Rio Ferdinand is thankful he is no longer watching Manchester United through his fingers and wondering what “crazy s***” he will see.
Former United defender Ferdinand admitted watching his old club play over the past decade, since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure, has been a painful experience. But ahead of Saturday's Manchester derby, Ferdinand said fear and trepidation has been replaced by positivity and belief following Erik ten Hag's arrival.
“I'm now going to a game not looking through my fingers, expecting crazy s*** going on,” said Ferdinand. “For far too long we were going into games thinking 'obviously we're going to get beaten here today, but I don’t know by how many'.
“Or we were going to the likes of Brentford, conceding one and it could end up being three or four. It's not nice going to games feeling like that. But I’m going into this derby thinking we can give them a game. I'm going there with a bit of 'I fancy us today, I fancy us to beat them and dominate the ball'.
“We've got to play at our best and hope that they drop a little bit to win the game, but that's better than how I’ve gone into games in recent seasons. That's because you can see something tactically that's been consistently coming out every week now. You can see players gaining in confidence.”
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Erik ten Hag has stopped Rio Ferdinand from expecting Man Utd to lose matches (AFP via Getty Images)Ferdinand, 44, believes Ten Hag's biggest achievement has been restoring United's identity, with a clear philosophy and style of play, underpinned by the right signings.
Having endured a haphazard recruitment policy in the post-Ferguson era, with a transfer outlay of more than £1billion, there is now a more strategic approach to United's transfer policy, which is reflected in their results.
“The right pieces are being put in the jigsaw,” said Ferdinand. "I feel like there's a puzzle that needs putting together and there are some good pieces being put in place at the moment.
Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen have been lauded as great pieces of recruitment (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)“In terms of the recruitment element, Ten Hag and his team have to get the right players in. You look at Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen, two stand-outs in terms of his recruitment.
“There was some negativity surrounding both of those signings, but they've been integral to anything positive that's been going on at the club.
“Over the last few years, how many players have gone up in value and improved the squad with consistent performances? You're hard-pressed to find any. Bruno Fernandes is the only one that comes out with any positive comments in that sense.
“But Ten Hag has improved quite a few players. Luke Shaw ’s value has gone up, so has Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford's, obviously. That's what the manager is there to do, to improve the players he has at his disposal.
(C1 MEDIA)
Marcus Rashford is one of the players Ferdinand feels has improved under Ten Hag already (Manchester United via Getty Imag)“There are more patterns in the play, getting the ball from back to front. You can see there's an idea of what they want to achieve. Defensively, the big thing is there is a shape within the team. There aren’t players allowed to run loose and do their own thing.
“There isn’t that panic there was before or the complete capitulation that we’ve been seeing for a while. There's a calmer edge around the team. There are still big strides to be made in all those departments, but you’re seeing good signs coming through more often.”
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