Rio Ferdinand chastises Southgate for starting Harry Maguire over Chelsea’s star player.
Harry Maguire, a defender for Manchester United, has had a difficult two years for his team.
As a result, he lost both his captain’s band and his position under Erik ten Hag.
While Maguire, a former Blue, has only been in four minutes of Premier League action this year, he was selected to start England’s most recent Euro qualifier against Ukraine with Marc Guehi.
Rio Ferdinand, a former player for Manchester United, has spoken out against it because he thinks it is unfair to young players trying to break into the team, like Chelsea’s Levi Colwill.
When asked about Southgate’s selection of Maguire on Vibe With Five, Ferdinand responded, “If England were in a knife-edge situation, I’d get it, but they’re going to qualify, they’re by far the best team in their group.”
“The confidence and morale of the other players in that position are my main concerns.” He is essentially conceding that he has no reliable backup center players.
“John Stones, arguably England’s best center-back at the moment, is injured.” When Marc Guehi joins, he effortlessly ascends to every degree that is required of him.
“Maguire hasn’t yet played, but he’s probably saying to himself, ‘Thank God Gareth Southgate is manager because no one else would play me like this,'” the author speculates.
The other players are probably saying to themselves, “Wow, that’s unbelievable to see someone who doesn’t play a minute of football, doesn’t start for their club, comes in and wears the England badge.”
“In the past, getting a call-up, let alone a start, required working miracles at your club for a very long time.” And it seems to have changed significantly.
“If I were one of the other young center backs – [Lewis] Dunk, by the way, what he’s doing at Brighton, the new manager, the way they’re playing football, he’s the captain of that team, he’s probably sitting there thinking, ‘if I can’t get a game now, I might as well just throw it in,'” said the author.
You’ve got a young guy making a name for himself in Levi Colwill. When someone who isn’t playing [for their club] is in my path, I used to be the young child who assumes that they don’t rate me.
“Even if it’s just a tiny bit of a percentage point, that’s enough to knock you off your game in terms of confidence, because when you go to an England camp, you’re sitting there at training thinking, “I know he [Southgate] doesn’t rate me, because the evidence is in the pudding,”” said the player.
As a previous young defender, I find it difficult to see how you can claim that our lack of experience is to blame.
“I don’t even think [Fikayo] Tomori is the biggest one; he’s just one of a bunch.” Currently, they include Tomori, Guehi, and Colwill.
The fact that Gareth is unaware of their level of skill is what matters most to me. At the club level, they are free to act anyway they choose, but when they get the chance to compete internationally, it is a different brand of football with a different tempo. When are we going to find out how good these men are until they are tried and tested and given the opportunity to play some games?
“What happens if Stones or Maguire falter in a tournament and these guys are thrown into the deep end?” Is that when you’ll find out? It’s not the right method to get ready for a competition; you want to see what these players have to offer and how well they perform since there are points on the line and playing under pressure while wearing the Three Lions is a little different.
The message it sends to the rest of the squad can’t be right, in my opinion. Guehi has performed well, but there are others there. Give them a chance.
