Rio Ferdinand: I love new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo – but I fear for Manchester United in opening six games

Manchester United’s season could be over before it has already begun despite a positive summer – they have a nightmare Premier League start.

That’s the view of club legend Rio Ferdinand, who has had his say on Ruben Amorim‘s men ahead of the upcoming campaign.

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United endured a horror 2024/25 term, which saw them finish in 15th spot – their lowest Premier League finish – while they also amassed their fewest points [42] in 51 years.

They also lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final, costing them not only a place in Europe, but a spot in the Champions League.

But their have been positive signs this summer that they could be on the right track following the arrivals of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford for £71million, and Matheus Cunha from Wolves in a £62.5m deal.

Ferdinand is a massive fan of the attacking duo and hopes they will bring the glory back to United, who recently lifted the Premier League Super Series trophy.

An impressive pre-season tour of America saw United beat West Ham and thrash Bournemouth, before drawing to Everton.

Despite the performances, Ferdinand is wary that United could struggle given who they face in their opening six top-flight matches.

They welcome Arsenal to Old Trafford in their season opening on August 17, before facing Fulham away and Burnley at home before the month is out.

United then travel to rivals Manchester City after the early international break, before hosting Chelsea and then battling Brentford in the capital.

Ferdinand appeared on the Sports Breakfast show on Monday where he discussed all things United.

Here’s what he had to say…

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United are showing signs of improvement – but I fear another worrying start

Ferdinand believes boss Amorim will have greater understanding of his squad following a first pre-season spent with them, but he has stressed the ex-Sporting Lisbon manager can’t start the season how he ended the last one.

The former defender said: “He [Amorim] will know these players better in the last two or three weeks than he has, I think, for the rest of the whole of last season.

“He will know people in a much more personable way, in that he can attack and approach people in a way because he’s seen and worked with them closely and knows them better as human beings.

“And I’m interested to see how that then pans out in the season.

“The problem you’ve got, if you look at the fixture list, Man United’s fixture list is horrendous. the first six games. It’s tough.

“So all this good work that we’re seeing and we’re hearing about and coming out of the club and what I saw, could be undone within the first six games if it doesn’t go well.

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“So that’s going to be an important factor. The two have to marry up. You can’t have one and then the results don’t follow.

“You need both of them to kind of marry up and then you can say, ‘You know, actually Man United are in a better place and I can see the benefits of the pre-season and the work on the grass.'”

Cunha and Mbeumo can be a deadly duo – but fans must be patient

The pair arrive at Old Trafford with a combined 48 goal contributions in the Premier League last season.

And while there is an expectation that they must hit the ground running given their transfer fees, Ferdinand doesn’t want them to feel burdened by the weight of the United shirt.

He remarked: “I spent a bit of time with Cunha, his character and personality suggests to me that he will embrace it [the pressure].

“Very confident kid, free going, that Brazilian [mentality], ‘I’m here, I’m going to show you what I got,’ vibe, which is pleasing to see.

“But again, we’ve got to have patience and see, but Mbeumo’s interested me a lot, there’s a serious side to him.

“There’s a professionalism there that will enhance the environment, I think, he works his balls off on and off the pitch.

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“But off the pitch, he’s got a team he’s built around him. A nutritionist, a S&C [strength and conditioning] coach, a chef, etc, a real detailed approach to it.

“And he’s shown he can score, he’s been here six years, he’s shown he can score goals, so those two, I think, are going to definitely add a positive streak to the club.

“But listen, you’ve got to wait for the games.”

United need team players – talent won’t justify selection anymore

United decided to leave out Marcus Rashford, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia for their pre-season tour Stateside after deeming them all as surplus to requirements.

While Rashford has since joined Barcelona on an initial loan deal, United are still actively looking to offload the other four players.

And as Ferdinand stated, if you’re not willing to put the team first, you don’t deserve to play for United.

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He said: “I think the squad’s environment and culture is more important than any individual, and I think that the whole club seems to have bought into that now.

“It was interesting to see what Luke Shaw said the other day, you see his quotes saying that, ‘We’ve not got the stragglers around anymore.’

“And, I thought, ‘Whoa, that’s a strong statement to say that,’ but I think that only gets said when you can see positive change within the club, and I think that’s where they’re at now.

“And I think Amorim’s been very blunt and blatant, and we always ask for players and managers to be transparent, ‘Come on, tell us the truth.’

“He’s doing that, and one of the main things that comes out of his mouth consistently is, if you’re not going to work hard and produce what I’m asking of you, in terms of just output, forget quality, just output of effort, etc, you ain’t going to play for me.”

On the United bomb squad, Ferdinand stated: “Talent, all of them. But what he’s basically said is, if you’re not going to graft and run for me, you ain’t playing.”

Amorim lacks a fear factor – only one thing will change that

A two-time league champion overseeing Sporting, Amorim is yet to prove his worth in England.

Insisting the United players do not fear him, Ferdinand has claimed that will only come once he starts to scoop silverware in England.

He declared: “That [fear factor] can’t come day one. He’s come from, with all due respect, from Sporting Lisbon, which is a great club in Portugal.

