ten Hag is instructed by Rio Ferdinand to substitute a Man United defender for McFred and play him in midfield.
The legendary United player was unimpressed by the midfield pairing.(Images)
Rio Ferdinand thinks that Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, ought to think about benching both Scott McTominay and Fred in favor of playing center-back Lisandro Martinez in midfield.
Many detractors believed the Argentine's failure to monitor his runner contributed to Brighton's first goal in Sunday's 2-1 loss, making it a challenging debut for the Red Devils.
Danny Welbeck's strength and physicality were also difficult for Martinez to control, and he was fortunate not to give away a penalty when he pushed the striker over inside the area.
The Ajax defender's baptism of fire, though, paled in comparison to the scrutiny given to United's midfielders, with Fred (who was substituted shortly after halftime) and McTominay both facing criticism for their underwhelming performances.
After losing Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic in the summer, United sought to strengthen their midfield. However, a deal for Frenkie de Jong of Barcelona has stalled because the Dutchman does not want to leave Camp Nou.
Ten Hag is having some early difficulties in that holding midfield position, but Ferdinand believes the adaptable Martinez, who did occasionally play higher up the field at Ajax, might fill in until a suitable successor is acquired.
Ferdinand responded on his Vibe with Five YouTube show when asked to select the starting XI he would use for United's upcoming match against Brentford on Saturday: "In my midfield, I'm going to play Martinez as the holding midfielder and take Fred out." Varane and Maguire will play center defense for me.
Lisandro Martinez, a defender for Manchester United
Martinez's ability to play at center defense hasn't fully won Ferdinand over. (Image)
Ferdinand said when asked if he would still keep McTominay, "I wouldn't select McTominay or Fred." Listen, Man United will become better after their opening-day performance against Brighton. The situation can only improve.
Given his struggles against Welbeck, Ferdinand was not very excited by Martinez's debut and believes the rather little Argentine will need to be extremely cute and clever in comparison to former teammate Gabriel Heinze in the manner he blocks aerial balls.
He reminds me a little bit of Gabi Heinze, but he's better on the ball, the man continued.
But when the ball is wide, if I were Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Darwin Nunez, Chris Wood, Aleksandar Mitrovic, or Danny Welbeck, I'd go and stand on Martinez.
"You just do it because of the height difference, and then it's up to him: can he handle it?"
Gary Neville wasn't the tallest, but if the ball was coming across and he knew a big guy was coming in behind him to smash him over the top, bang! he added as some advice.[strike them] Put them off, they can’t head it cleanly.’
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