Ferdinand would have ‘gambled’ on one England player in ‘big disagreement’ with Tuchel | OneFootball

Rio Ferdinand says he has “one big disagreement” with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup as he would have “gambled” on a game-changer.

England beat Costa Rica 3-0 in the last of their warm-up games ahead of their World Cup opener against Croatia next Wednesday.

And after a promising performance from the Three Lions, Ferdinand revealed his “love” for Tuchel, but believes he made one key mistake when selecting his squad for the summer.

Asked if Tuchel could be the man to end 60 years of hurt for England, Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “I think we’re all hopeful of that.

“Listen, the squad selection and the way he’s gone about it and the players he’s left out, there are a lot of discussions going on about that… some would take X, Y and Z.

“I absolutely love him, I’ve been fortunate to be in his company quite a few times and have had some beers with him in Paris one of the times, him and his assistant, and he just talks football, man. It was lovely.

“But there’s one thing I disagree with him on: Cole Palmer.

“That’s one thing I have a big disagreement with because Cole Palmer has shown that he can be a sub, he can be part of the squad, he can impact the biggest games, he scored in a Euros final.

“In this place, in the United States, he won the Club World Cup and was the best player at that tournament, in this type of heat, so he knows the landscape… and you don’t take him.

“If there’s one player I would have definitely gambled on it would have been him.”

Why not Gibbs-White?

Asked if Morgan Gibbs-White – who was also left out of the squad – may have been more deserving of selection, Ferdinand replied: “But he’s not different. The best teams have something different, there’s something different that comes to the party that separates you from other teams.

“And that is ability and it’s a mentality. Cole Palmer is that guy.

“This player we’re talking about isn’t a player that was going to start the tournament for England… he was the player that would hopefully provide a moment.

“Cole Palmer has shown that he can do that on the biggest of stages. He did it in the Euros final against Spain. That’s my point.

“I like Morgan Gibbs-White and I’m not against the shouts for him to be in the squad, but if you’re saying between those two, who you are going to take, it wouldn’t have been him.”

Asked which player he would have left out for Palmer, Ferdinand responded: “Jordan Henderson, I would have left out Jordan Henderson.”