Club legend Rio Ferdinand has said Manchester United’s lack of trophy-winning experience can hold them back in their pursuit of the Champions League this season.
United have started the campaign in terrific form after enjoying a stellar transfer window.
They brought in Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus, as well as Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.
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Ronaldo scored twice on his second debut on Saturday as the Red Devils beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford.
And the additions of Ronaldo and Varane – who won four Champions League’s together at Real Madrid – is not enough nous to help United win the trophy this season, according to Ferdinand.
“I think Man United’s, not problem, but where they’re behind the other three English teams, is the experience of winning things,” he told BT Sport before the Red Devils’ opening group match against Young Boys on Tuesday.
“All the other three English teams have won things, whether it be the Champions League or the Premier League. Man United have yet to do that as this group.
“That’s where they are lacking, and that’s where they’ve got to play catch up and they’ve got to do that this season. The transfer window for them has been impeccable, but that’s got to translate into trophies.”
Fellow pundit and United legend Paul Scholes agreed with his former team-mate, saying: “I think they’ve got a chance. As Rio said, the transfer window was big for them.
“You go back to the Europa League final, they probably had 11 or 12 players that you felt were good enough to win a trophy and [Solskjaer] couldn’t make a substitute. He didn’t have trust in them five or six [bench] players to come onto the pitch. Now he’s got that.
“You look at the bench, and what can come into this squad – Rashford not involved, Cavani not involved, you’ve got Greenwood and Martial – all of a sudden there’s a group of 15 or 16 players that could go on to potentially win the Champions League and fight for the Premier League as well.
“I’m hopeful, but there’s so many good teams in the competition, Bayern Munich, PSG, the other three English teams. We’ve got four special teams in the competition this year and hopefully one of them – the right one – will go on to win it.”
