Rio Ferdinand has piled the pressure on Louis van Gaal by claiming Manchester United must make a move for Pep Guardiola.
Van Gaal is under increasing pressure, with United having not won in five games and fans disillusioned with his pragmatic style of play.
Guardiola is set to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, with former United defender Ferdinand adamant the Reds must go for the ex-Barcelona coach.
“It doesn’t matter what club you’re at. If someone of the talent of Guardiola becomes available, everyone is interested,” said Ferdinand.
“The best manager in the world at the moment is definitely Guardiola and, when he becomes available, people are going to be interested, and I think United are no different.
“I just think, 'Where’s he going to go?’ and the only place he can go is England. He’s not going to go to Italy.
“Guardiola has been in two of the three best leagues in the world and the next progression, naturally, is going to be the Premier League. He’s going to be going to a Premier League team and he won’t be going to another one after that. So you have one chance to get him.
“He’s not going to go to Manchester City then [go to] United. He’s not going to go to Chelsea, then United. So you’ve got one chance to get the best manager on the planet.”
Ferdinand accused Van Gaal of failing to take United forward in this his second season in charge and criticised the lack of thrills under the Dutchman.
“United aren’t far off the top, but it’s not been exciting,” said the ex-England international. “It doesn’t excite when you go and watch them at the moment.
“When Van Gaal took over, they’d finished seventh. Last season there was progression. This season, in terms of the way the team’s playing, I don’t see great progression.
“Guardiola’s teams play possession-based football — I witnessed it. I played against Barcelona in two Champions League finals — but they play possession football with a purpose. That purpose was that, at any time, if there were any openings to hurt you, they went for it.
“That’s the difference between them and United. They [Guardiola’s teams] play possession-based football, but can excite you with moments as well.”
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