Rio Ferdinand thinks Man Utd youngsters Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal have given Erik ten Hag “food for thought” during their first two pre-season friendles.
The Red Devils have won their opening two matches of their pre-season tour, beating Liverpool 4-0 earlier in the week and Melbourne Victory 4-1 yesterday.
Goals from Scott McTominay, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and an own-goal from Edmond Lupancu sealed a win in Australia yesterday after going a goal behind to Melbourne within the first five minutes.
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A number of youngsters have been included in the pre-season squad and Ferdinand has picked out Savage and Iqbal as the two players who have made the most impact so far.
“I’ve watched the last two pre-season friendlies and the young lads in midfield there – Charlie Savage has been excellent, Zidane’s been very good as well,” Ferdinand told his Vibe with Five YouTube channel.
“So I think it’s good food for thought. It’s always that way in pre-season, you get a couple of players who come out of nowhere and you go I didn’t expect that from them.
“I remember Jesse Lingard all them years ago when David Moyes came and I remember Moyes saying to me, ‘Rio, I didn’t know Jesse Lingard was that good’.
“[Wilfried] Zaha was brilliant in pre-season, it didn’t quite work out for him in the long run but you can get your opportunity in pre-season and fly. I’m excited about some of the young players getting opportunities in pre-season, it’s good.”
Martial has now scored two goals in two matches for Man Utd after being sent on loan for the second half of last season and Erik ten Hag thinks he can be a big player for the Red Devils.
Speaking about Martial after the match in Australia, Ten Hag said: “I’m sure he can come back even better.
“I think when he has the right focus and the right motivation and he works hard he will have production because he is a good player.
“I say when he has the right focus and every day delivers his max then he will have production and it’s up to him.”
On their poor defending for the opening goal, Ten Hag added: “I don’t want to talk about the individual because I think it was from the start high up the pitch.
“The wrong choices and then it ends up like a pack of cards. It’s not one individual, it is more the team who made mistakes. Second game, totally different approach from the…
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