Rio Ferdinand criticises Ralf Rangnick for ‘airing Manchester United’s dirty laundry in public’

Rangnick has been critical of his team and the club’s recruitment

Ferdinand wasn’t happy Rangnick did things publicly (Getty Images)

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has criticised interim manager Ralf Rangnick for airing the club’s “dirty laundry in public”.

The temporary boss has been outspoken at press conferences and critical of United’s recruitment.

He has also taken aim at the team’s defending and lack of fitness, and Ferdinand believes it is disrespectful of Rangnick to speaking so openly about the issues at the club.

“I don’t agree with the way that he’s airing the dirty laundry in public while he’s still in the hotseat, while he’s still in there,” he told FIVE YouTube show.

“It’s nice sometimes for fans, you want to get a bit of insight, but there’s information that he’s letting out [that he shouldn’t be]. You’re still in the job, man, relax, have some respect for the people around you.

“Make waves behind the scenes. Push and pull and jostle for positions and outcomes behind the scenes with people. I’ve said this for a couple of weeks now, he’s saying a lot of stuff to almost distance himself from responsibility. But he has to accept some responsibility that the team has got worse since he’s been in there.”

Rangnick’s latest result for the team, a 4-0 loss to Brighton, left him labelling the performance as “humiliating” and he apologised to fans.

“It was a terrible performance,” Rangnick said post-match. “From the first until the last minute it was not enough. We can only apologise for this performance and a humiliating defeat.”

And his criticism of his team didn’t stop there as he added: “In games like today and at Everton [when we were beaten 1-0], there was a lack of energy and aggression. In the first three or four months we were on the right pathway, but in the last four weeks we have been really poor.”

Rangnick has only one match left of his tenure at United, with Erik ten Hag taking over next season, but the interim manager is staying on in a consultancy role.