Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has slammed Paris Saint-Germain’s tactical approach in their game against Newcastle United in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The French side were beaten 4-1 by the English Premier League side, who are top of Group F.
Miguel Almiron, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar scored in the game to give the Magpies all three points.
“It started from the first whistle. Anthony Gordon setting the tone, the whole team making sure they press. That set the tone for the whole game,” he told TNT Sport.
“What are they [PSG] doing? In the first minute, they were in a good position, but they went back to the goalkeeper. They gave Newcastle a chance to get the crowd up.
“At one point they give the ball away three times in 20 seconds. Really bad starts to each half and they end up getting punished.
“Slack, lazy, lack of concentration, focus – all of the above. It’s the opposite when you look at the Newcastle team. Truly focused, concentrating, dynamic, aggressive.
“Tactically you have to get it right on the big stage. If you don’t you get punished especially in an atmosphere, a cauldron like this.
“The way PSG approached this game, 4-2-4, light in midfield, lightweight, a 17-year-old [Warren Zaire-Emery] playing there. They got punished at all points.’
“We wanted to entertain the crowd and get the crowd behind us, but we did well,’ Burn reflected post-match.
“We knew PSG were not going to change the way they play. The times to play high up the pitch and we had the crowd pushing us, we had that for the last goal with the crowd pushing us on for Fabs’ [Schar] goal.”
