Liverpool icon Phil Thompson has hit out at Rio Ferdinand over his criticism of RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano.
Leipzig were thrashed 5-0 by Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday, prompting Ferdinand to deliver a damning assessment of the German club's defence.
"[Marcus Rashford] He was head and shoulders above Leipzig," the former England defender told BT Sport .
"He made some defenders, who we were raving about before the game, look like schoolboys. I thought Upamecano had a nightmare today."
But Thompson has leapt to Upamecano's defence, insisting Ferdinand has been far to quick to change his tune about the highly-rated Frenchman.
“I’ve seen he’s (Upamecano's) been linked with Liverpool as well as Man Utd now, and of course, after their result, you’d be wondering whether it’s the right call," Thompson told Paddy Power News .
"Though on saying that, you could say the same thing about Virgil van Dijk if you had only ever seen him play in that game [7-2 defeat] against Aston Villa.
"You have your off days – everyone does. RB Leipzig have had a fantastic start to their season, they didn’t look like that in the second half at Old Trafford, United were all over them.
Were Ferdinand's comments on Upamecano fair or is Thompson right to criticise the pundit? Have your say here.
"Upamecano was all over the place, but so was the entire team. But don’t be fooled. He’s a very good defender and there’ll be a lot of people looking at him because he is making a lot of waves.
"There’s not a lot of quality centre-backs available in Europe at the moment, and I know Rio Ferdinand wasn’t happy with his performance… But I think I remember Rio having one or two bad games himself!
"One or two shockers, it happens to everybody. He’s had a couple of shockers as a pundit, too, we’ve all seen the ‘give it to Ole!’ rant a million times.”
Upamecano, 22, remains heavily linked with a move away from Leipzig, with Manchester United and Liverpool among a number of Premier League suitors.
Phil Thompson was speaking exclusively to Paddy Power News. To read more, visit news.paddypower.com.
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