Man Utd: Ferdinand claims ‘big disruption’ vs City is damning indicator of Red Devils’ levels

Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand has suggested that the Red Devils’ reliance on Jonny Evans has highlighted the club’s current levels after their 3-1 derby loss to Man City.

The Red Devils took an unexpected lead at the Etihad Stadium when Marcus Rashford rifled a shot in off the crossbar before Phil Foden’s equally wonderful strike equalised 11 minutes after the interval.

And there seemed like there would only be one winner after that with Foden adding a second on 80 minutes before Erling Haaland secured the three points in stoppage time.

The Red Devils were dominated by Man City in all areas on Sunday, although Erik ten Hag’s side defended well in large spells with Evans leading the way.

And Ferdinand has highlighted the substitution of Evans, who produced a dominant performance alongside Raphael Varane in central defence, as the turning point as Man Utd went on to lose against their arch-rivals.

“Evans going off was a big disruption for our team because he’s a cool, calm, collected defender with experience,” Ferdinand said on his FIVE YouTube channel.

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“He’s pulling people about, he’s a communicator. He may not be the quickest or the most mobile but we saw against City, three or four times, he was the one putting himself in front of the ball to block shots, to block the pathway to goal.

“The only time someone got past him was a free-kick on the edge of the box when Haaland rolled him but I think he was injured at that point.

“That’s where we are. You look at it and you go, ‘Jonny Evans was probably one of our top three players today’.

“If you said that at the start of the season, he probably wouldn’t even have got a shirt and play in a Manchester derby.

“I think he’s played in both derbies, chasing the best striker on the planet around.”

Man Utd had just three shots in whole match against City but Ferdinand defended Ten Hag’s cautious approach against the defending Premier League champions.

Ferdinand added: “You can’t go toe to toe with them. We’ve tried that before and got beat, smashed off the park.

“The manager was humble enough to say, ‘You know what? We have to sit on the back foot a little bit with a low block and try and hit them on the counter’, and that goal was a good example.

“If you’ve got players who are quick and direct and play that ball quickly with some accuracy, you’re going to have a chance.

“Marcus comes up with an out-of-this-world strike, a ridiculous strike.”