Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has said that current manager Jose Mourinho has to work with the players he has and that he can’t use a lack of transfers as an excuse for poor performance.
Mourinho has spent over £370million on 11 transfers since arriving at Manchester United in 2016 but has bemoaned his club’s lack of activity in the market, particularly compared to rivals Manchester City.
Mourinho missed out on securing a centre-back before the transfer deadline back in August but Ferdinand insists that the Portuguese manager must play the hand that he has been dealt by the club.
“I think Ed Woodward see himself as a person that can go out and secure signings,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport.
“You have to be honest, in the last few years he’s been called upon to go out and get players and he’s got them. I think Mourinho has asked for particular players, and yeah there’s been moments where he was unhappy that he didn’t get a centre-half, but let’s not forget that Fred came through the door, [Alexis] Sanchez came through the door.
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“The point is he’s been backed in that sense and he’s got the players that he’s asked for. Maybe he didn’t get one or two but how many managers go out there and go ‘I want these five players’ and they get every player on the list? They don’t. That’s life. But you’ve got to make it work.
“It’s not about looking back and going ‘oh no I didn’t get so and so’ and moaning about it. What you’ve got there is a pack of cards to play with, now play with it and make it work. That’s what great managers do.”
Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has been mooted as a possible successor to Mourinho at Manchester United but club legend Paul Scholes is not convinced that he’s the right man for the job at present.
“Is he the right man?,” Scholes asked.
“This is a totally different job. He has to rebuild confidence and the expectation is huge. They’re not quite performing. He went to Real Madrid and he had so many great players. I’m not saying it was an easy job, it’s still difficult to do, but this is a whole rebuilding structure.”
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