Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has fired back at Graeme Souness for criticising Reds duo Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro.
Both players arrived at Old Trafford in the summer transfer window, joining from Ajax and Real Madrid respectively. Since joining United, Martinez and Casemiro have impressed with a number of promising performances.
However, the pair came under fire from Souness this week. Speaking about Martinez, Souness said: "I just feel when you are that size you will get caught. You will get pinned in the box. I don’t think he’s terribly quick, I don’t think he’s terribly good on the ball, but he makes other people play and has real aggression, which Argentinians tend to have. We are talking about the Premier League. He will [get found out]."
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On Casemiro, Souness added: "Casemiro will make a big difference to them. But I don’t see him as a great player. You [talkSPORT colleagues Jim White and Simon Jordan] are accusing me of calling him a steady Eddie, I stand by that. He is a good steady Eddie. Not a great player. A steady Eddie is a 7.5 out of ten every week. In my language it means he’s a seven, 7.5 every week, he is a real team player."
Ferdinand has now responded to Souness' comments, saying on YouTube: "Oh come on Graeme, man. He’s not watched the games. Graeme, I’m sorry because I like you - and what a player he was by the way - but forget all that now, you’ve got to watch the games man! You’ve got to watch the games, you can’t be saying things like that.
"He’s obviously not watching Martinez because one of his main attributes when you speak to anyone who knows the game is he’s great with the ball, he’ll take it anywhere, he can pass, he’s tenacious, aggressive, can defend. To say he can’t pass… and he called Casemiro a steady Eddie? He’s won five Champions Leagues and been integral to all of them. He can’t be a steady Eddie.
"United have been winning and Martinez is one of the best players in the team at the moment. Casemiro, since coming in the team, has been arguably the most important player. The two players he’s picked out are probably the worst two he could have picked [for criticism]."
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