Rio Ferdinand admits Steven Gerrard’s ‘selfish loser’ claim has a point as he shares his thoughts on England’s failures during his time with the Three Lions
Rio Ferdinand admits there was “truth” in Steven Gerrard’s claim that England’s generation were “selfish losers” who failed to showcase their talent in major tournaments together.
They were touted as the “golden generation” of the Three Lions, but ultimately failed to make it past the quarter-finals at either the World Cup or the Euros from 2002 to 2006. Sven-Goran Eriksson managed England in all three tournaments.
His team mainly included players from Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. That meant marquee players such as Gerrard, Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney had to put aside rifts within the club for the national team.
That’s something they all confess to struggling with, given the state of conflict in the country. United, Chelsea and Arsenal all won the Premier League during the aforementioned period, but Gerrard recently confessed that their inability to put their egos aside made them losers.
Ferdinand also admitted that he had a point. He told The Times: “I think there was some truth in that. There were a lot of reasons why we weren’t successful, but that was one of the big ones. Our egos came from wanting to be successful at the football club. We were Sir Alex. We had to go back to great, strong managers like Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho, great, strong managers who created in all of us a dominant urge to win with the team.
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“I loved hearing Stevie say how he felt. I was sitting across the table from him at lunch in the England camp, and I found out that United were playing Liverpool in a few weeks, and I was thinking, ‘I don’t even like you right now.’ I used to feel the same way about John Terry, Frank Lampard, or whoever we were playing in the league. It was a negative for England. There was no unity.
“That’s where I always give props to[Gareth]Southgate because he was able to change that. Also, in our generation, we didn’t have social media. I think it created more touchpoints between players and brought players closer together.”
Ferdinand’s England generation have all played their part in overwhelming times. The Three Lions have since been able to overcome this environment thanks to Southgate, with the former England manager leading his country closer to glory.
England have reached the semi-finals or above three times, including the 2018 World Cup. They have lost to the finalists twice at the Euros.
There is a lot to be said about the cohesiveness and cohesiveness of the England squad, with players from more clubs coming together.
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