Rio Ferdinand bemoans England identity crisis
Defender says that an overhaul of the national coaching strategy is needed to achieve success
Former England defender Rio Ferdinand claims that the national side have lost their identity and has called for an overhaul of the national coaching strategy.
The Manchester United centre-back, 34, played at three World Cups but never went beyond the quarter-finals. He believes the reason England are eclipsed by teams like Spain and Italy is because they have no coherent playing style.
I've said that on Twitter I don't know how many times and people come back and say 'What are you talking about?' But what is our identity?
"What is our identity?" said Ferdinand, who retired from international football in May.
"I've said that on Twitter I don't know how many times and people come back and say 'What are you talking about?' But what is our identity?
"We started to see something when Glenn Hoddle was in charge [1996-1999], a bit of an identity then, free-flowing football, and you would say we were starting to get an idea of the pattern of what he wanted to implement in the team.
"Since then I don't think we've actually really seen an identity, where you could say, 'That's an England team', where you look at the under-21s and go, 'That's an England team'."