Rio Ferdinand: Why I’m not convinced by Jose Mourinho’s Man United defence

Rio Ferdinand says he still has doubts about Manchester United’s defence under Jose Mourinho.

The Red Devils managed to keep a rare clean sheet in a 4-0 win against Dutch side Feyenoord in the Europa League on Thursday night to make a swift return to winning ways in Europe’s second-tier competition.

Mourinho signed Ivory Coast international Eric Bailly in a £30m deal from La Liga side Villarreal in the summer transfer window in what was the manager’s first deal as Manchester United manager.

However, the promising centre-half suffered a serious knee injury during a 4-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford in their Premier League clash in west London in October.

The Red Devils boss has been using Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo as his centre-half pairing in recent weeks following Chris Smalling’s absence through injury.

But one of the club’s greatest-ever defenders Ferdinand has concerns over Mourinho’s defence.

“I’m not convinced if I’m honest. I’ve not been convinced by any [defensive] partnership put in place this season,” Ferdinand told BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight show.

“It’s up to any two of those centre-halves in the team to stake a claim now. They’ve got to come out and grab it. Nemanja Vidic came in and in his first few months at the club looked well off it.

“But he worked and he got in the team. These guys have got to go out and do the same thing – you don’t just get given the shirt, you’ve got to earn it.”

The Red Devils appointed Mourinho as Louis van Gaal’s successor in May after Manchester United finished in fifth place last season.