Rio Ferdinand claims that Gareth Southgate 'let england down' during France loss

Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Gareth Southgate let his England side down during the loss to France in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

England faced another knockout agony when Olivier Giroud headed the winner late on, in what was a frustrating game for the Three Lions.

France's prize is a semi-final place against the unlikely semi-finalists Morocco, as England are left to pick up the pieces once again.

The main criticism for Southgate lies within his choice of substitutions, as he didn't opt for a change until the 79th minute, bringing on Raheem Sterling whilst the in-form Marcus Rashford only came on in the 85th minute, and Jack Grealish in the 98th minute.

Speaking on the Vibe with Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: ‘Our substitutions is where I think Gareth Southgate let us down.

"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 yesterday 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 Rashford, you’ve got 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."

Ferdinand also claimed that despite Southgate's shortcomings during the game, he backs him to continue in the role and take this team as far as they can go, following what has been a successful spell for English football, despite the losses.

"I think, if I am Gareth Southgate, I can not leave this story,’ Ferdinand added. ‘This story hasn’t had an ending yet that works for me, if I’m Gareth Southgate.

"I see a list of the players, the age range of these players, the profile of the players he has at his disposal, it’s the stuff of dreams. You’ve got a… set of players here who, if you get it right, can go on to win things.

"They have to be able to win things with these players, it’s an unbelievable collection of players, but he has to say to himself: “Am I the man to manage them and navigate them through this period and to get the best out of these players?”.

"Now at the moment he hasn’t done that because he hasn’t won it, and he has to make that decision – we can’t make that decision for him."

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