RIO RAILS AT CLIQUE CULTURE
RIO FERDINAND has claimed England’s Golden Generation was destroyed by club rivalries.
Former Manchester United defender Ferdinand, who won 81 caps, says England’s players were split because bitter enmity at club level upset dressing-room spirit.
England reached consecutive quarter-finals at the 2004 Euros and the 2006 World Cup when their best players came from Old Trafford, Chelsea and Liverpool.
But Ferdinand – who played under Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello – also blamed England managers for failing to get the best out of players like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
The 39-year-old, now a BT Sport pundit, told the BBC’s NFL show: “The expectations on the Golden Generation were huge but we weren’t able to separate our club ties from international ties and I think that’s where our failure lay. “It wasn’t in the forefront of our minds to say ‘whatever happens with England doesn’t matter – this is about Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool,’ but it was a subconscious thing. “I don’t think we had a manager who was brave enough to sort out our midfield.
“We had the best midfield on paper, the best midfield players in the world at the time, like Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes, Beckham (inset), Hargreaves, and Carrick. The depth of talent was ridiculous.
“But we played a rigid 4-4-2 when all these players could have been interchangeable.
“You look at Spain now, Germany, they would have played them because they would make sure the best and most creative players would be on the pitch.”
Ferdinand even claimed that mealtimes exposed the cliques because players always sat with their clubmates and never bonded properly.
“They did try to change the table situation,” said Ferdinand.
“We would have four or five tables, a Man United table, a Liverpool table and then a Shearer and his table. It was different.
“They made it one table – one big table for lunch, dinner and breakfast. So you’d end up with a Man United end!”