Rio Ferdinand has urged Jadon Sancho to be ready to ‘seize his moment’ for England after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s matchday squad for the Three Lions’ Euro 2020 opener against Croatia.
England made the perfect start to the tournament by seeing off Croatia 1-0 at Wembley on Sunday courtesy of Raheem Sterling’s solitary strike in the second half, and now face Scotland on Friday.
Although UEFA permitted teams to name three extra players in their squads, the matchday roster is still limited to 23 players – three of which must be goalkeepers – meaning three unlucky players missed out on Sunday.
Harry Maguire has been a long-term injury doubt so his absence was not unexpected, but both Borussia Dortmund starlet Sancho and Chelsea’s Champions League-winning left-back Ben Chilwell will have felt a little hard done by to be left out.
Ferdinand believes managing the players who do not play – particularly those not even in the squad – will be one of Southgate’s toughest tasks and has urged Sancho to stay focused and be ready to make a difference if and when he is called upon.
Asked if there was a reason for Southgate dropping Sancho, Ferdinand said on his Vibe With Five Youtube show: ‘We don’t need one. I think he [Sancho] would have got an explanation.
‘I’m hoping that Gareth has got an arm around him because the players that need most talking to after a game like yesterday are the ones who don’t play.
‘In a squad, the ones that don’t play are the ones you need on-side, because you’re going to need them.
‘So the fact that social media and people in different parts of the media were going, “How can Sancho not play?!” … he’s going to get his time.
‘And the job of the management is to make sure that he doesn’t fall into that trap of, “Why am I not playing? This is a liberty, I’m downing tools.”
‘He’s got to be in the mindset of: “I’m going to get my moment and when that time comes, I’m grabbing it with both hands”. That’s how he’s got to be thinking.’
Ferdinand continued: ‘People are disrespecting Sancho. There’s too many people on social media [putting him down].
‘The guy for the last three years has put up numbers that no other kid his age is doing right now. And people are talking like “I don’t know if I’d take him”. He is a special talent, man.’
MORE : Wayne Rooney tells Gareth Southgate to pick ‘important’ Jack Grealish for England vs Scotland
MORE : Jose Mourinho names Kalvin Phillips as England’s ‘standout’ player in Croatia win at Euro 2020
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