Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has suggested that the Reds are no longer a 'fragile' side following their derby victory over Manchester City.
Erik ten Hag's men secured a 2-1 victory over Pep Guardiola's side at Old Trafford, with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford both on the scoresheet for the home side after Jack Grealish had opened the scoring for City. The Blues took the lead in the 60th minute, but United responded well and levelled proceedings in the 78th minute.
Rashford, who was involved in the Reds' controversial opening goal, completed the comeback and scored the winner for United with just eight minutes left on the clock. The result means that the Reds move up to third in the Premier League table, just one point behind Saturday's opponents.
ALSO READ: United vs City - as it happened
After the game, goalscorer Fernandes spoke about the team's mindset and mentality being stronger than it has been in recent seasons, suggesting that the team are more of a unit under Ten Hag. Ferdinand echoed what the Portuguese ace had to say, and claimed the players were now made of 'better stuff'.
The United legend was also keen to praise Casemiro for his showing against City, but also for his performances since joining from Real Madrid in the summer transfer window.
"I agree [with Bruno Fernandes], I said it before - they’ve been a bit of a fragile team with the environment there, you could see there were cracks, but now all you can see is togetherness," he said on BT Sport. "I think it’s all knitted together by Casemiro - he’s been the most important part in the whole jigsaw for them.
"It’s by no means finished, but he’s a really important part for them, being the glue that sticks everything together and it all falls through him. They will go a goal down, not even just against the likes of City, but against other teams - look at Brentford in the early part of the season, they’d fold, they’d fall away.
"This team look like they’re made of better stuff, sterner stuff, stronger stuff, and you can see these fans are feeding off this team, not just through fairytale football and great."
READ NEXT:
