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Rio Ferdinand's one-word reaction to Man Utd's defeat to Nottingham Forest speaks volumes

Manchester United's defeat to Nottingham Forest has led to Rio Ferdinand calling the team a "shambles".

The game saw Nikola Milenkovic score for Forest within the first two minutes, only for Rasmus Hojlund to equalize for United. However, a blunder from Andre Onana allowed Morgan Gibbs-White's shot to go in, with Chris Wood adding a third for Forest.

Despite a late goal from Bruno Fernandes, United couldn't salvage the game and now sit 13th in the Premier League table, eight points away from the top four. Since replacing Erik ten Hag as manager, Ruben Amorim has only managed one top-flight win. Ferdinand expressed his disappointment on X, simply writing: "Shambles."

Gary Neville, another former United player, also criticized the team's performance. "When you keep changing players and you keep changing your back three and you take five players off, you're basically saying to all of them, because they've obviously been taken off at the start of the game, that you don't trust them," Neville told NBC Sports.

"It looked really scruffy. They looked a mess at the end United with no real shape. In the first half they weren't brilliant but at least they had a shape to them. Pick an XI that you think are the best. Almost give that XI the faith and trust.

"No good team is ever a good team without hard work. Manchester United are 13th in the league. Their running stats, their distance covered is 16th in the league. You don't deserve anything if you're being outrun every single week."

Ruben Amorim's players are struggling for form

Ruben Amorim's players are struggling for form (Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite the criticism, United's manager Amorim remains committed to his tactics. "We already knew it will be a long journey. But we want to win because this is a massive club and you feel it. When you lose one game, it is really hard for everybody and I can understand that. I can feel it in the stadium after the first goal," he said.

"We understand the context, but we have to keep in the same way, doing the same things. The same words that I had after Everton, I have today. Continue to focus on the performance.

"We need to improve a lot of aspects of the game and continue to do things in training. I had this and worse at Sporting in the beginning. We have to continue to do the same things and improve the team because this will turn around. We need time and to continue to work in the same way every day."

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