Rio Ferdinand Questions Timing Of Unai Emery’s Substitutions

Rio Ferdinand felt Danny Welbeck should’ve been thrown on earlier against Liverpool…

Rio Ferdinand questioned Unai Emery’s substitutions during our 1-1 draw against Liverpool and claimed that Danny Welbeck should’ve been sent on earlier, the former Man Utd said on BT Sport.

Emery sent Welbeck on in the 81st minute in place of Sead Kolasinac, a move which saw us transition into a 4-4-2 with Alex Iwobi going to left-back.

It had the desired effect moments later as Liverpool’s centre-back pairing failed to communicate properly given that they now had two central strikers to deal with.

Welbeck dragged Joe Gomes out of the back line, leaving space for Alexandre Lacazette to run into and finish home.

For Ferdinand, it’s a move Emery should’ve made earlier given Welbeck’s impact in recent weeks.

“I thought that Welbeck should’ve come on earlier,” Ferdinand said.

“In recent weeks he’s scored goals, he’s come off the bench and scored goals – he’s had an impact.”

When the former Man Utd forward did come on, though, Ferdinand was impressed with the information given by Emery and how direct he was with what he wanted.

“He was very assertive and forward-thinking in saying: ‘two up front now, and we’re going to put these players under pressure’.”

No team has had more players score goals off the bench than us this season, a testament to Emery’s in-game management – something we lacked severely under Wenger.

We also seemed to rectify our slow starts against Liverpool, matching them for intensity in the first 45 minutes.

With our next two games at home, hopefully, we get back to winning ways before the international break.