Anton Ferdinand has slammed Gareth Southgate for not giving Ben White a chance, despite Arsenal sitting top of the Premier League table.
The former West Ham player claimed that players like White are ‘not getting a chance’, ‘nor a sniff’ of being able to start or play at centre-back for England, despite their issues.
Arsenal’s £50 million versatile defender (Sky Sports) has operated mainly at right-back for Mikel Arteta this season, after playing on a regular basis at the heart of the club’s defence last term.
Despite White’s strong start to the campaign, the former Brighton man was left out of Southgate’s latest squad, with a lot of drama around the selection of Harry Maguire.
Even though the Manchester United captain has been in abject form, on top of sitting on Erik ten Hag’s bench, he started the trip to Italy in the UEFA Nations League and, surprise surprise, England suffered another defeat.
That just mounted more pressure on Southgate in the dugout, as Ferdinand was critical of his centre-back selection, as he told Sky Sports News.
“I can speak as a defender, you need to be playing games and playing week in and week out,” said Ferdinand. “When you aren’t playing week in and week out, then you become sluggish and someone who can’t get their feet working.
“Can we afford to go to a World Cup with players (like Maguire) who aren’t playing week in and week out? I don’t think we can.
“We have players like Ben White, who is sitting top of the Premier League table at the moment, then there is Tomori who won the Serie A last season, not getting a sniff and they aren’t getting a chance.
“(Against Italy), it would have been a great time to play the likes of them, to see what they could do.”
WHITE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PICKED
The problem Southgate finds himself in is that he has dug himself a hole that, not only will he probably struggle to get out of, but so will Maguire.
Loyalty is a great thing in football, some would probably say its rare, and it’s brilliant that Southgate is showcasing that, but sometimes there is blind loyalty.
On top of that, don’t showcase loyalty at the expense of other players, such as White because these next few weeks could be troublesome for Southgate.
What if Maguire continues to warm Man United’s bench, he surely can’t go to a World Cup with a half-cooked player because it just could prove to be a disaster.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
