restore parity before the break.
United momentarily took the lead in the second half after Bruno Fernandes converted his penalty.
However, once more, Copenhagen scored twice – this time in the space of five minutes – to clinch the win and secure all three points at Parken.
Ferdinand spoke to TNT Sports (via Eurosport) after the final whistle and blamed United’s poor mentality and a lack of leaders in the team for the team’s collapse.
The six-time Premier League winner said, “Back again into crisis mode, I think that’s the way it is. It’s a rollercoaster at Man United now. There’s no consistency.”
“We were watching that game and I was screaming, 2-0 up, Rasmus Hojlund, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, we’ve found a hero’, and then all of a sudden the wheels just fall off. They capitulate and that just signals to me a lack of character at the moment, there’s not enough characters in there to pull a team through.”
“When they’re in a situation where there’s a bit of adversity or they’re under duress, they haven’t got enough leaders and characters in those moments to pull them through in those moments and that’s what you need.”
“It doesn’t come down to ability in those situations. Away, Copenhagen, I’ve been there, we got beat 1-0 when I was there, but this is far too often we’re seeing this happen.”
Ferdinand added that the United players need to dig deep to overturn their current predicament and get the team back to winning ways.
The 45-year-old however admitted that ultimately the buck stops with Ten Hag and it’s up to the Dutch coach to pick his underperforming stars up.