Rio Ferdinand has defended Leny Yoro amid former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry’s “embarrassing” comments surrounding the Manchester United defender.
Leny Yoro has had a turbulent first season at Manchester United, after joining from LOSC Lille at just 18 years old.
The Frenchman played his first minutes against Rangers in pre-season, impressing in his 45 minutes in Scotland. Yoro also started against Arsenal at the SoFi Stadium, but was withdrawn after 35 minutes due to injury.
He didn’t feature again until the sacking of Erik ten Hag, meaning his first competitive game for United was for a manager who didn’t purchase him.
Since then, Yoro has impressed on the right and left side of Ruben Amorim’s back-three system, but has struggled on occasion, showing his inexperience.
Thierry Henry was particularly harsh on the young defender after his performance against Newcastle United, however, Rio Ferdinand has since come out to defend Yoro.
Ferdinand praises Yoro despite criticism
After United’s 4-1 loss away in Newcastle, Henry analysed all the goals and singled out Yoro for one in particular.
The Arsenal legend criticised Yoro for looking at the assistant referee after Harvey Barnes’ goal in the 64th minute, claiming that he has “never seen that before”, despite it being a very natural reaction for a defender after a goal.
The former striker’s comments were later branded “embarrassing”, among other words, by many fans of the game.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube Channel, Ferdinand recently defended the United No. 15, saying, “Yeah, it was a tough start for him [Yoro] right, but again, he came into a team lacking confidence.
“Young players need to come into a team if their going to do well, with players around them they can look to in moments its not going well that they can draw confidence from, that’s why I feel sorry for some of these players that join Man United.”
He later went on to say, “He’s a student of the game, he sees his mistakes, he acknowledges his mistakes and he tries to learn from those mistakes.”
Ferdinand analyses Yoro’s improvements
“When he’s [Yoro] is getting out wide in 1v1 situations, where against Southampton he got roasted,” Ferdinand said, “I spoke to him about getting your arms out and getting your arms against people, he’s now making contact with people, slowing people down.”
“Little details that I can see now that he’s pushing off people, when he’s running down the channel, rather than just thinking I’m going to win in a footrace. This is a different league, it’s a much more physical league.”
At just 19, Yoro has already established himself as a crucial player in Amorim’s United team, especially in the absence of Lisandro Martinez and now Matthijs de Ligt.
The criticism of Yoro, for a goal that wasn’t his fault and by a man whose voice carries so much weight in football, was very unnecessary. His short time at United hasn’t been brilliant, but he has outperformed so many players at the club.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.