Rio Ferdinand has revealed the moment he begins to panic about Manchester United’s fortunes – and it’s not when they suffer a humiliating defeat like the one they suffered at the hands of Liverpool last weekend.
The former United defender, who won six Premier League titles and the Champions League during his time at Old Trafford, says it’s when the team starts to struggle to score goals that he starts to worry.
“When I start to panic about Manchester United is when they start to struggle to score goals,” Ferdinand told Sky Sports.
“That’s when I start to think ‘oh, this is not good’. When you’re not scoring goals, it’s a sign that something is wrong.
“When you’re not creating chances, when you’re not getting shots off, when you’re not getting into the box, that’s when I start to worry.
“That’s when I start to think ‘oh, this is not good’. That’s when I start to panic.”
Ferdinand’s comments come after United suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.
The result left United in sixth place in the Premier League table, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.
However, Ferdinand insists that the result should not be seen as a sign of things to come for United.
“I don’t think it’s a sign of things to come,” he said.
“I think it’s a blip. I think it’s a one-off. I think it’s a game that United will look back on and say ‘we could have done better’.
“But I don’t think it’s a sign of things to come. I think United will bounce back from this.
“They’ve got a lot of quality in their squad and they’ve got a lot of experience in their squad.
“They’ve got a lot of players who have been there and done it before. They know how to win games and they know how to get out of difficult situations.
“So I’m sure they’ll bounce back from this and they’ll be fine.”
Ferdinand also downplayed the significance of the result, insisting that it was just one game in a long season.
“It’s one game,” he said.
“It’s a long season. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“You can’t get too carried away with one result. You have to look at the bigger picture.
“You have to look at the whole season and you have to look at the whole context of the game.
“You can’t just look at one game and say ‘this is the end of the world’.
“It’s not the end of the world. It’s one game. It’s a blip. It’s a one-off.
“United will bounce back from this. They’ll be fine.”