Ferdinand: Varane's problems are due to a lack of structure at Man Utd

, former

defender, says Raphael Varane can't be blamed for his problems since he joined the team last year.

Ferdinand says that

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

and Ralf Rangnick ran United with "zero functionality," which was a big reason why the 2018 World Cup winner had a bad first season in England. Now that United has a new manager, Erik ten Hag, Ferdinand thinks the back line could get a major makeover.

Varane played 29 times in his first season with United after coming from

Real Madrid

. He helped keep only six clean sheets as the Red Devils had their worst Premier League season and finished sixth with 58 points. Only Norwich City (six clean sheets), Watford (four), Leeds United (five), and Leicester City (seven) kept fewer than United's eight clean sheets in the Premier League last season.

Ferdinand said that Varane hasn't done his best work at Old Trafford, but he also criticized United's lack of structure last season, saying that it was like a youth team. "I think he went from one team [Madrid], where the honors show that it was a team that worked, that worked at the top level, and where all the players consistently played at their best," Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel FIVE.

"Then, he turned things around so that the team has no structure, no confidence, no direction, and no way to work. When he walks in, he's probably thinking, "I haven't seen this since I was a kid playing football."

"From that world-class company to United is a big change, and he looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"He hasn't been the player we thought he would be when he came here, and he'd be the first to admit it. He'd say, "I've got to step up my game next year, but I need help and I need my teammates."

"To be the best, you need good teammates. Lionel Messi,

Cristiano Ronaldo

, Zinedine Zidane, and

Ronaldinho

couldn't do what they do without their teammates." The hiring of former Ajax manager Ten Hag has given fans hope that the next season will be better, and they expect United to make a lot of moves to improve their team during the transfer window.

, a defender for Ajax, has been linked to United a lot in recent weeks, and Rio Ferdinand thinks the club's new manager will want to change the Red Devils' leaky defense. He also said, "I'm curious to see what Ten Hag does in that area." "They are talking about Timber, a young man who plays center back for Ajax. He is a small center-back.

"I'm also curious to see what happens with Varane, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, and Eric Bailly. I think that one or two of them will leave." Last season, United gave up 57 goals in the Premier League, which was their most ever in the league. It was also the first time since the 1989-1990 season that they didn't have a positive goal difference.

Follow

for the