{"id":115666,"date":"2025-05-20T00:18:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/115666\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T00:18:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T00:18:17","slug":"rio-ferdinand-pinpoints-major-man-united-concern-ahead-of-europa-league-final-with-tottenham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/115666\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand pinpoints major Man United concern ahead of Europa League final with Tottenham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rio Ferdinand is worried about the difference in physicality between Manchester United and Tottenham ahead of the Europa League final.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Premier League rivals will clash in the showpiece match in Bilbao, Spain on Wednesday night, live on talkSPORT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"United<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

United can salvage their woeful season by winning the Europa League finalCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Both clubs have endured dire seasons as they occupy the two spots directly above the relegation zone in England’s top flight.<\/p>\n

Despite being 17th in the Premier League, Spurs may be the more confident side as they have beaten United<\/a> on three occasions during this campaign.<\/p>\n

However, the physical battle expected at the Estadio de San Mames is giving Ferdinand<\/a> a cause for concern ahead of ahead of the match<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Appearing on Hawksbee and Jacobs for talkSPORT, the United legend said: “The worrying thing for me from a Man United perspective is that… <\/p>\n

READ MORE ON MANCHESTER UNITED<\/p>\n

“I’ve always said it, I’ve said it on my podcast for the last couple of months, physically we can’t keep up with any team in the Premier League. <\/p>\n

“If they go man to man and go toe-to-toe with us, we’re at a disadvantage because our profile of our players at Man United are not players that can run as hard and as fast, and as long, and they’re not as powerful as other teams.<\/p>\n

“That’s a big thing in the Premier League. In the Europa, we’re overpowering every team. <\/p>\n

“There’s only one team I’ve watched us play against in the Europa League that we struggled against and thought, ‘Ooh, that was a bit too close for comfort.’<\/p>\n

“Rangers, who are more akin to a Premier League side, physically.<\/p>\n

“So that’s the concern for me in the final playing against a Premier League team, who have beaten us three times, that physically can, minimum, match us.”<\/p>\n

\"United<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

United legend Ferdinand has revealed his worry ahead of the matchCredit: talkSPORT\"He<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

He believes that Spurs have the better levels of physicality on the pitchCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

United have already won the Europa League once, with the sole victory coming in the 2016\/17 season under Jose Mourinho.<\/p>\n

A semi-final finish followed in 2020 before they lost to Villarreal in the final on penalties a year later.<\/p>\n

Once again, they reached the quarter-finals in 2023 but were beaten by Sevilla, who also knocked them out three years prior.<\/p>\n

Now United can win a trophy<\/a> for the third consecutive season after FA Cup and Carabao Cup success under Erik ten Hag.<\/p>\n

Spurs, on the other hand, will be bidding to end their 17-year wait for major silverware having been runners-up in various seasons.<\/p>\n

After winning the League Cup in 2008, they lost to United in the next final, then against Chelsea in 2015 and finally Manchester City in 2021.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Spurs have won their last three meetings with UnitedCredit: Getty\"European<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

European silverware is up for grabs on Wednesday nightCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

A second-place Premier League finish has also followed, as well as Champions League final heartbreak to Liverpool.<\/p>\n

However, boss Ange Postecoglou has the opportunity to back up his previous claim of winning a trophy in his second seasons at clubs.<\/p>\n

Martin Keown says Ange Postecoglou could sign off Spurs career with stinging gesture but thinks his fate is already sealed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand is worried about the difference in physicality between Manchester United and Tottenham ahead of the Europa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[41470,94,98,15038,79,52083,1368,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-115666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-europa-league-final","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-manchester-united","11":"tag-rio-ferdinand","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-talksport","14":"tag-tottenham","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114537293758460400","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}