Rio Ferdinand responds as Chris Moyles blasts ‘shocking’ Leeds United on Radio X
Rio Ferdinand has reacted to Chris Moyles’ assertions on Radio X that Leeds United has “come apart” and shown “awful defensive play.
The announcer claimed that Leeds, his team, had struggled since the March international break during Moyles’ morning programme on May 13 [03:22 m].
In order to qualify for the play-offs, where they will now face Norwich City, Daniel Farke’s team had to lose four of their last six Championship games during the regular season.
Ferdinand responded by saying that systems now take precedence over people, which changes levels of form and success. Ferdinand spent two years as an Elland Road player in the Premier League before going on to become a legend at fierce rivals Manchester United.
After the international break, Moyles cried out, “Leeds United have been shocking.”
They have just completely collapsed defensively. After the interval, why do we return looking like the Stevie Wonder XI?
Summerville, they played so brilliantly, but now they’re not performing or scoring.
In reply, Ferdinand said, “The structure teams have now—everything matters so much more.”
“Systems now override all individuals. That’s why you don’t see as many free, creative-looking players as you did back in the day – the Le Tissier, Zola or Bergkamp of this world.”
Can Leeds United recover from their slump in time?
The 90 minutes remaining in Leeds’ season are now their last chance to save the season.
It pains fans to see their team lose in the semi-finals of the Championship play-offs after spending the majority of the season in the spots designated for automatic promotion.
Not to mention the board, which made significant investments in the playing side and paid a record sum for Georginio Rutter, who has excelled at this level despite being oddly deployed out of position in Sunday’s goalless first leg.
It is not an easy challenge to lose steam in the last six games of the season and then, in a short period of time, turn things around and be promoted.
Norwich will know they can break through some extremely thin ice with a hustling and confident start to the second leg themselves. An anxious but electrifying atmosphere around Elland Road will beckon and separate an out-of-sorts Leeds from Wembley.
