Has Erik ten Hag got a style of play at Manchester United? (Picture: Getty Images)
Rio Ferdinand is not convinced at all by Erik ten Hag’s clams that Manchester United have a clear style of play, saying the Red Devils look like they are playing ‘kamikaze chaos’ football.
Ten Hag’s side drew 2-2 with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, a credible result, but they certainly rode their luck to get there.
As has been the pattern for much of the season, Manchester United conceded a huge amount of shots, with the visitors producing 28 efforts on goal at Old Trafford and wasting most of them.
Two brilliant strikes from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo earned United a point, but the performance of the team as a whole did not impress Ferdinand and he blames the boss.
Speaking on Vibe with Five, he said: ‘The manager came out before and was saying “if anyone can’t see the style of play then I don’t know what you’re looking at” and basically “we have got a style of play”.
‘For the life of me, I give him the benefit of the doubt every time, and I’m looking at him thinking every time “what is it”?
‘I said after the game, if kamikaze, open sesame, no control of the game football is what we’re looking for, he has it nailed on and is doing a great job at it because that’s what we’re playing.
Kobbie Mainoo scored a brilliant second for Manchester United on Sunday (Picture: REUTERS)
‘You can put that down to injuries, we have a load of injuries but a lot of teams have injuries and they still play a style of football they are trying to achieve. I don’t think Ten Hag’s style is this kamikaze chaos football.’
The Dutchman was asked if he would reconsider his tactics in future after the very open game against Liverpool and a recent 4-3 defeat to Chelsea, but he sees no need to.
‘No, it’s clear when you play Chelsea, when you play Liverpool it will be a transition game,’ he said. ‘They are top, both teams. Both teams want to play and will leave space for others.
‘I thought that there were moments where we could’ve done better reactions in defensive transitions, but in general we did very good. We conceded only goals from two set plays.’
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