Rio Ferdinand is cautiously optimistic about Manchester United’s future

Rio Ferdinand reckons Manchester United are very close to "blowing teams away".

Although Manchester United aren't exactly lighting up world football with their performances this season, they find themselves slugging it out at the top of the table with rivals Manchester City. Writing in his Sun on Sunday column, United legend Rio Ferdinand reckons that the club is getting close to rediscovering the ability to intimidate other teams that would ensure future glory.

"If you can get to the top of the league and then start blowing a couple of teams away, it can quickly get the fear factor back." "Before teams play you, they start to think, ‘They’re on a roll, they’ve got the bit between their teeth’, and it changes everything." "If United can put a real run together in the next few weeks they will start to get that vibe back, with teams telling themselves, ‘Watch out, United are the real deal again’."

However, Ferdinand does have a few concerns about the current United team. He believes that Chris Smalling is their most improved player this season and if he gets injured it could have catastrophic effects on their title chances due to a lack of a replacement.