Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes Andre Onana is the only player to “emerge with any sort of credit” from the defeat to Tottenham.
United slumped to their second 3-0 defeat of the season at Old Trafford as Spurs ran riot to pile more pressure on Erik ten Hag.
Brennan Johnson gave the visitors the lead inside the first five minutes before Bruno Fernandes was sent off before half time, with Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke adding to United’s misery with second half goals.
Onana United’s best player against Tottenham?
It was another dismal performance from United, who find themselves languishing in 12th with a minus three goal difference after six games, and just two wins to their name.
The pressure would have gone up a notch on Erik ten Hag after one of the worst United displays in a long time and the Red Devils don’t appear to have made any improvement from last season, with it arguable they have got worse.
Truth be told Spurs could have scored five or six goals with Timo Werner guilty of missing a couple of very good chances, which in the end didn’t matter.
Spurs deserve praise for their performance but a lot of the attention will be on United and Ten Hag, with the Dutchman facing a huge task to stop the rot and get United back on the right track.
United’s players performed poorly throughout, but Ferdinand believes Onana is the only one who can leave with his head held high.
“Do you know who I’ve got to give a shout out to, who got a lot of stick last season? Onana,” he said said on his YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents.
“Without him, it’s six or seven today. Onana has been good this season, he’s stepped up, he’s made some big saves.
“Yes there’s been the odd thing here [and there] but he’s been what you want to see. What I expected to see from Onana is what I’m seeing this season.
“He’s the only one today who comes out of the game with any sort of credit, any sort of positives.
“He can walk away with his head high. He won’t because he’ll be sitting there hurting, he conceded three goals. But he wasn’t at fault for any of the goals, he kept us in the game.”
It doesn’t get any easier for United and they face two tough away games this coming week with Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League, with Ten Hag desperate for some positive results.