Rio Ferdinand has mentioned four Manchester United stars that, according to him, does not fit in the system of Ruben Amorim, because he warned the progress among the Portuguese, had been much slower than expected.
Amorim has struggled in the Premier League since he took the track in November, the head coach only earned 18 points of his 16 games.
Arriving on the back of a wave of optimism after the departure of Erik ten Hag, armed with his faded 3-4-2-1 system, few United fans would have predicted their current plight.
The Red Devils beat Ipswich 3-2 on Wednesday evening to put the more exaggerated notions aside of being pulled into a relegation struggle, but they are still getting away in 14th place.
It is clear that Amorim's is a project alone in its infancy, and finding players who really fit his specific formation, will undoubtedly be the key, but club legend Ferdinand has chosen four current stars that he believes is completely unsuitable.
The former central defender, who won it all in Old Trafford, has so far offered an honest assessment of the Amorim era after the victory over relegation-threatened Ipswich.
“I think if we are brutally honest, there will not have been the progress we all expected,” Ferdinand said at TNT sports.
“Where he came from, how successful he had been and the silverware he brought, the expectation that he will be going on was like:” Wow! What an opportunity we now have with this young manager, “and it is not transferred here.
“I think he just has to go at the end of the season, really regroup himself and then start building again, building the team and coaching the team, because they are now stuttered and that is probably polite.”
Amorim himself has talked about the impact that the preseason can have in terms of building a team and teaching its tactical plan, and of the need to spend time on the training ground.
As it looks now, with United still in the Europa League, their preparations are often disturbed midweek, and he has underlined that this is hardly conducive to a tactical overhaul in the mid -season.
For Ferdinand, however, there are certain players whose game is not tailored to the dynamic approach that Amorim will look at.
'I have seen a few times, especially in Europe. They were an athletic, dynamic team. That was one of the staples of that team, the characteristics of that good team that won things, “he explained.
'This team is not a mobile, dynamic team. If you look through the heartbeat of this team, they have different qualities, but be physical because they have the opportunity to physically exceed teams – they don't have that ability. '
Part of Amorim's expected revision of the team will mean that determining which of his charges has the required attributes to play his system.
But Ferdinand has emphasized at least four players who in mind are lacking in the necessary 'physicality' to thrive in Amorim's new era in Old Trafford.
Asked if Joshua Zirkzee was one of those who could fight the system of the head coach, Ferdinand replied: 'No … De Ligt, Maguire, Hojlund, it's not their game.
“So I think he should find that kind of players with the possibilities to not only perform tactically what he wants, but physicality is equally important.”
The four players mentioned by Ferdinand were signed by United for an amount of £ 232 million, although none of Amorim itself.
Both Maguire and De Ligt were on Wednesday evening at the score sheet in the 3-2 victory of United on Ipswich.
United has 11 games left in the Premier League and hopes to end up as high as possible on the table, although they will know their best route to Europe, is elsewhere.
As holders, they still have the chance to reach the Europa League with another FA Cup victory, while triumphing in the secondary competition of Europe would see them return to the Champions League.
The first steps on both paths come against Fulham and Real Sociedad respectively in a huge week before Amorim's United.
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