"They haven't been as impactful" - Rio Ferdinand names 2 Manchester United players who have been underwhelming this season

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has identified two Red Devils stars who have been underwhelming this season. The Englishman feels Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes' drop in form is currently hurting Erik Ten Hag's side.

Ten Hag got off to a very promising start at Manchester United last season as he helped the club to a second-place finish in the Premier League while also winning the Carabao Cup. This season, however, the Red Devils have won just six of their 12 games across all competitions so far.

When asked what could be the reason behind such a sudden decline, Rio Ferdinand explained (via (90Min):

"I think if you'd asked me at the end of last season, I'd have said yeah, we're going in the right direction. I could see the style of football starting to take shape, the manager's been having to do a lot off the pitch in terms of culture and the stuff he's been really adamant to shift and change, that area needed work with other areas in the background."

"But the season's started and for whatever reason - you could say injuries or lack of form or whatever it is - that kind of improvement we'd seen since Erik ten Hag came in has kind of faltered a little bit."

The Englishman went on to state that Ten Hag's men are struggling because Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford are unable to replicate their form from last term.

"I don't know [if Ten Hag is trying to do anything differently]. There's obviously some stuff that's just not clicking at the moment. I think there were two big factors last season as to why Man Utd improved, and that was Marcus Rashford and Bruno."

"Every time a result or moment was needed, one of those two came up with it, mostly the goals from Marcus. That hasn't been as fluid yet, they haven't been as impactful in terms of goal and assist output yet. But I'm hoping when that clicks, we'll be able to do that. But you want the team not to be so heavily reliant on individuals, and that's the problem."

Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford's stats for Manchester United last season versus this term

Rashford and Fernandes had outings to be proud of last season. Both players were influential in Manchester United's success during the campaign.

The Englishman recorded an impressive 30 goals and 11 assists to his name in 56 appearances across all competitions. This season, however, he's scored only once in 11 outings to go with three assists.

The Portuguese, on the other hand, struck 14 times and assisted on 15 occasions in 59 matches last season. Unfortunately, he's bagged only two goals and three assists in 11 appearances for Manchester United so far this term.