Rio Ferdinand has suggested Manchester United made a mistake with Jose Mourinho.
And not by sacking him, rather by failing to hire him as soon as Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as boss in 2013.
David Moyes took the reins at Old Trafford on Ferguson's recommendation, following his compatriot's retirement, but things quickly went downhill under the current West Ham boss.
Moyes was eventually replaced by Louis van Gaal, and when things still failed to improve, United turned their attention to Mourinho.
The Portuguese steadied the ship somewhat, guided United to a third-place finish and won the club a first Europa League.
And with the benefit of hindsight, Ferdinand reckons United made something of a mistake by going with Ferguson's suggestion of Moyes and initially overlooking Mourinho.
"I thought that [Mourinho should take over] at the time," Ferdinand told the FIVE YouTube channel. "I thought Mourinho would have been the one the one to come in then to carry on what the manager was doing.
"He had the experience of that type of player, that stature of club etc. but it never materialised.
"At that time I would have been punching the air if Mourinho came through the door. Mourinho has the experience, he's won the league, won the Champions League, managed at Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea – they're all big clubs man!
"He knew what he was coming into but that doesn't necessarily guarantee you success at Manchester United as we saw when he came at the time he did."
