Rio Ferdinand has voiced his displeasure at England youngsters being loaded with the weight of expectations ahead of the Euros. With England blowing everyone in qualifiers and then, punching above their weight to beat Germany 6 weeks back, they are tipped for the Euro honours.
But, what Ferdinand reckons is that it’s only a chance for the young team to develop themselves and they can’t be expected to conquer the continent.
As per Ferdinand, there hasn’t been any international tournament in a long time which has made England progress or has increased its stature. Even the story of 2014 World Cup was like that. The team had flown to Brazil with big hopes and when it returned, it seemed weaker than before.
So, development is the key this time around in the Euros and Ferdinand is very keen to see how much of stride the Three Lions make in France.
The ex-player was quoted as speaking on Radio, “It’s nothing new to have expectations. Prior to a tournament, we talk a lot about which stage the team is capable of reaching, but, I can’t remember any tournament of late coming out of which we have positivity surrounding the team.”
“It would be wonderful if we can feel at the closure of the Euro Cup that the team has gone from strength to strength. I notice they are third favourites at Unibet. That’s not happened too many times with us as far as international events are concerned.”
When asked to pinpoint any flaw that England might be carrying to the Euros, Ferdinand said, “We are, of course, not that strong in the deep and it had undone us in World Cup too. But, I think the more we keep the play away from that region, the better and safer it will be.”
