Rio Ferdinand says he would retire from England duty if he was continually overlooked by Gareth Southgate just like James Ward-Prowse and others have been.

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Southgate named his Three Lions squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine and friendly with Scotland last week and, as per usual, it divided opinion.

Much of the discourse centered around the inclusion of Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips despite their lack of game time or form for Manchester United and Manchester City respectively over the course of the year.

The pair made the cut ahead of the likes of West Ham duo Ward-Prowse and Jarrod Bowen who have made a blistering start to this season, with the Irons fourth in the table and unbeaten after four games.

Midfielder Phillips getting in ahead of Ward-Prowse has really irritated fans, given that the former has played just six minutes this campaign, while the latter has one goal and four assists in four appearances for West Ham and former club Southampton.

‘I’ve never known a manager to pick players that are consistently not playing,’ former United and England defender Ferdinand fumed on the FIVE podcast.

‘I get it if a player hasn’t played for five, six or 10 games maybe. But Phillips and Maguire don’t kick a ball. They don’t play, they do warm-ups and they’re getting in England squads. It amazes me.

‘Southgate comes out and says we haven’t got defenders. Go and use a young one man! Go and use someone young or inexperienced who you’re thinking about. You know what Maguire does.

‘It’s a reward for performances playing for England. It’s the best players that are currently playing in their teams. Maguire don’t kick a ball. He comes on for cameos here and there.

‘Kalvin with respect isn’t anywhere near the Man City team. He won a treble last year and well done to him but he ain’t kicked a ball. These men ain’t playing football and they’re still getting in a team based off of work that they done two, three years ago.

‘They’ll be other young midfielders or [someone like] James Ward-Prowse that are thinking, “Wow, what’s happening here? How come I’m not getting a looking?”. It’s a kick in the teeth.’

There was also controversy over the selection of Jordan Henderson following his move to the Saudi Pro League and the exclusion of Raheem Sterling despite his fantastic form for Chelsea in the opening fixtures.

‘If I was Sterling, I’d be very disappointed bearing in mind what he’s done for this England team when he’s been in or around it,’ Ferdinand added.

‘If you’re going by the yard stick that Gareth’s using with the likes of Maguire and Phillips, why is it all right for them guys to get in and not him? Sterling’s probably been the main bright spark at Chelsea. It’s just nuts.

‘I’d retire. If I’m someone like Ward-Prowse I’d just retire. Say, “listen, don’t pick me no more. There’s no point. It’s disrespectful what you’re doing”.

‘It is to people like him, especially Ward-Prowse who’s been putting up numbers for his team on a regular basis. What more does a man got to do to get a sniff?’

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