Rio Ferdinand gives verdict on ‘horrendous’ decisions impacting Manchester United and disagrees with Roy Keane

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Manchester United suffered a 3-0 defeat against rivals Manchester City at the weekend, and a controversial refereeing decision broke the deadlock.

A bizarre intervention from VAR’s Michael Oliver sent Manchester City towards a win at Old Trafford.

Rasmus Hojlund was judged to have fouled Rodri inside the box, once Paul Tierney had been sent to the screens. It was a soft decision.

Even former City defender Joleon Lescott agreed. He told Five: “From a defender’s point of view it was harsh. He doesn’t pull his shirt, he kind of stops his momentum going forward.”

Rio Ferdinand reacts to referee incidents

Manchester United fans were infuriated by the decision, which highlighted a massive inconsistency with the officiating.

Many fans pointed out that United were denied a penalty against Arsenal from a far more aggressive foul on Rasmus Hojlund.

Even former referee Dermot Gallagher tied himself in knots with his Ref Watch verdict on the incidents.

When the comparisons were made on Five, Rio Ferdinand responded: “Oh my god wow. The consistency levels are horrendous.

On Gabriel’s challenge on Hojlund he added: “He’s basically picked him up, put him under his shirt and put him outside the box.”

Keep Bruno Fernandes captain

One of the hot takes after Manchester United’s defeat to City was a theme which has dogged the Red Devils whenever they lose a big game this season. Bruno Fernandes with the captain’s armband.

Former skipper Roy Keane told Sky Sports that he would strip Fernandes of the captaincy as he does not believe he is the right candidate for the job.

Ferdinand strongly disagrees with his former teammate, arguing that another big decision is the last thing Erik ten Hag needs right now, also questioning a lack of other suitable candidates.

He said: “Who else is there? If there was somebody jumping off the page, you go ‘OK he should go and get it’ I’d consider it, but throwing out comments like that, who?

“Saying that is crazy because one of Erik ten Hag; problems is the amount of sagas outside of the pitch. We’ve had the Greenwood situation, you’ve had Sancho you’ve had Antony. Now you want to create another one by taking the captaincy? You want to bring another saga to the table? I don’t think it’s the right call at all.”

Fortunately, this is not something Erik ten Hag appears to be considering. Fernandes has the full faith of his manager and his teammates, and that counts for a lot.