Rio Ferdinand slammed for ‘fanboy’ punditry on Man Utd, likened to ‘MUTV’

Clive Tyldesley has taken aim at Rio Ferdinand for his co-commentary during Manchester United's remarkable comeback win over Lyon in the Europa League last week.

United looked destined to exit the competition at the quarter-final stage when they fell 6-4 behind on aggregate with just 10 minutes of extra time remaining.

But they scored three late goals to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat and book their place in the semi-finals, with Ferdinand loving every second of it.

Ferdinand was heard cheering as Kobbie Mainoo and then Harry Maguire scored in the final seconds of the match, and TNT Sports later released a 'commentator cam' that showed Ferdinand celebrating with fellow pundit Robbie Savage, with main commentator Darren Fletcher trying to calm the duo down.

After watching the footage, Tyldesley has suggested Ferdinand knew the camera was there and was playing up for the audience, while he also accused the ex-United star of turning TNT's coverage into what you would expect from a club fan channel.

Describing the final seconds of the chaotic game on his blog, Tyldesley wrote: 'Over on TNT Sport, lead commentator Darren Fletcher was playing gooseberry to two former United players that were just loving the comeback. We know this because Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Savage could not only be heard but also seen on "CommCam".

'So, just in case we were wondering if Rio’s voice had temporarily lost the frequency of the commentator’s traditional neutrality, we could watch his fist punching the air over and over in delight. I got the impression that he maybe knew the hidden camera was there. Could be wrong.

'Fletch had been savvy enough to take a deep breath in the wake of United’s equaliser – my wonderful mentor Reg Gutteridge used to call it "thinking time" – before delivering the catchy line “Kobbie Mainoo is the coolest kid in Old Trafford and Manchester United are level”. Either side of him, Rio and Robbie were unashamedly losing their collective cool to welcome us to MUTV.'

Tyldesley went on to state that football has moved into the 'commentator fan' era, which sees the likes of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher also commentating on their former clubs.

But he appears unconvinced that this is actually what fans want.

It is not the first time Tyldesley has called out Ferdinand for his commentating style either.

Back in February, he was critical of Ferdinand after he covered the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park between Everton and Liverpool.

The former United defender could hardly contain himself after James Tarkowski's last-minute equaliser as he repeatedly shouted 'oh my God' on commentary.

Tyldesley compared Ferdinand to fictional comedy character Ali G, and also blasted his fellow commentator Ally McCoist.

'Having the judgment and knowledge to read a game doesn't necessarily give an ex-player the ability to read it out loud to an audience of millions,' Tyldesley wrote. 'They are two separate professions with their own techniques and thought processes.

'If you are coming from football into broadcasting, you need to be schooled and coached in the methods and disciplines of communication. Your words should count.

'"Oh my God. Oh my God" is not quite enough.'