Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has recalled a conversation that Sir Alex Ferguson had with the squad and believes that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to make similar instructions.
United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on New Year's Day, suffering the worst possible start to the new decade, and showing plenty of areas to improve upon.
After the game, Ferdinand and former teammate Robin van Persie identified that the United forwards were making smart runs but were not being found by their midfield teammates.
To echo the importance of his point, he revealed a conversation that Ferguson had with the United squad after the signing of Van Persie from Arsenal.
“We’ve played together for one season. Robin was top goalscorer in the league at the time and Sir Alex Ferguson walks into a meeting room and we all think he’s going to give us a pat on the back and say well done,” he told BT Sport.
“He said ‘I’ve bought a player here that is making runs’. He showed us about six or seven clips, he probably had about 30, and he hammered Michael Carrick, Scholes, me and other players that we weren’t passing the ball.
“He told us he [Van Persie] was going to win us the league and we need to pass him the ball. One of the most standout moments of that season, Rooney plays the ball 30 yards into him and he volleys into the back of the net against Aston Villa.
“If he hadn’t have had that conversation in that office, there’s a chance that the goal isn’t scored. The manager has put it in the back of your mind to look forward for this player.
“Today, one of the most common factors of the game was that the players in the midfield were not looking forwards because the players were making some good runs and for a forward, that is demoralising.”
