Rio Ferdinand told Manchester United they didn't deserve Europa League triumph
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand told his former club they didn’t “do enough to deserve” winning the Europa League at the end of a “disaster of a season.”
Tottenham and United came into the Europa League final off the back of woeful respective seasons. Spurs, 17th in the Premier League and United, 16th, faced off to become European champions.
Unsurprisingly, it was not the highest quality of games, rather a tetchy affair which neither side wanted to lose.
But United did, as a result of a scratchy Brennan Johnson goal for Tottenham, which he essentially just got studs on to beat Andre Onana, after Luke Shaw had turned the ball back towards his own goal.
United had more possession and more shots, but Ferdinand told them they didn’t do enough to be worthy of winning the title which Tottenham scooped.
“Disaster of a season ending in a bad note. I don’t think they’ve done enough to deserve it,” he said on TNT Sports.
“No real intensity, the keeper I think made one save. You can’t expect to go and win a trophy like that, you’ve got to be brave and United probably weren’t.”
Postecoglou is proven right
Early on this season, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was bullish about the club’s chances of silverware, saying “I always win things in my second year.”
He suggested before the final that he wanted to prove people wrong amid the tough season in England, saying: “I didn’t realise at the time, but it’s a decent grab for people to kind of clutch onto, and as much as people try and make it a sort of irritant for me, I think the fact that they’re still talking about it means that there’s still a chance for it.
“The longer they’re talking about it, it means the more I’ve got an opportunity to do that.
“We haven’t had a lot of allies externally, so you kind of need to band together, particularly with the issues we’ve had this year.
“We had a lot of players, key players, missing for large chunks and others have had to step into the breach and it’s taken a collective effort and I think that’s brought the lads closer together.”
After the match, goalscorer Johnson said the victory was worthy of a “mic drop” from Postecoglou after the stick he has got for his silverware comment.
Man Utd round-up: Delap signing may be in doubt
It was reported that Europa League glory could help towards the signing of Liam Delap, who wants to play European football next season, so United’s loss may have shrouded that move in doubt.
The Red Devils have also been looking at some big players who it’s not clear they’ll be able to sign now.
Indeed, they are now looking at the £20million bargain signing of Richard Rios in the midfield, given more expensive players might not be in range.
And, amid interest in Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, United have been told the Argentine will command a £40million fee.