Ferdinand names ‘massively disrespected’ Man Utd star with Red Devils a ‘Championship team’ without him

Rio Ferdinand reckons Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes has been “massively disrespected” during his time at Old Trafford with the Red Devils a “Championship team” without him.

The Red Devils are having a nightmare season in the Premier League with Ruben Amorim’s side currently 15th in the table after 26 matches.

Things have got worse for Man Utd since Amorim’s arrival with the Red Devils winning just four of their 15 Premier League matches under the Portuguese head coach.

Many of his players have been underperforming but one player who has remained largely consistent is Fernandes with Amorim’s compatriot contributing nine goals and 11 assists in 36 matches in all competitions.

And Ferdinand feels sorry for Fernandes as he thinks the Man Utd midfielder is one of the very few players who is doing their job this season.

Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “Bruno is massively disrespected. All this talk of him not being captain material and trying to look for negatives in his game.

“Since he’s come, 28 goals, 18 assists in his first season, that’s 46 goal involvements. Ten goals and 13 assists in his second season. Third season, 14 goals, 13 assists. He’s got ten now and 12 assists.

“That says to me and it’s screaming one thing: consistency, output. This is what this guy brings and delivers.

“Some of the things he gets called out for, his body language etcetera… yeah, there could be improvements there, but that is borne out of frustration, that’s borne out of not being helped.

“That’s borne out of, ‘You know what? I’m f***ing doing my job here, look at the stats!’

“No player has created more chances since he signed for Manchester United in the Premier League, by the way. Not Kevin De Bruyne, nobody. He’s created more chances than anybody since he signed.

“If you’re putting a human touch on that, you would be frustrated, you would be p***ed off that the club are signing players that haven’t been able to deliver.”

Ferdinand added: “One of the things that he gets criticised for, and I understand why he does, but you’ve got to look at the reasons why he’s doing what he’s doing.

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“Sometimes you see him going to the full-back trying to get the ball, sometimes you see him going to the centre-half trying to get the ball, then you see him going up front and getting on the box and trying to do crazy things.

“That’s frustration because he [another player] hasn’t been able to do what he should be doing: I know what he’s being asked to do and he’s not doing it so you get out the way, holding midfielders, and I’ll show you what to do. That’s what he’s doing.

“If other people are doing their jobs, I don’t then need to go there and try and show you how to do your job.

“That’s what Bruno has ended up doing and that’s why people are always saying he’s out of position. I actually feel sorry for him in a sense.”

Speaking about their performance in a 2-2 draw against Everton, Ferdinand continued: “I think they’re a Championship team when he doesn’t play, division one team sometimes when you look at them.

“They’re lacking confidence, they’re getting overrun a lot of the time, they get bullied sometimes.

“You look at them in the first 45 minutes, especially, against Everton and they were second to every ball almost and for the second goal they were outrun.

“Even the first goal from the set-piece, they’ve had five or six opportunities to get the ball cleared and not getting to it.

“You can say luck but it happens too often to be just luck. Who is going to dominate and just get the ball and clear it?

“You look at Everton and it’s a different project altogether. David Moyes has gone there and they’re flying now. The main thing it’s off the back of is graft.

“Those players are going out there and grafting. If the Manchester United players can start with that then those fans who travel and pay their money will be on side.”