Rio Ferdinand's frank opinions have ruffled feathers both at Manchester United and within the England camp.
A report from The Sun claims that a number of star players are unimpressed with the former defender's 'strong views' which were a topic of discussion behind closed doors over the March international break. Ferdinand, who won 14 trophies with United and earned 81 caps for the Three Lions, regularly gives his verdict as a pundit for BT Sport and on his popular YouTube show, Vibe with FIVE.
It is claimed that some of his comments have not gone down well. And whilst former teammates such as Roy Keane and Gary Neville are also outspoken, their assessments have not upset players like Ferdinand has. The 43-year-old has been critical of Red Devils trio Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford among a host of their club teammates this season. His comments on Phil Jones in the autumn also upset ex-Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, forcing Ferdinand to apologise to the injury-prone centre-back.
On top of United's stars, the former Old Trafford stalwart urged Harry Kane to go on strike last summer in order to force through a transfer away from Tottenham Hotspur. And recently, Ferdinand left John Stones, Mason Mount and Jack Grealish out of his preferred Three Lions XI for the World Cup.
While the trio are hardly in form and plenty of fans would agree with the pundit's team selection, Gareth Southgate 's players felt the criticism was unfair. It is also stated in the report that during chats at St George's Park over the break, it was raised that Ferdinand has strong links to a football agency which represents players such as Everton centre-back Michael Keane, currently out of the national setup.
The ex-Red Devils ace, who spent 12 trophy-laden years at Old Trafford, even claimed that he had received backlash for his criticism after his old employers lost 4-1 to Manchester City. "The amount of phone calls I get from agents, 'oh, can you not say this, why are you criticising so and so', do me a favour," Ferdinand vented on an episode of Vibe with FIVE which centred around the humiliating derby defeat.
Join the debate! Do you agree with Ferdinand's opinions? Let us know your thoughts below.
"If I was being vindictive and personal and saying bad things personally about these people I'd get it, I'd take the call and say sorry. But I ain't saying sorry for stating facts. I ain't saying sorry for tactically looking at the way people are playing and highlighting situations where you think you could do better there.
"You [the player] should be saying, 'you know what, I know that, I understand, I know, you ain't got to tell me, I will do better. It's not, 'oh, you're digging me out in public'. You should be your biggest critic, you shouldn’t be thinking about what I'm saying, this is my job, I'm paid to do this. Go on the training field and work, don’t worry about me, I'm going to be sitting here talking, my career's done.
"When I'm highlighting the positives no one's calling then, no one's going, 'thanks for that, you've done us a favour'. You don't get that so don't call me when I'm talking negatively about your player, I'm talking from a tactical standpoint."
