Rio Ferdinand has questioned what Wout Weghorst brings to the No.10 role after West Ham's 1-0 win against Manchester United - with other players waiting in the wings.
Erik ten Hag's side were beaten at the London Stadium on Sunday after David de Gea failed to keep out Said Benrahma's weak long-range strike. The result leaves Man Utd fourth in the Premier League, just a point ahead of Liverpool in fifth with a game in hand.
Ten Hag likes to play Weghorst in the No.10 role, with Bruno Fernandes moving out to the right flank and Marcus Rashford playing at centre-forward. The tactic has been criticised and Ferdinand is struggling to see how it benefits Man Utd's attacking prospects.
Ferdinand also believes Ten Hag will be annoying some of Man Utd's more creative stars by playing Weghorst as a No.10. That is Fernandes' preferred position, while Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho will all be frustrated at being benched.
Ferdinand told BT Sport after Sunday's game: "I just think Man Utd’s No.10, a top team's no.10 doesn’t look like a Weghorst in my eyes. The attributes that he’s got.
"Let’s look at it another way, if I’m Sancho, Bruno, Garnacho, Martial and I’m sitting there watching him line-up as a no.10 in front of me, the no.10 shirt means something else, it’s a player that can create, has got guile, can get between the lines and get on the half turn and bring other people into play in that sense and get goals.
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"He doesn’t offer all those things I’ve just said there... I think his best piece of play today was a tackle in his own box. That’s a no.10, that’s not what no.10s are known for doing."
Ferdinand's BT Sport colleague Peter Crouch is also baffled by Ten Hag's tactics. He added: "Weghorst is a good player but I just can’t get my head round what he gives in that position.
"I think if you play Weghorst you’ve got to play him high up so Rashford and Sancho can bounce balls off him, you can play one touch and then he’s in the box for any kind of crosses. If you play that way you’re not going to get the best out of him."
Man Utd are now in danger of missing out on Champions League football next season, leaving Gary Neville to criticise the club's owners the Glazers. The Red Devils are currently up for sale, with the takeover saga casting a shadow over the team.
Neville tweeted: "The real disgrace are the Glazers... Members of staff on and off the pitch are in an uncertain position waiting for new owners! Let alone recruitment and what their budget is going to be! This should have been done! Classless to the end!"
Yet Neville's Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher has pinned the loss to West Ham on Ten Hag's tactics. He sarcastically replied: "Yeah, the Glazers decided to play Weghorst as a No.10, spent £90million on Antony and £70m on Casemiro (31) on a five-year deal!"
