FERDINAND THE VOICE OF REASON

“Maybe the criticism is blown out of proportion but it's part of being at a massive club.

“It's not all doom and gloom and we're still upbeat. We put on a decent performance against Everton and had enough chances to win two games but it wasn't to be. We are doing the best we can but things have not been going along the right lines for us, especially at home.

“It's been a tough few days because going out of Europe is never easy. We have the capabilities to be in the next round but you are never given anything in this game.

"We've got to become more clinical, defend as a team and ensure we get some consistency to our football."

"Nobody wants to go out at any stage, let alone the group stages - that was the most disappointing thing. But this is a time for us to come together.

"We know people are looking at us to see how we'll react. We didn't get a great result against Everton but there were at least a few positives to take out of the performance.

"If we weren't creating chances and we looked like we weren't ever going to score then we'd have something to worry about.

"But in the majority of our games we've created chances especially in the league; we just haven't been able to convert them.

"We need to get our own house in order before we can think about Chelsea. We've got to become more clinical, defend results as a team a lot better than we have been doing and ensure we get some consistency to our football.

"A club like United hasn't got time to endure periods of change and getting used to situations.

"You've got to get into things straight away, there's no time for waiting. That's probably the hardest thing for any club to achieve and that's the situation we're in at the moment."