An England legend has insisted that manager Gareth Southgate cost his team the match in their 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against France, and explained how.
On Saturday night, the Three Lions suffered their earliest tournament exit since Southgate took charge in 2016 when goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud secured the victory for Les Bleus.
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During the match, the former Middlesbrough boss chose not to make a substitution until Giroud scored France's second in the 78th minute, a decision that has been criticised by many since.
Former Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand, who has previously been a vocal supporter of Southgate, believes the head coach was not "proactive" enough with his substitutions.
"Our substitutions is where I think Gareth Southgate let us down," the 52-year-old said on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel.
"I think he's been pitch-perfect, touch-perfect in almost every decision he's made up to this point, but you get into a game like [Saturday] where this is really where it matters now, and I think Gareth Southgate came up short in the tactical element in terms of substitutions.
"That's part of tactics, making substitutions, and in-game management and deciding games with substitutions at the business end of a tournament. I think he would hold his hands up maybe in retrospect.
"I threw a text in the group, and I stand by this: Gareth, in the moment, wasn't proactive with his substitutions, he was reactive.
"It hit 1-1 and we're sitting there going, "Take the bull by the horns, make a substitution, get us on the front foot".
"You've got [Marcus] Rashford, you've got [Jack] Grealish who can go on, get us on the front foot and change this game.
"You're sitting there going, "It's too late, man". You've got to do this when we've got the chance of still winning this game and taking the game from them."
Read: Tuchel wants job with WC quarter-finalists?
In the aftermath of their quarter-final exit, Southgate is reportedly considering his future as England boss and will be taking time out to reflect on his side's efforts at the World Cup and evaluate what to do next.
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