Rio Ferdinand slams Erik ten Hag’s ‘kamikaze chaos football’ at Man United and names two star players whose ‘worst traits’ are being highlighted under Dutchman’s reign

Rio Ferdinand has slammed Erik ten Hag‘s ‘kamikaze’ style of play at Manchester United for bringing out the ‘worst’ in players during a difficult season.

Ten Hag watched his side blow their lead for the third consecutive game as Liverpool scored a late stoppage time penalty to rescue a point at Old Trafford and keep the Premier League title race alive.

Goals from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo cancelled out Luis Diaz‘s opening strike before Mohamed Salah scored with a spot-kick after an Aaron Wan-Bissaka foul in the box.

Despite the impressive result against Jurgen Klopp‘s title-chasers, Ten Hag’s tactics were again highlighted by critical ex-players with Roy Keane fuming they are ‘playing like a small club’ and Gary Neville labelling the Dutchman’s coaching as ‘strange’.

The 54-year-old is in his second season at the 13-time Premier League champions and has faced several questions over his side’s playing style that appears to change from one game to the next.

United have surrendered leads in their last three Premier League encounters under Ten Hag

The Man United manager rebuffed criticism of his tactics against Liverpool after the match

Chaos was the overriding theme from United’s 3-2 midweek defeat at Chelsea and again versus arch rivals Liverpool on Sunday and Ferdinand believes Ten Hag’s tactics are making players look bad.

Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube show, the frustrated ex-United defender said: ‘The manager came out before and was saying “if anyone can’t see the style of play then I don’t know what you’re looking at” and basically “we have got a style of play”. 

‘For the life of me I give him the benefit of the doubt every time and am looking at him thinking every time “what is it”? 

‘I said yesterday [Sunday] after the game if kamikaze, open sesame, no control of the game football is what we’re looking for, he has it nailed on and is doing a great job at it because that’s what we’re playing.  

‘You can put that down to injuries, we have a load of injuries but a lot of team have injuries and they still play a style of football they are trying to achieve. I don’t think Ten Hag’s style is this kamikaze chaos football,’ he added.

Ferdinand highlighted the performances of Brazilian midfielder Casemiro who won the Champions League five times with Real Madrid before making the switch to United two-years ago.

The 32-year-old was sensational during his debut year as he played an influential part in United’s Carabao Cup triumph and run to the FA Cup final along with a third place Premier League finish, but has struggled with injuries and form this season.

Liverpool carved through United’s two-man defensive midfield of Casemiro and Mainoo, and Ferdinand continued to explain how Ten Hag’s ‘open’ brand of football is making the duo ‘look worse at times’. 

Ex-United defender Ferdinand was critical of United’s performances under Ten Hag this season

Ferdinand believes United’s midfielder Casemiro is being make to look worse by Ten Hag’s tactics

Ferdinand also believes United’s style of play isn’t getting the best out of youngster Kobbie Mainoo

‘That type of football leads to seeing players at their worst at times, for instance Casemiro for all he has won and the great player he has been he will look a worse player when the tactics are the way they are. 

‘Open transition football with big spaces around him, in that midfield at times another midfielder is 20 yards away. 

‘That never happened at Real Madrid so you don’t see his worst traits which is his mobility, same with Kobbie Mainoo, so you do things with a structure so you don’t see that. 

United have endured a difficult Premier League campaign during Ten Hag’s second season at the club

‘We are doing things where you are going to see exactly their worst trait so it makes them look worse at times. You look at Hojlund, how many balls did we get in the box for him, balls for him to run onto, don’t seem to be playing to his strengths. 

‘Then you have a 19-year-old centre-back [Kwambala], zero protection in front of him. 

‘The amount of times Liverpool threaded the ball from the back straight to an attacking midfield player, that’s why I say his performance he has had a magnificent performance as he has had to deal with things a structured team wouldn’t have to deal with as much. 

‘There’s a lot of thing going on in the team where we aren’t seeing the best of our players and that’s because of the way the team is set up,’ he added.