Man United legend Andrew Cole rips into English FA with lengthy rant
Former Man United and Three Lions striker Andrew Cole has launched a stinging attack on the FA after England's under-21s flopped at Euro 2015.
In a lengthy rant on Kicca.com, Cole lambasted the tendency for eligible players to swerve England under-21 duty after representing the senior team a handful of times.
Cole, who represented England's under-21 team eight times and played for the senior side on 15 occasions, started his piece by arguing:
"The under-21s tournament was a huge disappointment, but nothing changes with the FA. England are not going to change for anybody."
He added:
"If you are that age, you play in the tournament. Just because you play a few times for the senior squad, all of a sudden the English perspective is you are too good to play in a major under-21 tournament. What’s that all about? That’s a joke."
The 43 year-old was also critical of how the FA treat former English players who enjoyed success at the highest level.
"England have some fantastic players who may either have played for the country or been at the top of the game in the Premier League, and a lot of them don’t fancy coaching because they don’t want to be told what to do by gentlemen who have never played the game," he wrote.
Cole ended the opinion piece by suggesting that England no longer select players based on merit, instead choosing those who play for the bigger clubs.
"Many years ago it used to be judged on ability, now it’s judged on ‘well if you play for a certain club you are going to play’ even if you are not playing at that club. Come on, where is it going?"