Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand explained why ex-England boss Roy Hodgson failed at the 2016 European Championships and added that he himself would be perfect to take up the Three Lions job.
Ferdinand was one of the mainstays in the England defence between 1997 and 2011, and has 81 international caps to his name. However, the 37-year-old has never been able to win a major international trophy with the Three Lions during his playing days.
Speaking about England’s performance during the recently concluded European Championships, Ferdinand opined that the Three Lions disappointed their fans yet again, because their manager did not know his best team.
“When you don’t know your starting XI when you get to the tournament and don’t know your best formation, there’s a problem,” Ferdinand said in an interview with Copa90. “When you perform in a team, individuals can only perform to their greatest ability when the platform at the bottom is set, the foundations of what you want your team to do.”
Ferdinand further went on to explain that when the manager knows his set eleven, and the team plays to a system, the out-of-form players can stick to the basics of the system and help the team perform.
“When a player then is not performing too well as an individual, he can fall back on that platform of structure, the team, the unity,” said Ferdinand, who believes that this outlook is the reason why he should manage the England national side. “That’s why I should be a manager, I would take it all day long.”
England went into the Euro 2016 with a lot of expectations, going with in-form players like Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, and Dele Alli. To add to that, they had the two best strikers from the Premier League last season — Harry Kane (25 goals) and Jamie Vardy (24 goals).
Despite having these top, in-form players the Three Lions failed to produce the results, as they were knocked out in the round-of-16 stage by minnows Iceland. Hodgson had played the 4-3-3 formation throughout the tournament, with Kane playing as the lone striker, and captain Wayne Rooney operating as a central midfielder.
While Rooney had played in central midfield for his club Manchester United last season, 30-year-old has not had any outstanding performances to speak of from midifled for club or country.
In a recent interview, current Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho criticised the decision to play Rooney as a midfielder, saying that a player of his ability should never play so far away from goal. Perhaps it is little mistakes like these that Ferdinand would look to iron out if he becomes the England manager. However, it is difficult to see the former Manchester United man getting the England job, especially because he has no experience in managing a football team.
