RIO FERDINAND is writing off Manchester United’s hopes of winning the title — despite his former boss Harry Redknapp tipping them for glory.
Sun on Sunday columnist Redknapp has backed Erik ten Hag’s side to wrestle the Premier League crown away from Treble winners Manchester City.
Ten Hag raised eyebrows last month when he claimed United cannot be considered title contenders before a ball had been kicked.
And Red Devils legend Ferdinand insists there is still a huge gap between his former side and neighbours City, who are gunning for a fourth top-flight title in a row.
TNT Sports pundit Ferdinand said of Ten Hag’s views: “I am not surprised because I think you’ve got to look at how far off United were.
“They were way off. So far off in terms of players, depth, quality compared to Manchester City, who I will judge them against. Are they getting closer and are things improving? Yes.
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“Are we close enough to challenge and win the title? I don’t think so.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that those players will be saying, ‘Let’s try and win the league’.
“Whether they do that, most of us think that’s unlikely so get a trophy. We need to see an improvement from last season: consistency, style of play and getting closer to the winners.”
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The Red Devils are back in the Champions League and won their first trophy since 2017 last season when they beat Newcastle 2-0 to lift the Carabao Cup.
Ferdinand believes the key to their upturn under the ruthless Dutchman is the return of discipline to Old Trafford.
Ten Hag has not been afraid to tackle problems head on, terminating the contract of stroppy Cristiano Ronaldo following his bombshell interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan last November.
The United boss made further big calls in his first season in charge.
He left out an in-form Marcus Rashford for arriving late to a team meeting ahead of the New Year’s Eve trip to Wolves and stripped Harry Maguire of the captaincy this summer.
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Players no longer get away with poor timekeeping or bad attitudes at the Theatre of Dreams.
Former Old Trafford and England centre-back Ferdinand, 44, said: “A lot of those things that I would have been asking for or would have been questioning, he seems to be putting right or he’s adjusted.
“The prime example is discipline. There was a lack of discipline at the club for a while and he’s come in and changed that.
“There were key moments last season. With Rashford and his timekeeping, the reaction to that drew a positive immediately. The Cristiano situation — he came out on top in that. Maguire and the captaincy. Ten Hag’s not scared to make big decisions or approach big topics and deal with them head on.
“That’s been very refreshing and the positivity is nice to see.”
While Ten Hag has dealt with a number of first-team issues, United have also had the long-running Mason Greenwood case to contend with.
The striker, 21, was arrested in January last year and charged with several serious offences — including rape.
He is still suspended by United until an internal investigation is completed — despite the Crown Prosecution Service dropping all the charges against him in February this year.
Former Ajax boss Ten Hag has stated the player’s future will be a club decision.
Many of his predecessors have failed to keep a grip of the biggest club in the country, where the smallest of issues can quickly snowball.
But Ferdinand feels 53-year-old Ten Hag has got the character to handle it.
He added: “Small things will be small things at other clubs but small things at Man Utd become massive things.
“It is being able to navigate and deal with that, and he’s done that effectively.”
Getting shot of Ronaldo was not just down to huge wages being spent on a player making little impact. Ten Hag did not want a disruptive influence around his squad.
But it is not just the manager who is responsible for changing the culture at Old Trafford and their Carrington HQ.
A new leadership group is emerging within United’s ranks and having fulfilled a similar role alongside the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar and Wayne Rooney, Ferdinand expects the experienced players to control the dressing room.
Speaking at the launch of TNT Sports, Rio added: “When you create a culture, it’s not just a manager that does that.
“I have always said it is on the lieutenants underneath to implement the changing-room culture as well.
“You would like to think that Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Rashford would all be part of that.
“They are three names that jump off the page to me… and Christian Eriksen.
“Some of them are experienced players that know their way around the block.
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“But the manager can’t do it on his own. You need to have those players available to do that as well.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
