Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has identified one of his former teammates as a player who should have played more time for the Three Lions.
Ferdinand represented England at two World Cups – in 2002 and 2006 – and earned 81 caps for his country throughout his playing career.
The centre-back is, without question, the best centre-back I have seen play for United and he belonged to England’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’, which ultimately failed to deliver any silverware.
Speaking to his YouTube channel, FIVE, Ferdinand revealed that he was surprised at how Owen Hargreaves didn’t get more caps playing for England. The same argument applies to Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick.
Hargreaves signed for United in 2007 after leaving Bayern Munich and won the Premier League-Champions League double in his first season at the club. He made his England debut when Sven-Goran Eriksson was in charge of the national team.
However, Hargreaves was only given 42 appearances for England.
“Owen Hargreaves is another one,” Ferdinand said. “Playing for Bayern Munich, winning Champions League, winning Bundesliga, then comes to England.
“Does the same thing [with United]… he would have been another one. If it wasn’t Michael Carrick, [then] it should have been him. He was playing all the time.
“Because, again, I think he makes other players better around him. He makes [David] Beckham better, he would have made — if he played alongside him — Scholsey [Paul Scholes], [Steven] Gerrard, [Frank] Lampard [better] because he is a different player to those players.
“His profile is very different, just like Carrick’s is from those four players.”
Get the latest Manchester United news, opinion, interviews and exclusive features with the Stretty Newsletter – Ad Free! Kick off your afternoon with the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
