Rio Ferdinand Brands Chelsea Midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko a 'Disgrace' During Liverpool Draw

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has insisted he would have been screaming at Chelsea defensive midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko had he been in centre-back Gary Cahill's shoes against Liverpool on Saturday, labelling the Frenchman a "disgrace". 

The Blues were eventually able to snatch a point at Anfield thanks to a cross-come-shot effort from substitute Willian after Mohamed Salah had put the north west side ahead. 

Antonio Conte's outfit never really looked comfortable when defending against the raw pace of the Egypt international and the trickery of Philippe Coutinho, and at half time Ferdinand insisted he would have given Bakayoko what for following his opening 45-minute performance. 

"If I was Gary Cahill out there I would be screaming at Bakayoko", Ferdinand said on BT Sport, as quoted by The Express.

"I think defensively he’s been an absolute disgrace today. He’s doing nothing, he’s letting people run off him he’s leaving Gary Cahill isolated.

"Gary Cahill with the experience he’s got he should be telling Bakayoko ‘left, right, back’ to protect.

"They’re letting the ball being rolled into [Mohamed] Salah every time the ball comes on this right-hand side.

"They’re causing problems."

Since his around £36m move to Chelsea from Monaco during the summer, Bakayoko has struggled to adopt his game to the quicker-tempoed Premier League. 

This was no more evident than the 23-year-old's weak interception which gifted possession to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the edge of the area, who then in-turn fed Salah for the breakthrough - almost proving Ferdinand's point.  

Conte saw fit to remove the France international from proceedings with a quarter of an hour to go, and just 10 minutes later, along with two other attacking-minded substitutions, the Blues were back on level terms and in the end managed to salvage a point to remain in the top four.