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Football

06th Nov 2021

Rio Ferdinand’s tweets reflect the four stages of every United fan watching the Manchester derby

Lee Costello

“Anyone want to clear the cross…FFS!”

Let’s be honest, the game was over in the first half as Manchester City took an early lead through an Eric Bailey own goal, and then cemented their victory thanks to the big toe of Bernardo Silva.

There was very little to celebrate from a Manchester United point of view as the Red Devils looked disorganised, lethargic and clearly lacking in belief.

The blue side of Manchester, however, put in a quintessential Pep Guardiola performance – they were fluent, free-flowing and full of energy.

Manchester United (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Former Old Trafford hero Rio Ferdinand sat down to watch the game, and the four tweets he posted throughout it perfectly encapsulate the four stages that every United fan had to go through watching Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side.

Rio Ferdinand stage one: Forcing yourself to watch it in the first place

Who knows, right? It’s football, after all, crazier things have happened. It’s at Old Trafford, City are coming off a loss last week, maybe, just maybe…

Rio Ferdinand stage two: Thank Christ for De Gea

After going 1-0 down six minutes into the game, it’s been all Man City, and the Spanish goalkeeper has done just about everything in his power to keep his side in it, making save after save.

There’s hope yet.

Rio Ferdinand stage Three: Oh for f*** sake

That’s it! I tried to stay positive, but what is Luke Shaw doing there? If someone puts a ball into your box, maybe try and get rid of the bleeding thing!! Conceding a second goal, right at half-time – shambles!

Rio Ferdinand stage Four: Sheer disbelief

There’s a stat that will shake the core of even the most deludedly positive United fan.

There’s just no way that this is real – every team go through bad spells, but surely this is up there with the most catastrophic periods in the Red Devils’ recent history.

Manchester United

The Sky Sports pundits were in similar disbelief as Roy Keane simply stated that he had “given up” on this United side, and the ugly, but the necessary question keeps rearing its head again and again – will Ole Gunnar Solskjær be sacked?

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