Ferdinand: ´Our players are treated like complete babies´

Former England captain Rio Ferdinand slammed his nation’s FA for the restrictive treatment of players on national duty.

Ferdinand represented England on 81 occasions from 1997-2011, retiring in May 2013.

The Manchester United legend, now at QPR, was in Brazil for the World Cup as a commentator, and recalled a time when the Netherlands squad were out at a bar.

Ferdinand was stunned by the Dutch players’ freedom to roam, and slammed England’s FA for their controlling tendencies on national team players in his to-be-released autobiography.

“One evening we were in a bar at the hotel with Fabio Cannavaro, waiting for Christian Vieri to come along. All of a sudden almost the entire Dutch team turn up and start chilling in this bar,” Ferdinand wrote in his book, titled #2sides.

“I sat down next to Wesley Sneijder and said ‘What’s going on? Are you allowed in here?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, the manager said to go. As long as we’re back in the hotel by 11, it’s fine’.

“Our players are treated like complete babies.

“It doesn’t really matter whether that’s because people have made mistakes in the past, or the manager doesn’t trust the players or he doesn’t trust the media who would make a story of it.

“I don’t think the Dutch media even mentioned it. Their players looked free and relaxed.”

Ferdinand also addressed the issue of Sir Alex Ferguson, who has come in for criticism after United’s fall from grace since his departure.

According to Ferdinand, Ferguson is not to blame for United’s seventh-place finish under David Moyes last season with the former Everton boss failing to even see out one campaign in charge.

“You win the league by 11 points. You’ve got to be a top team to do that. So he goes and then it all falls apart? So that’s his fault? How can people say that?” Ferdinand wrote.