“I spoke to him…” – Rio Ferdinand reveals private conversation with Erik ten Hag

Rio Ferdinand has revealed a private conversation he had with Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag amid questions surrounding his job status.

Erik ten Hag‘s status as manager of Manchester United has been called into question of late, with results looking all over the place.

Most recently, the club suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth at Old Trafford, with many criticising the Dutch manager for a lack of identifiable style with his team.

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Club icon Rio Ferdinand has revealed a conversation he had with Ten Hag a few weeks ago where he questioned the manager on why performances have been so inconsistent.

“I want to see a style of football,” Ferdinand told talkSPORT. “I can’t see a style of football and an identity and a philosophy when you look at so many teams around the league [and see that], whether they’re near the top or the bottom.

“You always know a Sean Dyche team when you see it. When he puts his team out, you know he must be on the training ground working on his team.

“I spoke to Ten Hag before the Galatasaray game, and I said, ‘Why have we not seen a consistent performance from your team yet?’ and he said, ‘Well, I’ve had a lot of injuries,’ but I still think those other players that are coming in are on the training ground as well, they’re watching these training sessions and taking part.”

Speaking further, Ferdinand explained that he still feels Ten Hag should stay at the club after building up credit last season.

“On the basis of what I saw last season, yes [he should stay],” Ferdinand said. “I agree with him that there have been big injuries to key players, and key players are out of this team.

“It’s not just about the manager. If you sack Ten Hag and bring someone else in, I reckon we’ll still be here in two years saying the same thing.

“The culture at the club has got to be set and changed, he’s been trying to do that with all the sagas we’ve seen off the pitch, from taking the armband off [Harry] Maguire, to [Cristiano] Ronaldo, to [Jadon] Sancho.”