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Cape Town - Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has rejected
suggestions that Sir Alex Ferguson is responsible for the club's current
plight.
The Red Devils are enduring a torrid period after dominating the English game for more than 20 years, with David Moyes struggling to a seventh-place finish last season - his only campaign at the Old Trafford helm.
New manager Louis van Gaal has since also made a below-par start to life in the United hot seat, leading to a growing sentiment that Ferguson left the club in poor shape when he departed after winning the league title in the 2012/13 season.
However, Ferdinand believes the notion that Moyes inherited a distinctly average squad from Ferguson is off the mark.
"I don't understand how people can say (that). You've got some great players throughout the squad. You win the league by 11 points. You've got to be a top team to do that," he told CNN World Sport.
"So he goes and then it all falls apart? So that's his fault? How can people say that?
"I don't think the buck stops with Sir Alex Ferguson at all. I think you leave and you win a trophy. There's not many better ways to go out than that."
In his upcoming autobiography, Ferdinand is critical of Moyes' tactics and training methods, but the defender insists that he does not have a personal problem with the Scot.
"Yes, of course. I've got nothing against him as a person," he explained.
"As I said, I'm saying that he's a gentleman, a great man. As I said, I've never had any bad words to say about him at all in that respect as a person."
The Red Devils are enduring a torrid period after dominating the English game for more than 20 years, with David Moyes struggling to a seventh-place finish last season - his only campaign at the Old Trafford helm.
New manager Louis van Gaal has since also made a below-par start to life in the United hot seat, leading to a growing sentiment that Ferguson left the club in poor shape when he departed after winning the league title in the 2012/13 season.
However, Ferdinand believes the notion that Moyes inherited a distinctly average squad from Ferguson is off the mark.
"I don't understand how people can say (that). You've got some great players throughout the squad. You win the league by 11 points. You've got to be a top team to do that," he told CNN World Sport.
"So he goes and then it all falls apart? So that's his fault? How can people say that?
"I don't think the buck stops with Sir Alex Ferguson at all. I think you leave and you win a trophy. There's not many better ways to go out than that."
In his upcoming autobiography, Ferdinand is critical of Moyes' tactics and training methods, but the defender insists that he does not have a personal problem with the Scot.
"Yes, of course. I've got nothing against him as a person," he explained.
"As I said, I'm saying that he's a gentleman, a great man. As I said, I've never had any bad words to say about him at all in that respect as a person."
