Rio Ferdinand defends Carlos Queiroz’s approach against England | OneFootball

The hype surrounding England’s chances of winning the World Cup encountered a major stumbling block last night as the Three Lions laboured to a 0-0 draw with a dogged and determined Ghana side managed by former Manchester United coach Carlos Queiroz. The football on display in the game was anything but scintillating, and, predictably, it has led to an outpouring of criticism from fans and pundits alike.

Thomas Tuchel’s side are under fire for failing to break down Ghana’s stubborn low block, while some are labelling the football played by Queiroz’s team as boring, as the team looked to disrupt the flow of the game at every opportunity. Legendary former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand disagrees with the latter opinion, however, and has leapt to the defence of his former coach.

Queiroz’s time at United

Queiroz enjoyed two spells at Old Trafford working alongside the iconic Sir Alex Ferguson. The Ghana manager first joined the Red Devils as assistant manager in 2002. However, he left after only a year at the club to become manager of Spanish giants Real Madrid.

After being sacked by Madrid, Queiroz returned to Ferguson’s side in June 2004 and remained at the club until July 2008. The former Real Madrid manager helped oversee a remarkably successful period in United’s history, during which the club won two Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Controversy

That is not to say Queiroz’s time at United was all smooth sailing. The fiery figure butted heads with Roy Keane, who was captain of the team at that time, and in his autobiography, the Irishman stated that an argument with Queiroz about loyalty was one of the reasons he left the club.

Speaking on ITV back in 2018, Keane then went on to say that “one of my big regrets is that I probably should have ripped his head off”.

It seems Keane has still not forgiven Queiroz for their spat, either. While appearing as a pundit on ITV’s World Cup coverage, Keane said that his former coach had “the personality of a dead fish when I worked with him”.

Rio’s thoughts

Former England international Ferdinand is clearly more appreciative of Queiroz’s managerial ability. Speaking on his podcast, Rio Ferdinand Presents, he said that he and his former teammate Darren Fletcher were both unsurprised by the performance.

“Darren Fletcher was messaging us in the WhatsApp group with United [players] and he said exactly what I was thinking. This is typical Carlos Queiroz: set them up hard to play against, hard to beat, well drilled, tactically very good.”

Ferdinand also went on to defend Ghana’s performance from critics, stating: “And they’re maybe ‘boring’ for some to watch, but I think if you think, from a coach’s perspective, he’s got out of his team what he set out to get. So, you have to respect that.”

Regardless of people’s opinions on their performance, the point against England all but guarantees Ghana will qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament, which will be seen as a major accomplishment for Queiroz and the country as a whole.

Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images

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