“But in terms of stature in Europe and worldwide, it isn’t Man United. You can’t create that fear, you can create a respect immediately, like I think he’s doing now.

“He stands by his word, he said, ‘If you don’t do this, you’re not going to play,’ he’s showing that and proving that, but to get the fear factor, you’ve got to win.

“You’ve got to win, you’ve got to show that you can win, then the belief comes, ‘I’m going to follow this geezer.’

“It’s like Sir Alex Ferguson, I was following that guy blind, but that’s on the back of 20-odd years of winning, so it’s quite easy for him to do that and get players buying in immediately.

“This guy’s got to build back, it’s an enormous task and to do that, to get that fear factor immediately is difficult, because it’s been shattered in the last 12 years.”

Amorim needs time to showcase his identity – forget last season

Amorim may have only won seven of his 27 Premier League matches in charge of United last term, but Ferdinand has stressed he must be given time to turn things around.

He said: “We’re not afforded that in this game, no matter what role you’re playing, but you have to look at his previous work, it didn’t happen overnight at Sporting.

“But when he got it right, they blew Benfica and Porto out of the water and that’s not an easy thing to do in Portugal because they’re the two dominant forces.

“You’ve got to give this guy time, how many players has he brought in? Three players? Three players that are his own players [Cunha, Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu].

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“There’s no identity of his players in this squad yet, I think he needs the time to get to that.

“The next window, I think he should just go blind and he just goes to that window, at least get to that window, gets to invest again, unless it’s actually catastrophic by that point.

“But give him a chance to get to that window, some more players in, and then you can start saying, this looks like an Amorim squad.”

United’s lack of athleticism could be their downfall

While Cunha and Mbeumo have added much-needed pace to their frontline, United still look slow in the transition – something that worries Ferdinand.

He said: “I think you can pick holes in individuals, but I think the most important thing is how the team function.

“The team weren’t fit enough to play an Amorim style of football last year, I think they’re hitting that in pre-season to get them fitter.

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“You can see signs of that already, but they’ve got to understand what he wants as individuals, but as a collective, it’s vitally important.

“Whatever you can do individually, yes, we can pick at that, but the squad wasn’t working.

“The team shape wasn’t working last year, and then that leaves players individually open to get exposed, for instance, transitions.

“Man United were getting hit on transitions all the time last season. They haven’t actually got the profile of player to deal with that.

“There’s no athleticism, centre of midfield, there’s no athleticism in the centre [of defence], [Matthijs] De Ligt and Harry Maguire.

“[Leny] Yoro, yes, is athletic, but again, 19, adjusting, [Ayden] Heaven, adjusting, young kid as well inexperienced, so, you need to have the team functioning to help those individuals.”

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Mounting a comeback

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount has been plagued by repeated injuries since joining in a deal worth £60m in 2023 – with the England international limited to just 31 league outings.

But he has shown glimpses that he is getting back to his best having impressed in pre-season, where he recently scored a stunner in the 2-2 draw against Everton.

Speaking of the 26-year-old, Ferdinand said: “I saw him out in Chicago and one of the things I said to him was, ‘How are you feeling?’

“Because he’s been robbed of any minutes really for injury. It’s been really really disappointing to see.

“Being injured and in the shadows, I never had that at a new club. That is so depressing. It can take your soul away at times.

“I’m sure he’s been in some dark moments. He will be like a new signing. I think this is no surprise.

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“Whenever he’s been fit in his career he’s played, at Chelsea especially. Managers have played him when they won the Champions League.

“He was one of the most important players. He has the quality. He has the work ethic. He has the legs.

“He has the ability to be a really really good top player. I just hope he gets the time to play minutes to show himself.”

Fans can’t judge Sir Jim Radcliffe yet – he’s trying his best

British billionaire Ratcliffe forked out £1.25bn for a 25 per cent investment in United in 2023, which has since increased to 28.94 per cent.

But while he promised to help usher in a new United dynasty, fans have felt slightly underwhelmed by Ratcliffe, where they have taken exception to his repeated cutting of staff members to save costs.

However, Ferdinand has urged supporters to not be haste in their view of Ratcliffe, insisting he is showing he is desperate in making a positive change at the club.

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He said: “When he first came in, it was like the knight in shining armour when he came in, because the club was at such a low ebb.

“I think there’s been bits in between in terms of getting rid of certain members of staff or the amount of members of staff that have been there for a long time.

“And the way in which that was done, I think, led to being a bit of a bitter taste in a lot of people’s mouths.

“But I think time will tell how well him and this regime do, because you can’t judge this on the back of a year.

“It’s got to be judged over a course of time, because it’s 12 years of it unfolding and being so bad and negative around the club, that one year isn’t going to change that.

“I think you’ve got to have a good few years at it to reshape the place. There’s a new training ground now. The plans for a new stadium are coming.

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“Recruitment now under his regime is going to be, I hope, a bit different and more positive and the signs are positive in that sense.

“So all these things added up, they’re not going to happen overnight to be able to judge him.”

Another challenging season awaits…

Despite Ferdinand’s positivity surrounding his beloved club, he doesn’t believed they are in a position to challenge for the title.

Asked for his honest opinion on where they will end up in the table come May, he simply said: “Top eight. Top eight, I think, is realistic.”