close
close

Jenas quickly shuts down Ferdinand’s bizarre praise for Gareth Southgate

Posted on by Dsen .N

Many viewers were left with the impression that England reached the quarter-finals of EURO 2024 despite Gareth Southgate, rather than thanks to the efforts of their coach.

Southgate guided England to the World Cup semi-finals and the European Championship final, with his team entering the tournament as clear favourites with hopes of finally reaching the end.

Recommended

England have stuttered so far and can consider themselves lucky to have reached the last eight. They were seconds away from being knocked out of the last 16 before a moment of magic from Jude Bellingham saved them, and manager Southgate, from embarrassment.

Throughout the tournament, Southgate faced questions from media both in England and abroad about his squad selection and tactical set-up.

The 53-year-old had no idea who to use alongside Declan Rice in central midfield, nor did he manage to fully utilise the attacking talents at his disposal.

With reports that the player is considering returning to the defensive line-up he has traditionally favoured in the quarter-finals, it doesn’t seem like England are a much better choice to watch in attack on Saturday night.

Despite all the question marks hanging over the England manager, Rio Ferdinand came to the defence of Gareth Southgate on the BBC on Friday night, his rather odd diversion from the issues hanging over Southgate unperturbed by fellow pundit Jermaine Jenas.

READ HERE: The five biggest failures of EURO 2024 so far

READ HERE: Quiz: Name the 23 men who have scored five or more goals at the European Championships

Rio Ferdinand’s defence of Gareth Southgate questioned on BBC

Rio Ferdinand was part of the BBC’s expert panel ahead of the blockbuster clash between Portugal and France on Friday evening.

As you would expect from the BBC, it didn’t take long for England to take over the conversation, with presenter Gary Lineker asking Ferdinand to share his thoughts on Gareth Southgate.

Ferdinand became oddly digressed, highlighting a number of issues surrounding the England team – before telling viewers, in effect, to put their fears aside and trust their manager.

He deserves more recognition than he received in this tournament.

Yes, the team did not play well and we are all analyzing the structure of the team, individual players, when and what changes are made.

But if you think about it, they finished first in the group and won their first knockout match.

His changes affected the games and the final game. Even though everyone is screaming “It should have been earlier!” – they still did what they were supposed to do.

No one really appreciates him for that, they look at all the negatives. Yes, I want to see England play better, but they are doing their job. They can win this tournament by playing badly.

Ferdinand may be right that England can win the tournament by playing in an unfashionable way. But his refusal to accept legitimate criticism of the manager was certainly odd.

Fellow expert Jermaine Jenas quoted a statement by a former Manchester United player.

I see what you mean, Rio, about Gareth.

But I still feel like what we’re seeing is clearly not enough. Being at the top of the group is great, but he was one wrong kick away from capitulation and total disaster.

I don’t think waiting for moments like that is considered “good play”. There’s still a lot to do, we have players who need to do it.

It’s hard to argue with Jenas’s opinion on the England coach.

The England side that face Switzerland on Saturday night is likely to be set up in a very different formation to those seen so far in the tournament, and Southgate will be hoping the radical change will give his side the spark they have sorely lacked in previous matches.

England will face Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Saturday evening at 5pm Irish time.

SEE ALSO: Questions over UEFA’s different punishments for Jude Bellingham and Turkey star