Rio Ferdinand has claimed that England boss Roy Hodgson lacks a key ingredient to guide the Three Lions to success in a major tournament.
England crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage for the first time since 1958 as they suffered defeats to Italy and Uruguay, which saw them eliminated from the tournament after two matches.
The 35-year-old feels that the Three Lions could progress further if they had a manager who could inspire the team from the touchline.
Ferdinand wrote in his column in the Daily Mail: "It was always likely England might struggle, as I wrote before the tournament. And there are all kinds of underlying issues to be addressed, as I outlined a fortnight ago. A visionary manager would help.
"Hodgson is a pleasant-enough man, extremely intelligent and has a CV with enough clubs and countries to show how widely he is respected. But if I'm brutally honest then, for me, he lacks that extra ingredient to set him apart.
"He's certainly no maverick, he doesn't change matches with inspirational substitutions and I see little evidence of a collective buying into a master plan for England, if there even is one."
The Three Lions are next in action against Norway in a friendly match in September.
Simon Sinclair
