Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards have questioned Gareth Southgate's track record with substitutions ahead of England's World Cup opener against Iran.
Southgate has done a fine job since taking over as England boss back in 2016. Since then, the former Middlesbrough chief has guided the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final and the final of last summer's delayed European Championships.
England and Southgate are bidding to go one better than last year in Qatar but have jetted off to the Middle East in torrid form. England are currently winless in six and Southgate was booed by England fans during the last international break following a 4-0 hammering from Hungary in the Nations League.
Speaking on BBC, Ferdinand, Richards and Alan Shearer all defended Southgate and lauded the job he's done at the helm - but Richards and Ferdinand did speak out against Southgate's pragmatic approach with substitutes.
Richards said: "You have to make those substitutes early, [that is] the only criticism I have. He’s been excellent up until this point, but when you’re 1-0 down or 2-0 down, make them substitutes to make a difference in the game - that’s the only thing I’d question. That’s not just the manager, it’s the players."
Ferdinand agreed and added: "The natural reaction, from a defender’s point of view, it is instinct to protect what you’ve got but that’s when you need your attacking players to go ‘no, no, no, give us the ball and let us change the game.’ We’ve seen them players produce them moments at club level but now you need to see it in an England shirt, wearing the Three Lions."
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Shearer also jumped in, concluding: " This England squad and team have made huge strides. Now they need to make another huge stride that Gareth wants to do which is what he'll be judged.
"Forget what happened in the Nations League; yes you’re in an England shirt and you want to win games[but] no one is really interested in that. They're interested in the European Championships and the big one: the World Cup."
Shearer also praised Southgate for ditching his favoured five-man defence for the match against Iran - a move that many fans had been eager for Southgate to embrace.
The England boss explained before the match that he wanted his team to "play on the front foot" against Carlos Queiroz's side. He told BBC Sport before the match: "Y ou're always looking at the opponent but they could change, this is a strong team, we've got great depth which we're going to need. We want to play on the front foot."
