"It’s like boxing, styles make fights" - Rio Ferdinand compares Harry Maguire's struggles to former Manchester United teammate

2008 UEFA Champions League winner Rio Ferdinand has defended Manchester United captain Harry Maguire.

The former Red Devils star feels that Maguire, despite being poor for United, has been brilliant for his national team, England due to their system. Ferdinand said on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show:

"In an England shirt he’s been nothing but phenomenal. He’s been unreal. You can’t say he’s a dead player, he’s been unbelievable for England. What I’m saying is, for England he’s been great, but they play a particular way of football that probably suits him."

He added:

"Gerard Pique was at Man United, you could argue that he might not have had the career that he’s had at Barcelona if he stayed at Man United because of the way he plays. It’s like boxing, styles make fights – it’s the same in football. The way of Man United’s football, and the way they are trying to play, hasn’t suited him."

Ferdinand further said:

"But also form and confidence. His confidence has taken a big knock and I don’t care who you are, you could be Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane, Mbappe all these players – if their confidence is low they are not the same player."

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Rio Ferdinand feels teams don't fear of Manchester United

Having played through the Red Devils' golden era under Sir Alex Ferguson, Ferdinand feels that teams don't fear playing against his former side at the moment.

Asked if he spoke to Everton manager Frank Lampard, whose team beat Manchester United 1-0 on Saturday (April 9), Ferdinand said:

"I did actually, I spoke to him on text [before the game] and I spoke to him this morning actually on a call. Like he said, this Man United isn’t the Man United that he was playing against, so you approach the game very differently."

The former Manchester United captain added:

"I think we’ve seen many times in recent months that Man United have spells in games every now and again, they’ll play well and you think, 'Oh, this is Man United, this looks good!' But then very quickly, minutes later, they undo all that good work with a crazy individual error or the team just falls back and it becomes a negative situation."

He also said:

"When you’re an opposing manager to Man United now you think you’re going to get chances, it’s about whether they can be clinical, and whether they can stop United’s forwards scoring goals."

Manchester United are currently seventh in the Premier League, six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. They face an uphill task to secure Champions League football for next season.