Rio Ferdinand slammed Manchester United’s defence after the club’s 1-1 draw with Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
Daniel James put United in front with a thunderous strike in the first half, but the hosts levelled in the second period through Jannik Vestergaard’s header.
The Saints were reduced to 10 men when Kevin Danso was sent off after picking up two yellow cards but they held firm to take a point.
After the game, Ferdinand took aim at United’s back four and singled out Victor Lindelof for failing to take responsibility for the Saints’ leveller.
‘If you look at the two centre halves for the goal, they know where the danger is, they’re both pointing,’ he said to BT Sport.
‘They should shuffle against the danger man. They’re both passing the buck there. A Sol Campbell or Martin Keown would be looking for the danger man and taking responsibility.
‘Lindelof is the main culprit here. It’s a case of personal pride. They both have to say ‘have I done enough there?’ If Lindelof gets tight earlier on, Vestergaard can’t get a run on him.’
Ferdinand, who was part of one of finest rearguards in United’s history, said the current back four need to get back to basics and be more dominant in their own 18-yard box.
‘Gary Neville was short and couldn’t beat a 6’2 man in the air, but he was brilliant at backing into them and stopping them jump,’ he continued.
Award winning journalist and writer who has worked as a stringer for a couple of acclaimed South Africa based German journalists, covered 3 Ugandan elections, 2008 Kenya election crisis, with interests in business and sports reporting.
