Rio Ferdinand has criticised Gareth Southgate for his decision making in England’s World Cup exit against France on Saturday evening.
England turned in a good performance against Les Bleus and were arguably the better side, but succumbed to a heartbreaking defeat.
Harry Kane had the opportunity to make it 2-2 in the 84th minute when England were awarded a spot-kick, their second of the evening.
But Kane spurned the opportunity as he blazed his spot-kick well over the bar.
England pushed and pushed for an equaliser but they came up short as they were eliminated from the competition.
Rio Ferdinand: Substitutions is where Gareth Southgate let us down
Ferdinand watched the match and he has criticised Southgate for his tactical decisions.
The former England defender feels Southgate was reactive with his substitutions and not proactive.
Southgate made four substitutions in the match – with the first shortly after England fell 2-1 behind.
Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount were both introduced in the 79th minute.
Marcus Rashford came on with five minutes of normal time remaining, while Jack Grealish entered the fray a few moments before the final whistle.
Ferdinand was complimentary of the England boss for his decision making during the tournament but feels he ‘came up short’ in the quarter-final defeat to France.
Ferdinand feels he should have made changes at 1-1 rather than when they were losing.
VIDEO: Ferdinand criticises Southgate for decisions vs France (Substitution comments at 4:30)
“Our [England’s] substitutions is where I think Gareth Southgate let us down,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.
“I think he’s been pitch-perfect, touch-perfect in almost every decision he’s made up to this point, but you get into a game like yesterday where this is really where it matters now, and I think Gareth Southgate came up short in the tactical element in terms of substitutions.
“That’s part of tactics, making substitutions, and in-game management and deciding games with substitutions at the business end of a tournament, I think he would hold his hands up maybe in retrospect.’
“I threw a text in the group, and I stand by this,’ Ferdinand continued. ‘Gareth, in the moment, wasn’t proactive with his substitutions, he was reactive.
“It hit 1-1 and we’re sitting there going ‘take the bull by the horns, make a substitution, get us on the front foot’. You’ve got Rashford, you’ve got Grealish who can go on, get us on the front foot and change this game.
“You’re sitting there going, ‘It’s too late, man’. You’ve got to do this when we’ve got the chance of still winning this game and taking the game from them.”
Will Southgate stay on as England manager?
Southgate has not yet decided whether he will continue to be England manager going forward.
Ferdinand believes he will end up staying.
“I think, if I am Gareth Southgate, I can not leave this story. This story hasn’t had an ending yet that works for me,” he added.
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