Rio Ferdinand has revealed he spotted two Manchester United players doing extra training on a recent visit to Carrington.
The Old Trafford legend visited United’s training ground last week to interview Erik ten Hag and admits he was tense given his separate interview with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, who left Manchester United for the second time at the end of 2022, criticised Ten Hag’s mentality and said his former club must ‘rebuild everything’ to get back to the top.
‘The coach says they cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League,’ he told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
‘As Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.
‘Mentally [you can] say maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try, you have to try.
‘What I wish for Manchester [United], it’s what I wish for me – [to be] the best team they can. I love that club… I’m not that kind of guy that forgot the past.’
Given Ronaldo’s criticism of Ten Hag, Ferdinand was apprehensive ahead of his visit to Manchester United’s training ground but says the Old Trafford boss was ‘absolutely fine’ and focused on the job at hand.
Ferdinand said the atmosphere at Carrington felt as ‘clean and as pure as I’ve seen it for a while’ and was heartened to see Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford taking part in an extra session after training finished.
‘He [Erik ten Hag] was absolutely fine,’ Ferdinand said on his latest YouTube show. ‘I liked what I saw when I went in the other day, the environment felt as clean and as pure as I’ve seen it for a while.
‘I was walking and talking to Erik ten Hag actually after training had finished and two players were on the pitch doing extras.
‘They were cracking up and laughing, having a competition, joking around. Bruno [Fernandes] and Marcus Rashford. It warmed my heart you know, I swear.
‘We’ve talked so much about Rashford and about how he doesn’t look happy, and I’ve said it myself, we need to see a smiling, happy and joyous Rashford to see the best of him.
‘I stopped the interview at one point to look at Rashford and said, “this isn’t the Marcus I see on the weekend”, and the manager said, “This is the Marcus I see every day, that we see here, that we know.”’
Rashford, who endured a poor 2023-24 campaign, opened his account for the new season in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Southampton.
Fernandes is yet to score for Manchester United this season but has two assists. The Red Devils return to action on Tuesday night in the EFL Cup against League One side Barnsley.
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