Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United’s struggling players should be calling each other out and ‘throwing noses out of joint’ as their season deteriorates.

Erik ten Hag’s side suffered a humbling 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, just days after overcoming Chelsea in one of their greatest performances of the season.

United will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday night, and they will face Premier League leaders and fierce rivals Liverpool on Sunday.

Ferdinand believes one of the reasons United are underperforming right now is that the players aren’t hard enough on one another.

He proposed that Ten Hag use ‘tough love’ by showing video nasties to his players after unsatisfactory performances.

Manchester United suffered yet another humiliating defeat at the hands of Bournemouth on Saturday.

Erik ten Hag has a lot on his plate as United prepares to face Bayern Munich and then Liverpool.

‘It looks to me like there aren’t enough honest and serious conversations between the players,’ Ferdinand said on TalkSPORT.

‘Any successful team, in any sport, in any business, those awkward conversations must be had.

‘Whether it’s an argument, or you’re drawing people up in a conference room.

‘I don’t think there are enough people in that changing room willing to go out on a limb and put someone’s nose out of joint a little bit.

‘Make someone’s hair stand out a little with a comment regarding performance, body language, or the drive you’re displaying on the pitch.

‘I want a movie that shows specific facets of people’s games, both as a team and as individuals, as well as embarrassing a few people in the meeting.

“Look at this, can you tell me that’s right in a Manchester United shirt?” That badge does not entitle you to be walking or letting someone to go past you without bothering you. ‘Jumping out of the form we’ve been working on all week and leaving them vulnerable with a lot of space around them.’

Ten Hag appointed Fernandes as captain at the start of the season, with former skipper Harry Maguire not playing as much.

But the Portuguese aren’t having a great season, so Jordan asked Ferdinand if there was anyone else who should wear the armband.

United legend Rio Ferdinand urged that the struggling players be harsher on each other.

Bruno Fernandes took over as captain of Manchester United from Harry Maguire at the start of the season.

‘Who else is there?’ said the former England defender. That is the most serious issue.

‘You can call him the one you like or the one you despise. But then you look around, and I’m sure there are other players in that locker room who would reject down the opportunity to be captain and say, “nah, I don’t want it.”

‘It’s too large, the pressure’s too much. They do not want to be in the spotlight, and they do not want to be the one that is interviewed by the media. I don’t want that kind of responsibility.

‘Whereas back in the day – because it was a different time and there was greater confidence because we were winning – there would be a line of people requesting to be captain.

‘There were those persons who were disappointed not to be captain when the opportunity arose.

This week will be much more difficult for United, as they face Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

‘The background of where the club was at the time is obviously different, but if you look around all of the clubs in football, leadership is considerably different now than it was back then.

‘There aren’t many shouters, strong communicators, or loud and aggressive folks eager to grab people by the neck. There aren’t many of them around anymore. There used to be a lot of them guys.

‘The way you lead now, the culture is very, very different, but I don’t think it matters in terms of hard talks being had in a different way.’