‘You’ve got to watch the games’ – Ferdinand slams Souness for criticising two Man Utd stars

Rio Ferdinand claims Graeme Souness can’t be watching Man Utd matches after he played down the impact of Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez.

The Red Devils have bounced back from two defeats in their first two matches under Erik ten Hag to record seven wins in their ten Premier League matches since.

Five-time Champions League winner Casemiro swapped Real Madrid for Man Utd for £70m as he looked for a new challenge, while Martinez arrived from Ajax in a deal worth £56.7m.

Man Utd faced criticism over both deals with claims Martinez was too short to be a centre-back in the Premier League, while there was a backlash over the fee spent on 30-year-old Casemiro.

Martinez has quickly become a fans’ favourite at Old Trafford with his aggressive style of defending, while Casemiro has brought a bit of calm in midfield in recent weeks.

But Souness was negative towards both players yesterday with the former Liverpool midfielder convinced 5ft 9in Martinez will still struggle in the Premier League.

“I just feel when you are that size you will get caught. You will get pinned in the box,” Souness said on talkSPORT.

“I don’t think he’s terribly quick, I don’t think he’s terribly good on the ball, but he makes other people play and has real aggression, which Argentinians tend to have.

“We are talking about the Premier League. He will [get found out].”

On Casemiro, Souness added: “Casemiro will make a big difference to them. But I don’t see him as a great player.

“You [talkSPORT colleagues Jim White and Simon Jordan] are accusing me of calling him a steady Eddie, I stand by that. He is a good steady Eddie. Not a great player.

“A steady Eddie is a 7.5 out of ten every week. In my language it means he’s a seven, 7.5 every week, he is a real team player.”

But Ferdinand couldn’t disagree more with his comments and urged him to “watch the games” before commenting on Man Utd in the future.

Ferdinand said on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube channel: “Oh come on Graeme, man. He’s not watched the games.

“Graeme, I’m sorry because I like you and what a player he was by the way… but forget all that now, you’ve got to watch the games man! You’ve got to watch the games, you can’t be saying things like that.

“He’s obviously not watching Martinez because one of his main attributes when you speak to anyone who knows the game is he’s great with the ball, he’ll take it anywhere, he can pass, he’s tenacious, aggressive, can defend.

“To say he can’t pass… and he called Casemiro a steady Eddie? He’s won five Champions Leagues bruv and been integral to all of them. He can’t be a steady Eddie.

“United have been winning and Martinez is one of the best players in the team at the moment. Casemiro, since coming in the team, has been arguably the most important player.

“The two players he’s picked out are probably the worst two he could have picked [for criticism].”

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