CAPE TOWN – Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has stated that Sir Alex Ferguson played a part in the national team’s failure at international level.
Ferdinand was part of what many consider England’s “golden generation”, playing alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney. A lot was expected for the group, but they failed to deliver on the international stage.
According to Ferdinand, Ferguson was partly to blame for that.
During a Q&A session on Instagram, Ferdinand said: “I think Fergie might have played a little part in it as well, because he was so clever.
“You’d be going away, you’d finish a game on Saturday, you’d win a game on Saturday and he’d go, ‘Right, I’ll see you after the international break, boys’. And then he’ll go like, ‘You, you and you, if you play more than 45 minutes , I’m going to kill you when you get back’.
“Si it would be in the back of your mind. You’d be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m under pressure when I come back’.
“I’d have played 90 minutes and you’re walking into training and he’s sitting, looking at you like that, ‘What did I tell you?’ It was mad,” said Ferdinand.