has slammed but has doubled down on his claim that his former club have had a better season than Arsenal if they finish third and the Gunners end up second in the .
arrived as United manager in the summer and has led the club to a trophy in his first season – with the Red Devils lifting the Carabao Cup – while in the top-flight they are currently third with eight games left.
Arsenal have crashed out of all the cups but have been locked in a Premier League title battle with Manchester City and were previously eight points clear at the top of the table.
The Gunners have drawn their last three games in a row, though, with City now five points behind them with two games in hand before Pep Guardiola’s side host Arsenal at the Etihad on Wednesday.
Arsenal have 16 more points than United but Ten Hag’s team could still lift more silverware this season in the FA Cup, having reached the semi-finals.
There had been talk of a treble but United crashed out of the Europa League in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 defeat to Sevilla on Thursday.
Reflecting on that loss, Ferdinand told BT Sport: ‘Poor. We weren’t at the races. You can’t dress it up any way different to that.
‘Going into a game of that magnitude you have to perform. They started that game the way they finished the last game. 2-0 up at Old Trafford and throwing that away [in the first leg] was disastrous.’
Quizzed about the error involving Harry Maguire and David de Gea, Ferdinand added: ‘I saw a clip online, Lisandro Martinez got the ball in the exact same position in a game previous to that and got out of it.
‘When you play a ball to an individual you know what that boy is capable of. If you know the player can’t [deal with the situation] I would veer away from that. I think De Gea made the wrong choice in that instance.
‘The whole team were not at the races. I don’t think you can blame just the centre-halves as the problem. The whole team was shaky, there was a lack of fight and belief.’
When it was put to him that he said winning a trophy was more important than where you finish in the league, Ferdinand replied: ‘No, no, I didn’t say it like that. We need to add context to this please.
‘I said Man Utd, if they finish third and win the Carabao Cup, they would have had a better season than if Arsenal finish second now without a trophy.’
Jermaine Jenas challenged Ferdinand’s view and said: ‘I get where he’s coming from and I think most fans would agree because it’s about silverware and winning things, the only mark I would put against it is where Man Utd will be next year and what they have to do to get there, and where Arsenal will be next year.
‘In terms of the development of Man Utd and the development of Arsenal, I would say that Arsenal are way ahead with where they want to be for next year.
‘If they finish second it will be a massive disappointment but everything they will have learnt… the team, the nucleus that is already there, if they add to that [in the summer] that will put them way ahead of Man Utd.’
Ferdinand added: ‘That wasn’t my point though. My point was who was happiest!
‘When you retire, and someone goes ‘oh what a season that was’ – they are not going to say that about finishing second.
‘I don’t remember what years I finished second. I remember the years I won something, be it the Carabao Cup, the Champions League or Premier League.
‘You don’t remember finishing second, third or fourth. It’s irrelevant.
‘If you’re aspiring to win and be champions, that’s what Arsenal are now, trying to transition from a club hoping to get Champions League football to winning silverware, If they keep thinking second is great they will stay there, and keep finishing second.’
