Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand questioned Gareth Southgate's in-game decisions after England lost to France and the World Cup quarter-finals.
England suffered heartbreak yet again on Saturday night, as they bowed out of the tournament in Qatar courtesy of a defeat by Didier Deschamps' side.
With England trailing 2-1, they were awarded a penalty in the 84th minute when Theo Hernandez fouled substitute Mason Mount in the box. Unfortunately for Southgate's side, Harry Kane fired over the bar from the spot.
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Ferdinand has now made his feelings clear that he felt it was Southgate's failure to bring on the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish earlier in the game played a role in the defeat.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five YouTube channel, the former United man said: "Our [England's] substitutions is where I think Gareth Southgate let us down.
"I think he’s been pitch-perfect, touch-perfect in almost every decision he’s made up to this point, but you get into a game like yesterday where this is really where it matters now, and I think Gareth Southgate came up short in the tactical element in terms of substitutions.
"That’s part of tactics, making substitutions, and in-game management and deciding games with substitutions at the business end of a tournament, I think he would hold his hands up maybe in retrospect.
"I threw a text in the group, and I stand by this: Gareth, in the moment, wasn’t proactive with his substitutions, he was reactive.
"It hit 1-1 and we’re sitting there going 'take the bull by the horns, make a substitution, get us on the front foot'. You’ve got Rashford, you’ve got Grealish who can go on, get us on the front foot and change this game.
"You’re sitting there going, 'It’s too late, man'. You’ve got to do this when we’ve got the chance of still winning this game and taking the game from them."
Although critical of Southgate, Ferdinand did admit that he feels as if the England manager should remain in charge of the Three Lions ahead of the European Championship in 2024.
Ferdinand added: "I think, if I am Gareth Southgate, I can not leave this story. This story hasn’t had an ending yet that works for me, if I’m Gareth Southgate.
"I see a list of the players, the age range of these players, the profile of the players he has at his disposal, it’s the stuff of dreams. You’ve got a… set of players here who, if you get it right, can go on to win things.
"They have to be able to win things with these players, it’s an unbelievable collection of players, but he has to say to himself: 'Am I the man to manage them and navigate them through this period and to get the best out of these players?'.
"Now at the moment he hasn’t done that because he hasn’t won it, and he has to make that decision – we can’t make that decision for him."
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