Rio Ferdinand says benched Man Utd star ‘has to play’ despite doubts over him

Rio Ferdinand still has question marks over Amad Diallo, but feels he has to start for Manchester United under Ruben Amorim.

The Red Devils were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, edged out by a Riccardo Calafiori goal on Sunday afternoon.

There was very little between the sides and Amorim’s team looked improved on last season, creating a number of chances as new signings Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha threatened.

Amad started the match on the bench, coming on after 55 minutes to replace Diogo Dalot and looked very threatening as well.

Manchester United could not find the breakthrough, but Ferdinand feels that in future they will have the best chance of doing so if Amad is in the starting line-up.

The only concern is that if the 23-year-old is playing at right wing-back, is whether he is defensively good enough to deal with the opposition coming at the Red Devils.

‘Amad came on second half and I think he did enough to show that against any team that you feel you’re going to dominate possession, he has to play,’ the former Red Devils defender said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

‘I think he’ll even be sitting there, Amad, saying: “Play me against anybody, because I’ll get our team higher up the pitch and I can beat people.”

‘The way that Amorim plays you need people that are going to beat people with the ball or run beyond people and Amad can do both. It’s just, can he do it from a right wing-back position? If Man Utd do get pinned back at any time he’s playing, is he able to defend and cope defensively? They’re the question marks we’ve got.

‘But if you set out to dominate the game possession-wise, Amad is an absolute must in this team. Whether it’s right wing-back or right wing, I think he has to play.

‘I think over the last season and even in this one game here today, he’s shown that he’s got the confidence and the ability to be a game-changer.’

The Ivory Coast international is an attack-minded winger, so playing him at wing-back would be an aggressive move from the manager, but is likely one we will see this season.

Speaking earlier this summer, Amad spoke of the need for patience as Amorim continues to implement his tactical plan, especially with new signings arriving.

‘I think they have to be patient with us,’ Amad said. ‘There’s a new manager, with new players and new tactics.

‘We know last season wasn’t really good for the team, but I think this season we will win a lot with him and I hope this season we are going to achieve a lot of good things by the end of the season.

‘A good season will be top five. I hope we can achieve that top five at the end of the season because I think they deserve.’

Manchester United are back in Premier League action when they travel to west London to take on Fulham in the 4.30pm kick-off on Sunday.