Rio Ferdinand blamed 'immaturity’ and 'boredom’ for Manchester United’s defensive woes after their 3-3 draw at Galatasaray, as he called on Erik ten Hoag’s side to learn to 'enjoy what’s written on the back’.

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Rio Ferdinand believes 'immaturity’ and 'boredom’ played a role in Manchester United’s defensive collapse during their 3-3 draw with Galatasaray.

Erik ten Hoag’s men twice led by two goals in the Champions League clash in Istanbul.

Ferdinand liked what he saw from United from an attacking perspective but was concerned about the defensive side and called for the team to be more comfortable sitting back and soaking up the pressure in games.

’In the first half I enjoyed listening to them being uncomfortable, sometimes writing on the edge of your box, on the edge of the bank of four and five, not allowing a lot of space between the midfield and the defenders. They were doing it,” Ferdinand said on TNT Sports.

’But to keep doing it, to do rep after rep. And that’s where I think sometimes there’s a bit of immaturity, maybe boredom creeps in and one jumps out and then they go, „Oh, we’re out of shape,” and they’re pretty obvious at that point.

That’s when you need a voice that says, „Get back with me and keep it that way.” Rasmus Hojlund is exceptional at the break as they have players on the break and the manager said that is one of the reasons why he is in the team today.

’Anthony had a full back today and Carnacho can come in at will. If you’ve got those three types of players on the counter-attack, you can sit back and be perfect.

Individual errors proved costly on Wednesday night, with goalkeeper Andre Onana taking no credit for Galatasaray’s first two goals.

But Ferdinand is more concerned by United’s overall approach to European competition. The Red Devils haven’t struggled in front of goal in the Champions League this season, but they haven’t had positive results as they regularly throw away leads, and Ferdinand feels this is taking a toll on him mentally.

„You can’t go into a Champions League campaign and score nine goals in three away games and not get a point at the end of it,” he said.

„I think it shows the lack of balance in the team at the moment. Yes, they can get goals, yes, they attack at will and create chances, many of them coming through Bruno, but defensively I think they made mistakes.

I think today the keeper should put his hands up and say „yes, I was at fault for two goals”. He should do better.

But I think the manager will be scratching his head thinking the game plan worked perfectly in the first half. And then suddenly they score a goal that changes the whole dynamic of the game. When they’re 2-0, 2-1, you think, „Wow, I set the team up well, they executed, but one mistake cost us”.

’There are a lot of question marks over performance and the way they go about things at the moment, but balance is one of the main things they really need to figure out. In the commentary, we mentioned the scarring caused by throwing away the leads. They are hard to escape and you really have to manage the games.

’They need to do it, not more than one or two or three games, they need to do it now in a period of games so they can erase those scars they’ve created. leading, especially in Europe.’