‘He showed him no respect’ – Rio Ferdinand criticises Eric Dier defending against Marcus Rashford

Rashford scored United’s second before Spurs fought back (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas slammed Eric Dier’s first-half defending in Tottenham’s Premier League clash with Manchester United, insisting Marcus Rashford showed the defender ‘no respect’.

United led 2-0 at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Jadon Sancho breaking the deadlock after seven minutes with Rashford lashing home his 29th goal of the season at the end of the first-half.

Spurs went onto stage a superb comeback in the second-half with Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min on the score sheet to rescue a point for the hosts.

But alarm bells were ringing early on as Sancho was able to cut inside and shoot with three Tottenham defenders in the vicinity for the opener.

Spurs were exposed again before half-time with Rashford bursting past Dier inside the box after latching onto Bruno Fernandes’ through ball.

Heavily involved in both incidents, Dier was criticised by Ferdinand who believes he made life too easy for the United forward.  

‘At no point did Eric Dier make Rashford think, ‘I’ve got something to think about here, I have got to do something unique or different to get by you,’ Ferdinand told BT Sport.

Tottenham fought back in the second-half (Picture: Getty)

‘It was very easy. Rashford showed him no respect and was ruthless.’

Reviewing the first goal, Ferdinand said: ‘The Spurs defenders here, they just back off. Get out to the ball, they are running with their hands behind their back, no one taking charge of the situation, no one saying to the forward you have got to do more.

‘It is playing it safe and expecting someone else to take responsibility to make a tackle  and it is not good enough.’

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Jenas was similarly baffled by Dier’s attempts to deal with United’s attack in the first-half, believing the Tottenham defender was concerned over his lack of pace.

‘I don’t know what Eric Dier is thinking here, he has got to engage him,’ Jenas said.

‘You have to get your hand on him, push him in the direction he was going. His obsession, to constantly back off, I can only put it down to in the back of his mind, a lack of pace and he’s panicking. You have got to make life difficult for him.’

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