“I’m really gutted for him as a former professional footballer” - Rio Ferdinand says he feels ‘sorry’ for Manchester United star

Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he feels gutted for Joshua Zirkzee after the Manchester United star was taken off during the first half of the Premier League loss to Newcastle United. He hopes the that forward can recover from the setback and get back to his best.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand stated that it was hard for any player to be taken off in the first half of a match. He believes that Zirkzee can bounce back as he has seen bigger players recover from such positions. He said:

“I feel for him. I’m really, really gutted for him as a former professional footballer. To be dragged off after 30 minutes is hard to take and then the reaction in the stadium as well, there was some boos and stuff like that. It’s difficult, man. My heart goes out to him and I hope he can recover and I hope he gets rebuilt from within, from the players and the manager.

“The manager said, ‘I’m going to go and speak to him because it was a tactical decision,’ but what I would say is that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen. We’ve seen better players come back from this, we’ve seen some bigger and better players dragged off at these times in a game and it’s about having the resilience to come back as well.”

Manchester United were 2-0 down in the 34th minute when Zirkzee was taken off by Ruben Amorim during the Newcastle game at Old Trafford. The Red Devils did not make a comeback in the game and ended up losing with the same scoreline.

Gary Neville spoke about Joshua Zirkzee after Manchester United's loss

Gary Neville was on Sky Sports when Joshua Zirkzee was taken off for Manchester United in the first half against Newcastle United. The former defender too admitted that he felt sorry for the Dutchman and said:

"I actually feel sorry for him, I really do. I know he's earning a lot of money here, but there is a human being in there that's basically been cheered off by his own fans and that is brutal.

"I've not seen that too many times at Old Trafford in the 43 years I've been coming here, if at all, actually. He's had enough and I actually don't blame him. It's massive embarrassment. He's not played well, let's be clear. But they've all been absolutely awful."

Manchester United are currently 14th in the Premier League table and are closer to the relegation zone than the top four.